The Definitive Guide to Sales Route Planning

Have you ever felt lost trying to organize your sales routes? Well, you’re not alone. 

With millions of salespeople navigating their routes across the United States, efficient route planning is essential. But don’t worry! 

This definitive guide is a one-stop shop for optimizing your sales routes. Whether you’re an experienced sales guru or just starting, we are here to help. You will find everything you need to know about planning sales routes here.

You’ll have everything taken care of, from choosing the right tools to using data to boost your sales. So, get ready to change the way you approach sales routes!

What is Sales Route Planning?

Sales route planning creates optimized routes for field sales representatives to visit and connect with potential customers and existing clients efficiently. It prioritizes prospects with high sales potential or business significance by finding the best way for the sales team to travel from one customer to another.

With modern technology, sales managers can quickly create the most efficient sales routes by minimizing travel time and distance. Field sales managers rely on sales route planners to analyze customer data, plan optimal routes, and schedule their sales teams effectively.

Importance of Optimizing Sales Route

Optimizing sales routes can significantly impact your sales performance. Here’s why it matters:

• Strategic route planning helps sales reps effectively contact more prospects in less time, significantly increasing sales figures while increasing productivity.

• Effective route planning ensures resources are used efficiently, boosting profitability by reducing needless travel time and fuel expenses.

• By guaranteeing timely and personalized service, objective route planning promotes stronger connections and client loyalty through meaningful interactions.

• Effective route planning offers thorough insights into sales processes, enabling businesses to identify improvement areas and make well-informed decisions to boost overall performance.

• Real-time feedback from field sales reps helps identify areas for improvement, ensuring continuous refinement and optimization of sales strategies that improve effectiveness.

Therefore, optimizing sales routes isn’t just about efficiency; it’s a way to increase productivity, save money, make clients happier, and manage the field sales team effectively.

How to Optimize Sales Routes?

To optimize your sales routes effectively, start with technology tailored to the task. Here’s how you can maximize your route optimization:

1. Integrate sales route mapping software

Choose software that automatically optimizes routes based on priorities and integrates easily with your sales data. This guarantees that your time on the road is used effectively and helps identify new opportunities. By automating route planning, you can concentrate on client interactions and closing deals rather than getting stuck in logistical details.

Using Upper, you can set priorities for each stops and add time windows, ensuring you meet all your potential leads at the best possible time.

2. Map customer locations

Utilize technology to map out high-priority accounts, revealing patterns like customer clusters and competitor hotspots. This insight helps facilitate prioritization and route modification. Arranging your trips strategically according to your customers’ locations is one effective way to save travel time and increase in-person encounters with important prospects.

Upper automatically does this. Add all your locations, and you can see which areas to cover in a route. Pro tip: You can create a route with all pending locations and add it to another route. Endless possibilities with just a click.

3. Plan for flexibility

Plan for schedule changes and allow for flexibility while creating your route. Intelligent routing software can adjust to unforeseen cancellations and give more time to important customers. You can make sure that no chances are lost and that your schedule is optimized under dynamic circumstances by planning for last-minute changes. 

Upper takes care of this for you. When plans change last minute, Upper’s smart routing adapts on the fly, making sure no opportunity is missed. Pro tip: Easily reschedule stops and optimize your routes in real-time. Flexibility and efficiency, all in one click.

4. Consider traffic patterns and market conditions

Monitor market trends and traffic circumstances, and modify your routes in response to shifting client demands and demand forecasts. Utilize tools to determine the best routes in different scenarios. You may modify your routes to reduce delays and increase efficiency by accounting for external variables like traffic and market trends.

Our advanced tools help you find the best routes no matter the scenario. Pro tip: Use Upper to adjust your routes in real-time, cutting down on delays and boosting efficiency.

5. Record notes in CRM

To keep records up to date and identify trends for next route planning, take notes following each contact and enter them into your CRM. Keep thorough records of all your contacts with clients so you can monitor your progress, spot areas for improvement, and ensure a seamless handover between team members.

Upper lets you make notes directly in the contact profile. For future visits, you can see all the notes, visit history, and more. Why juggle multiple tools when Upper does it all? 

By focusing on these key steps and utilizing technology, you can optimize your sales routes for maximum efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Top Sales Route Planners of 2024

Sales Route Planner	Key Features	User Ratings
Upper	Multi-sop route planning and optimization Address validation Dynamic mapping Customizable customer notifications Proof of delivery Reports and analytics	Capterra- 4.5 (35 reviews)
RepMove	Route optimization Customer management Calendar integration Performance tracking Customization options	Capterra- 0 (No reviews)
Badger Maps	Targeted focus Follow-up route planning Stats and mileage tracking Detailed reports Sales territory visualization	Capterra- 4.6 (199 reviews)

1. Upper

The sales route plan is a crucial tool in any sales manager’s arsenal. It empowers teams to optimize client visits, maximize productivity, and clearly demonstrate expectations for sales representatives in the field.

However, creating an efficient route plan is just as important as ensuring your sales team hits the ground running.

With Upper, your sales team can:

• Visit more clients in less time
• Reduce travel costs and fuel consumption
• Improve customer satisfaction with on-time arrivals
• Gain real-time insights into field activities

Upper transforms how your sales team operates, turning travel time into selling time.

Key features

• Advanced Route Optimization: Upper’s sophisticated algorithms consider real-world factors such as rep availability, time windows, travel distances, and traffic conditions to create the most efficient routes. This ensures sales reps spend more time with clients and less time on the road.
• Bulk Address Import: Easily import up to 500 customer addresses in one go. Upper simplifies the process of inputting data, saving valuable time and reducing the potential for manual errors.
• Live Tracking and Route Monitoring: Track your sales reps in real time with live GPS tracking. This feature provides complete visibility into your team’s movements, ensuring accountability and allowing for quick adjustments if needed.
• Dynamic Rescheduling: Plans can change on a dime, and Upper is built to adapt. Quickly reschedule stops and adjust routes on the fly to accommodate last-minute cancellations or urgent meetings, ensuring no opportunities are missed.
• Detailed Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into your team’s performance with detailed reports and analytics. Monitor key metrics such as travel time, stops completed, and customer visits to identify trends and areas for improvement.
• Comprehensive Contact Module: Upper’s contact module allows you to keep thorough records of all client interactions. Make notes directly in the contact profile, view visit history, and maintain continuity between team members. This feature ensures that all customer data is centralized and easily accessible.
• Mobile and Web App Accessibility: Access Upper from anywhere with its robust mobile and web apps. Whether your reps are in the field or at the office, they can easily manage routes, update statuses, and stay connected. This flexibility ensures seamless operation and real-time updates across all devices.

2. RepMove

RepMove emerged from the challenges faced by its founder, Dillon Baird, as a field sales representative. Since he couldn’t find a suitable organizing tool, he created RepMove to suit his unique requirements.

RepMove is leading the way in industry innovation today, giving field sales representatives an effective tool to grow, organize, and perform well in their jobs. With its intuitive UI and customized features, RepMove is transforming the way sales-driven businesses run, enabling reps to maximize their routes, manage their processes, and succeed while on the road.

Key features

• Route optimization: RepMove helps users create effective travel routes between client locations to save trip time and increase productivity.
• Customer management:  To ensure individualized interactions, users may simply collect and maintain client information, such as contact data, visit history, and notes.
• Calendar integration:  RepMove easily connects with users’ calendars, enabling them to make appointments and synchronize them with their current schedules.
• Real-time updates: By receiving real-time alerts on traffic, route modifications, and appointment updates, users may swiftly adjust to unforeseen circumstances while driving.
• Performance tracking: It offers analytics and reporting capabilities for monitoring sales success, encompassing measures like revenue produced, client visits, and sales conversions.

3. Badger Maps

Badger Maps prove to be a valuable tool for field sales teams in terms of optimizing sales routes. Reps may quickly create their areas and mark the locations of customers using the ‘Lasso’ tool, which makes it easy to use. This eliminates the need for complex mapping.

Badger’s versatility across several navigation platforms is what makes it stand out. Depending on which app your team chooses, Badger interfaces easily with Waze, Google Maps, Garmin, or Magellan. Even with more than 100 client accounts loaded, the software maintains efficient and seamless routing.

Of course, no solution is perfect. Slow loading times and the inability to take notes on client updates were among the areas where our testing uncovered room for improvement. However, Badger Maps appears to be a perfect copilot for modern sales teams looking to maximize their time on the road.

Key features

• Targeted focus: To maximize your deals, you may use this tool to color your points and filter your possibilities according to predefined upselling or cross-selling criteria.
• Follow-up route planning: This makes it possible to check in for scheduled appointments, create follow-up appointments, and plan routes to accommodate them on additional travel.
• Stats and mileage tracking: This allows you to obtain information on their routes’ distance, travel time, and total duration. This feature helps you understand the performance and overall efficiency of sales routes.
• Detailed reports: They give you important information, such as check-in pictures, services rendered, and surveys, to help you plan your next trip more quickly.

Overall, these tools empower field sales representatives to optimize their routes, streamline their workflow, and drive success in their sales endeavors.

Benefits of Sales Route Planning

Planning a route involves more than just traveling from one place to another. It’s about optimizing your sales potential while revolutionizing your operation and saving time and money.

1. Optimized time management: Strategic sales route planning ensures maximum client interaction, allowing you to focus on establishing connections and closing deals.

2. Increased productivity: Efficient routes mean more time with customers, improving relationships and sales, and empowering your team to work better.

3. Cost efficiency: Using optimized routes can help you save a lot of money over time by reducing fuel use, vehicle wear and tear, and needless miles.

4. Enhanced customer satisfaction: Timely and reliable visits show your dedication to putting customers’ needs first and respecting their time, which fosters confidence and loyalty.

5. Improved sales performance: Sales route planning focuses on key areas and leads, increasing conversion rates and revenue through strategic territory management, resulting in tangible sales and profitability growth.

Hence, sales route planning is a game-changer for businesses hoping to succeed, offering advantages ranging from time and cost savings to enhanced client connections and sales success.

Boost Your Field Sales Performance with Smart Routing

Route planning is important for everyone associated with sales and marketing. When it comes to sales route planning, choosing intelligent routing software can make your life easier. The right sales route planning software allows field sales teams to operate efficiently. Reducing manual work also makes sales reps more productive, customers happier, and profits increase.

The next time you need an optimized route, you can switch to Upper. In addition to route planning, this software also offers route optimization, route planning, one-click dispatch, and proof of delivery. The stressful hours of route planning are also eliminated, so you can focus more on running and growing your business.