Explore this definitive guide on field sales management to boost productivity, enhance selling experience and boost conversions. Learn More.

1. Location
Intelligent Field
Sales Management
An Ultimate Guide to Managing
Outside Sales Teams
New Lead Assigned
1

2. TABLE
OF CONTENTS Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales
01.
Field Sales Management: Empower Your Outside
Sales Teams
02.
Effective Field Sales Operations: Track and
Measure Performance
03.
Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data
04.
Best Practices for Field Sales
05.
Next Steps to Transform Field Sales
06.
Introduction Challenges for
Field Sales
Need for Field
Sales
Management
Chapter
2

3. Introduction
This is a comprehensive guide about all things field sales that will help
businesses improve the productivity of their sales team. It offers a
step-by-step guide and practical strategies to manage a team, supercharge
their productivity, select the right field sales management software, and
maximize lead conversions. It takes you through the key field challenges
and how to combat them with robust sales management software.
If you are a sales leader or a sales manager looking to turbocharge
productivity, this is your ultimate guide to empowering your field sales
team.
★ Quick note
Field sales is also known as outside sales and will
be used interchangeably in this guide.
3

4. Field Sales Challenges
Sales Representatives, Sales Managers, and Sales Leaders are three key players driving your field sales. Each of them have an array of roles and responsibilities, and they face
specific operational challenges. Let's break down some of their key challenges.
Sales Leaders
Decision makers
who define and
refine strategies to
boost lead
conversions.
Sales Managers
Monitor daily activities
of sales reps and
measure their
performance.
Area Definition
Analysis
Sales leaders have limited
visibility on area performance
due to lack of analytics tools or
ineffective legacy systems. It is
challenging to analyze which
ones need more attention and
have scope for improvement.
Insights on Conversion
Rate
Lack of actionable insights
on conversion rates and
win-loss metrics results in
ineffective strategic decision
making.
Cost vs. Sales
Efficiency
Not having insights on the
cost vs. sales metric makes
it difficult to measure the
sales team's efficiency and
recalibrate their efforts.
No Audit
Trails
Lack of audit trail of field
sales operations, sales
targets vs. performance
results, offers limited scope
to identify gaps.
No Real-time
Visibility on Reps
Managers have low to no
visibility of the activities of field
sales officers. This makes it
difficult to track their activities
and ensure field visits are
completed.
Resource
Optimization
Balancing workload and
optimal resource allocation is
essential to get the best out of
your sales teams. Managers
need insights into territory
performance to manage
resources effectively.
Track Sales Exec
Performance
Lack of a system to track
and measure sales
performance (team and
individual). Sales managers
need a system to monitor
targets and ensure
continuous improvements.
Using Legacy
Systems
Heavy reliance on legacy
systems makes it difficult for
sales teams to navigate daily
tasks and hampers
productivity. It also increases
paperwork and ineffective lead
handling.
4

5. Sales Officers
Feet on street who
meet prospects and
turn them into
customers.
Ineffective Lead
Allocation
Outside sales teams also
struggle with ineffective lead
allocation that does not consider
specific business constraints
before allotment. This delays lead
actioning, resulting in meeting
fewer customers in a day.
Long Travel
Times
Ineffective lead allocation
and a lack of route
optimization software result
in sales officers traveling
more and meeting less
prospects.
Tedious
Admin Tasks
Instead of focusing on
customer engagement,
sales officers get busy with
admin tasks like applying for
a leave, updating lead
status, and more.
Need for Field Sales Management
Now that we have established persona-based field sales challenges, let’s understand how we can streamline field sales management. When it comes to outside sales, the
quickest and easiest way to enhance productivity and accelerate lead conversions is to invest in robust tools.
Face-to-face or field sales
make up close to 72% of
the sales force, according
to a Forbes report(1)
Hence, to manage large outside sales
teams, businesses need to leverage
AI-powered field sales management
software. It is a comprehensive suite that
helps organizations supercharge their
topline by revolutionizing their sales ops.
A robust outside sales tool
empowers all stakeholders in
the sales process to perform
effectively and efficiently.
There are a range of tools available in the market;
however, it is crucial to select the one that
addresses your pain points and streamlines your
sales process. Let’s dive deep into the different
features and capabilities of field sales software and
what you should look for before buying one.
Lack of Planning Tools
Lack of tools to plan sales reps'
days result in meeting fewer
customers, covering limited
areas, and spending more time
on the road.
5

6. Visualize and
Manage Your Field
Sales
CHAPTER 1
6

7. Data Visualization
Businesses are sitting on a gold mine of
geo-location data, as over report(2)
of their data
has a location component. By leveraging
mapping and visualization tools, such as GIS
software or location intelligence platforms, they
can map and visualize their location data. They
can get a bird’s eye view into their business ops
and plot locations of their branches/outlets,
potential customers, sales teams, competitors,
and more to gain a spatial understanding of the
sales landscape.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 7

8. Real-Time Sales
Agent Tracking
Most organizations have a large sales team, and
getting visibility on their movement is one of the
biggest challenges for sales leaders. With a
location intelligence platform, sales managers
can track field sales executives in real-time,
monitor their activities, and ensure they
complete field visits.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 8

9. Sales Productivity
Performance
Field sales productivity is a key metric that
measures the efficiency and effectiveness of
sales reps in converting leads to customers. By
tracking productivity metrics, like the number
of calls made, meetings conducted, and deals
closed, sales managers can identify top
performers, provide targeted coaching, and
implement strategies to boost overall team
productivity. Utilizing a robust field sales
platform can help them streamline and
measure sales performance.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 9

10. Resource Coverage
Understanding sales resource coverage is
essential for maximizing sales opportunities.
Leaders and managers need to assess whether
their field sales teams are targeting the right
territories and potential customers. It is also
crucial to ensure time and effort allocation is
optimized as per the lead potential.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 10

11. Visualize Sales
Pipeline
With pipeline management, sales leaders get a
360-degree overview of different stages of the
sales process, from lead generation to closed
deals. It helps them track sales funnel activity,
identify potential bottlenecks, prioritize deals,
and allocate resources accordingly. This
proactive approach helps in maintaining a
steady flow of deals and achieving consistent
sales results.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 11

12. Track Deal Velocity
Tracking deal velocity is a crucial metric for
understanding the efficiency and effectiveness
of your sales process. It refers to the speed at
which deals or sales opportunities move
through the sales pipeline and are closed
successfully. By analyzing deal velocity, sales
managers can reduce lead-to-customer
conversion time.
Chapter 01 - Visualize and Manage Your Field Sales 12

13. Field Sales
Management
Empower Your
Outside Sales Teams
CHAPTER 2
New Lead Assigned
13

14. Mobile Office for
Sales Reps
Outside sales management software offers a
dedicated app to the sales officers enabling them to
call customers, update lead status, reduce manual
tasks, get optimized routes, view customer
information and history, and more. This minimizes
sales rep downtime and allows them to focus more
on selling.
Chapter 02 - Field Sales Management Empower Your Outside Sales Teams 14

15. Sales Training and
Quick Sharing
It is crucial to empower outside sales teams with
the right tools and train them to make the most
of their field sales app. The app generally offers
selling tips and suggestions, a knowledge base to
refer to product information quickly, etc. This
helps sales officers efficiently upsell, cross-sell,
and pitch the right product.
Chapter 02 - Field Sales Management Empower Your Outside Sales Teams 15

16. Enhancing
Collaboration and
Communication
The mobile office helps outside sales reps improve
communication with managers and customers with a
dedicated calling button. Managers can guide them with
alerts and contextual nudges to help them engage with
more customers daily and boost sales productivity.
Chapter 02 - Field Sales Management Empower Your Outside Sales Teams 16

17. Chapter 02 - Field Sales Management Empower Your Outside Sales Teams 17
Integration with
CRM and Other Tools
Integrating field sales software with CRM systems and
other relevant tools streamlines and strengthens the sales
process. It ensures seamless data flow between various
platforms enabling sales reps and managers to access
comprehensive customer information, track interactions,
and manage leads efficiently.
And many more

18. Effective Field Sales
Operations: Track and
Measure Performance
CHAPTER 3
18
18

19. Auto Lead Allocation
With AI-enabled field sales management
software, leads can be auto-allocated to the
right field sales officer based on various
business constraints like capacity, skillset,
proximity, availability, and more. It also allows
managers to manually allocate leads to officers
if they are unassigned.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 03 - Effective Field Sales Operations: Track and Measure Performance
19

20. Sales Beat Plans
A smart beat plan is the backbone of an
organized field sales operations. It enables
sales managers to manage field sales teams by
optimizing their time, reaching the right
customers, and maximizing sales opportunities.
It helps avoid territory overlap and clubs and
sequences sales visits by location to reduce
travel time and reach more customers in the
same area.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 03 - Effective Field Sales Operations: Track and Measure Performance 20

21. Tracking Sales KPIs
Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as
revenue, sales growth, customer acquisition, and market
share by location or territory. Gain real-time visibility into
sales performance, identify areas of improvement, and
track progress toward sales targets.
Chapter 03 - Effective Field Sales Operations: Track and Measure Performance 21

22. Gamification and
Leaderboard
Gamification motivates and engages sales teams by
introducing friendly competition between them. It
transforms sales activities into enjoyable experiences for
the sales reps with rewards and recognition.
Sales leaderboards are a central component of
gamification, displaying real-time rankings and
achievements of sales reps. The leaderboard
encourages healthy competition among team
members, driving them to perform at their best
and surpass their targets.
Chapter 03 - Effective Field Sales Operations: Track and Measure Performance 22

23. Sales Territory
Planning: Leverage
Geospatial Data
CHAPTER 4
23

24. Data-Driven
Territory Design
Territory management helps sales managers
visualize and plot customer data on maps and
enables them to identify potential lead clusters.
It helps you cover territories more strategically
and allows sales leaders to define and assign
them based on sales area coverage and lead
clusters.
By overlaying this information with other
relevant data, such as sales performance or
customer preferences, sales leaders can create
data-driven territory designs that maximize
sales opportunities and ensure balanced
coverage.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 04 - Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data 24

25. Territory Planning
Location intelligence helps sales teams
optimize their territory planning by considering
competitor presence. By understanding where
competitors have a strong foothold, teams can
adjust their territory boundaries, prioritize
prospecting efforts in less competitive areas,
and deploy resources strategically.
Sales teams can define and adjust sales
territories based on data-driven insights,
ensuring efficient coverage and reducing
unnecessary travel time.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 04 - Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data 25

26. Workload
Management
Managers can effectively allocate resources by
analyzing customer and prospect distribution
within territories. By identifying areas with
higher sales potential or untapped markets,
sales managers can strategically allocate their
teams to ensure adequate coverage in
high-value areas.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 04 - Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data 26

27. Monitor Rep and
Territory Performance
Once you have defined territories and allocated
resources, monitoring and measuring their
performance is important. Managers can
monitor some key sales targets like total
revenue, new customers, average deal size,
sales per customer, etc.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 04 - Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data 27

28. Competitor Analysis
An AI-enabled field sales software leverages
geolocation data to show competitor presence
and market saturation in specific areas. Sales
teams can identify areas with limited
competition or areas where their competitors
are strong and tweak business strategies.
https://www.dista.ai/location-intelligence-applied
Chapter 04 - Sales Territory Planning: Leverage Geospatial Data 28

29. Best Practices for
Field Sales
CHAPTER 5
29

30. Combating field sales challenges requires adopting best practices
and driving strategies. It is essential to leverage AI-enabled field
sales management software like Dista Sales. Our robust sales
productivity platform empowers sales officers, helps boost lead
conversion, automates sales processes, and derives powerful,
actionable insight for sales leaders.
Visualize. Strategize. Operationalize.
Dista recommends a cyclic journey that businesses should follow to
stay ahead in the location intelligence game. It involves visualizing,
strategizing, and operationalizing your field ops. The platform
offers maps-based visualization, strategic insights and
operationalization of location intelligence strategies to improve
sales, enhance services, and optimize delivery operations.
Chapter 05 - Best Practices for Field Sales 30

31. Strategize (Plan)
Operationalize (Execute)
❖ AI/ML-based algorithmic analysis
❖ Perform simulations
❖ Arrive at trends and patterns
❖ Finalize outcome for operational roll-out
❖ Action insights by easy integrations
❖ Orchestrate field operations to achieve
maximum efficiency and results
Visualize (Monitor)
❖ Collect, ingest, and visualize your
geospatial data
❖ Get contextual analytics from
overlapping visual data layers
Continuous improvement of your field operations
Chapter 05 - Best Practices for Field Sales 31

32. Key Dista Sales Features
Auto Lead Allocation
Our AI-powered system assigns leads
automatically based on skill sets, proximity,
and capacity. It leverages location-based
data on lead volume, campaigns, and
potential to allocate leads strategically.
Scheduling and Route
Planning
Guide field sales teams through the fastest
and shortest routes to reduce travel time
and control fuel costs. Leverage dynamic
scheduling and route optimization to
streamline sales visit frequency.
Sales Territory Mapping
Map, refine, and align territories considering
area coverage and lead clusters. Plot customers
and potential leads on the map for better
visualization.
Smart Nudges &
Notifications
Offer contextual nudges and alerts to sales
reps recommending next-best actions.
Boost lead actioning and sales rep
productivity with timely notifications.
Download the complete feature list
Chapter 05 - Best Practices for Field Sales 32

33. Dista’s Success Stories
A Leading Private
Bank Increases
Sales onversions
by 26% with Dista
Sales
Dista Sales
Orchestrates Field
Medical Reps and
Strengthens
Distributor
Management
Private Bank
Determines
Serviceable Areas
and Orchestrates
Doorstep Banking
Prominent Bank
Facilitates
Seamless
Merchant
Acquisition With
Dista
A Leading NBFC
Orchestrates Debt
Collection Process
With Dista
Dista Sales, our AI-powered field sales software, has proven to boost sales productivity and lead conversion rate for several leading banking and finance institutions. Here are
some success stories highlighting how organizations combated field sales challenges with Dista Sales.
B2B E-Commerce
Player Leverages
Dista Sales & Dista
Deliver to
Orchestrate
Customer
Onboarding &
Delivery
Read more customer stories
Chapter 05 - Best Practices for Field Sales 33

34. Next Steps To
Transform Field Sales
CHAPTER 6
34
34

35. Recap of Key Learnings
Field sales is essential to
amplify customer reach, sell
more, strengthen existing
customer relationships, and
streamline complex sales
cycles.
Sales Officers, Sales Managers,
and Sales Leaders are the
three key players in a typical
field sales setup. It is essential
to empower them with the
right set of tools or software
like Dista Sales to improve your
overall sales efficiency.
Getting a 360-degree view of
your field operations is crucial
to learn about your sales
pipeline and performance and
monitoring sales teams is
essential to identify gaps and
improve performance.
Improve productivity of
your sales team with a
mobile-office that helps
them communicate and
collaborate on-the-go.
Map and align sales
territories to improve
coverage area and optimally
distribute workload to reach
more customers.
Supercharge your sales
performance by measuring
KPIs, setting a beat plan,
and engaging sales teams
with gamification.
Best Steps to Select the Right Field Sales Software
Assess Demo Reviews Scalability
Selecting the right software for your sales
team requires a thoughtful evaluation
process. Now that we are solid on key
concepts of field sales and its importance,
let's understand how to select the right field
sales software. Here are some essential
criteria you should consider that go beyond
the features and functionalities.
Assess your organization's
needs and goals and select
the best tool that aligns with
them.
Request a demo and trial to
help you check the features
and evaluate their
performance.
Check reviews and
references from existing
users to learn more about
the product's performance.
Evaluate the scalability of
the software and whether it
aligns with your long-term
business goals.
Chapter 06 - Next Steps To Transform Field Sales 35

36. Final Thoughts
Embrace AI-powered field sales software like Dista Sales to turbocharge your field sales and accelerate lead conversions. Empower your sales reps and offer location-based
actionable insights to your sales leaders with our outside sales tool. Get in touch with us for a free quick demo to see Dista Sales in action. And if you need to speak with a
field sales solutions consultant, schedule a time on the calendar.
Schedule Now
Dista Overview
Dista’s patent-pending, low-code/no-code platform drives our custom product suite. With our 80-20 productized model, we solve 80% of your business priorities through SaaS
while customizing the remaining 20%.
Leverage our robust location intelligence platform to:
Maximize field sales and
service revenues
Get geospatial analytics and
visualization for advanced insights
Increase business revenue
and operational efficiency
Chapter 06 - Next Steps To Transform Field Sales 36

37. Confidential. Do not distribute.
Presence through channel partners*
Actual offices
New Jersey
New Delhi
Delaware
Mumbai Pune
Bengaluru
Applying Location Intelligence to Businesses
● Presence in US, India, Latam* and
Australia*
● 40+ customers across domains
Like BFSI, CPG, Retail, Logistics
● 15M+ jobs a month
● 55K+ active daily users
● 125+ people strong

38. Glossary
Author
Sneha Bokil
References
1. Forbes -
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenkrogue/2017/10/03/2017-sales-trend-res
earch-inside-sales-vs-outside-sales/?sh=5f736c3070c2
2. GIS lounge - https://www.gislounge.com/80-percent-data-is-geographic/
38

39. Dista
Technology &
Industries
CPG Energy &
Utilities
Transport &
Logistics
Dista
SERVICE
Dista
INSIGHT
Biz Solutions Market
Expansion
Geospatial
Analytics
Cash/
Collections
Management
Network
Optimization
Fleet
Management
Field Service
Management
Delivery
Management
Salesforce
Management
Ride
Management
Dista
platform
Customizable Low Code/No Code Platform
Financial
Services
Retail &
Ecommerce
Healthcare &
Pharma
Insurance Services
Framework