Food/Beverage
Our clients in the Food & Beverage industry primarily call on restaurants but may also deal with bars, cafes, school cafeterias, caterers, deli's, bakeries, country clubs, theatres, etc. Sales reps make 5 to 10 calls per day and often meet with several contacts at each business. They participate in a very competitive industry with tight margins and deal with businesses who exhibit little loyalty. Businesses are quick to move another supplier if any issue arises that arent dealt with in an efficient and timely manner. While pricing is important, product quality, freshness, on time delivery, service and back order situations all have an impact on buying decisions. These sales reps follow a regular set schedule but also need to be flexible if a situation arises that needs immediate attention. Food & Beverage sales reps strive to build strong relationships with their customers by learning the issues that are important to each of them and servicing those needs. These reps need to be efficient and effective as they typically service more accounts than they can comfortably handle.
The sales report below sent by Mark on his mobile phone took less than 30 seconds to submit via the FrontRow Sales App:
- Sales rep Mark, dropped into Cozy Harbour Restaurant at 1:30 pm on May 15/12. He met with the chef with the purpose of introducing a new featured product.
- This was Mark's 6th call of the day and his 5th call to this restaurant in the last 8 weeks.
- Cozy Harbour is an A level account meaning that they are a regular high order customer.
- The chef placed an order of $5000 which included the featured product.
- Key issues for Cozy Harbour are freshness and on-time delivery.
- The have a concern around recent late shipments.
- In the notes section Mark added that competive activity is high and he would like to add another visit to Cozy Harbour in his cycle.
- Mark would like to call here weekly for the next 2 months and then re-evaluate.
This report was received by Mark's manager a few seconds after it was sent. The manager replied to Mark via that FrontRow messaging center that late shipments are not acceptable and are being investigated. He also congratulated Mark on selling the featured product.
FrontRow provides these busy reps a fast, efficient way to submit sales reports. The ability to complete sales reports in under 30 seconds allows reps to spend more time with the customer. These sales reps are engaged with FrontRow because it enables them to track customer contacts, issues, order patterns and specific customer needs. It also allows them to bench mark efficencies when comparing calls to chefs, managers or owners. Competition and developing market trends can also be tracked.
FrontRowprovides 2 separate data bases to the Food & Beverage Company: one centered around the customer and a second around the sales rep. The customer database includes information about contacts, issues, market trends, competitive activity, key requirements, order frequency and revenue. This information can be customized with respect to target accounts, group affiliation or customer type. The sales rep database focuses on
providing information to improve the productivity of the rep, insight into rep strengths and weaknesses for training needs, organizational skills, accountability, product knowledge, etc. The FrontRow system provides all this information and more in real time.
