They say the battle is won on the field, and any good marketing manager will tell you the importance of good on-field communication. With the increase in online marketing and advertising a lot of times people forget that the best sales are made in person, the biggest deals are done face-to-face and people generally trust what they can see. Managing a large number of employees and maintaining reports on everyone’s progress is a long and arduous task which is made simple and straightforward with a variety of tools and applications. Field reporting software is commonly used to keep track of on-field agents whether they’re delivery men, salespersons or support staff. Good field reporting software makes the job of handling and managing a large group of employees easy and efficient. Most field reporting tools are now available in the form of “apps” which make them even more convenient as employees can use them on their phones while on the field. Mobile applications like these eliminate the need for field agents to phone up for help and support and everything is done online through the app.
Applications that Increase Productivity
Field reporting tools are usually focused on merchandising and are quite apt at handling inventory, stock and after sales issues. Since one tool basically does everything, this also makes it a lot easier for the different teams to communicate with each other. Good communication leads to a better end-customer experience, and it is important to remember that this is the ultimate goal. Every happy customer is a walking advertisement and it is important to put that smile on their face. That smile happens when issues are dealt with swiftly and professionally and this is only possible when everyone involved is on the same page. Everyone who has been to a government office knows the blame game that departments play with each other to avoid ownership and responsibility. With field reporting tools everyone is reporting on the same application and hence everyone is always in sync. With this level of transparency it’s not really possible to shirk responsibility or avoid claiming ownership to a problem.
Easy Audits and Analysis
Audits are a major part of retail merchandising and anyone who has ever had to do an audit will know just how tedious the task is. Numbers and figures need to be matched across platforms, right from sales made on field, to products delivered as part of after sales service, to defective products that have to be replaced. Communication between departments is a key factor to successful audits, and mobile applications which feature retail audit software are just the ticket. As mentioned earlier, field reporting tools are developed with retail merchandising in mind, and mobile retail audit software is a great feature. With an application that can be used on your phone, no one is ever losing sleep over any retail audits ever again. Updating stocks and inventories are just a tap of the screen and keeping track of changes is unnecessary as the system is fully automated. All data collected is centralized and updated in real time so there is basically zero margin for human error. With human error being the number one factor that adversely affects audits, applications like “FReD” from 360 Field Reporting Company LLP are a Godsend.
Monitoring Employees Efficiently and Remotely
It is important to remember that the real reason that we do audits in the first place is to make sure that everything is going according to protocol and procedure. People in general have a tendency to find shortcuts and loopholes in the system and audits are meant to minimize such incidents. A common issue for employers who have on-field agents is making sure their employees are actually working. In the past, it was common practice for a foreman or a manager to visit local bars watering holes to check if any employees are relaxing on company time. With field reporting tools that have GPS trackers, one click is all it really takes to know where your employee is, and to find out what he is doing.
The Best Monitoring Tool that Does Everything
One of the more popular field reporting tools called “FReD” that’s been developed and launched by 360 Field Reporting Company LLP has the unique feature of being able to launch within twenty four hours. What this means is that you can take every single time consuming task out of your retail workflow and in its place have a fully automated and streamlined process. Evaluations and analysis are now computerized and efficient, and hard facts and figures are available to make calculated changes and upgrades. The entire tool is customizable and that’s what’s important to any growing business that has an ever changing workflow. Workflows are always being tweaked and optimized and tools that allow for such upgrades are the ones to invest in.