In a couple of months we all going to step in 2020, we are witnessing the transformation in each industry, department and business process. Starting from eCommerce, customer support, maintenance, HR, Accounts and many other key areas experiencing a high amount of automation and efficiency because of strategic digital transformation implementation.
However, if we talk about a team that works on the field are getting a lesser degree of exposure from the organization. Field force facing various challenges to get their work done efficiently. They have to make lots of calls, emails and have to do the paperwork to be coordinated with their back-office team. On the other end, the organization also facing difficulties to get the desired output from the field force due to lack of physical connectivity.
To achieve better revenue, high efficiency and improve the coordination between on-field and back-office teams, an organization need to plan for Robust Field Force Management System. It not only automates the manual and repetitive task performed by field force but also provide real-time updates to field personnel as well as back-office.
Here are some latest technology-enabled features that will help organizations to get the most out of their field force.
-
1.Mobility
The first and foremost thing is mobility, Field Force system enable mobility which allows field personnel to perform most of their regular operation from their smartphones. A task like planning the daily schedule, generating leads, placing new orders, accepting payment and much more are part of it.
A recent study shows that employees who use mobile phones and mobile applications as part of their duty are 16% more productive and 18% more creative than those who do not. It also saves lots of time, enhances employee experience and provides a high level of job satisfaction to employees.
-
2.Centralize Data
For one organization there are many field employees working simultaneously on the field and performing various business operations. To keep each member in a synch centralized data can help. Each on-field employee can access real-time and centralized information which leads to fewer chances of having glitches and they can have concrete information like product’s stock availability, order status, payment status, and sales reports. It also helps them to take the right sales decisions like accepting certain orders, the commitment of delivery, about the credit limit of the dealer, etc.
With the help of centralized data, the back-end team can work and align their operation accordingly on-field activities. For example, Once a field person punch orders for a particular dealer, the backend team verifies the same and starts executing the order at the very same moment. It not only reduces the turn around time but also impacts on the overall supply chain.
-
3.Complete Traceability
The major constraint of the managers and the back-office team is tracking of the on-field employee. Managers are not aware of the exact situation of the field and what their field force is doing currently. Features like geo-tagging and geo-tracking enable a high level of activity tracking for field employees. Each activity can be tracked and monitored via an application from back-office and by managers.
This also helps managers in those cases where they want to assign any task in real-time as they know the exact location of field-employee. Also, each information gathered by field person can be monitored and put into action in real-time.
-
4.Integrated System
This is a word of an integrated system, multiple systems of an organisation communicate with each other to reduce repetitive tasks and manual efforts. Field force can be integrated with ERP, CRM, and many other organizational applications/systems.
This enables on-field employees to easily onboard new dealers, distributors, make a huge order request, etc. These kinds of activities impact the multiple system and applications available and integrated with Field Force System. Many actions also required multiple approvals that go into workflow defined by the organization.
-
5.Insightful Analytics
As each activity and operation are being recorded in the centralized data repository, using the same insightful reports and analytics can be generated. Using existing data, historical data and considering the current market situation it is possible to provide insightful forecasts to your field-force and management.
Insights and reports help management, managers and on-field employees to make smart decisions. For example, the system provides insight saying in the coming month there are chances of large amounts of orders for XYZ product range from the north zone dealers. It can be useful for back-office to inform the production team, warehouse team, to keep updated with stock and availability and etc.
Conclusion: The objective of any organization is to increase revenue by maximizing the sales. Field Force System helps on-field employees, sales managers, and management by streamlining on-field operations and providing a higher amount of transparency to the back-office. Moreover, features like an integrated system and data analytics create a robust system where the right amount of information is stored, absorbed and acted upon.
To have a quick discussion about automating your on-field activity connect with our expert digital transformation consultant and unlock the endless possibilities to leverage technology for your business. You can also share your concerns and queries on [email protected] our expert will personally look into it get back to you at the earliest.
