Beat planning for field sales: how to plan routes your salesmen can actually follow

A beat is the list of outlets a salesman visits on a given day. Good beats mean every outlet is visited at the right frequency, the salesman is not zig-zagging across the city, and the manager can see coverage at a glance.

1. Start with a clean outlet list

Put every outlet in one list with its address and, ideally, GPS. In FieldTrack you can import the list from Excel and fix missing positions on the map — or let salesmen add GPS from the field on their next visit.

2. Decide visit frequency

Not every outlet needs a weekly visit. A simple rule:

• A outlets (top sellers): twice a week
• B outlets: weekly
• C outlets: every two weeks

3. Group outlets by area, then by day

Group nearby outlets into beats of 20–30 stops (fewer for big outlets, more for small kirana). Give each beat a colour and the days it runs, for example Monday and Thursday.

4. Arrange stops nearest-first

Order matters as much as grouping. FieldTrack’s auto-arrange starts from the depot (or the salesman’s live position), visits the nearest outlet next and removes criss-crossing. Tick come back to start when the salesman returns to the depot.

5. Check coverage every day

At the end of the day every stop is visited, skipped (with a reason like “shop closed”) or missed. Look at missed outlets weekly: if the same outlets are always missed, the beat is too long or in the wrong order.

6. Review with route analysis

Distance travelled, stops and time spent per outlet tell you whether the plan is realistic. Adjust beats monthly, not daily.

Ready to try it? See routes and beat plans or book a demo.