Route, Location Verification and Collection in Field Sales
The core function of a field sales application
The core function is not order entry but recording, provably, that a visit happened and what came of it. An order is only one possible outcome; a visit can end without one, and that information — stock was sufficient, the decision maker was absent, there was a price objection — is as valuable to sales management as an order. An application that records only orders does not show the real picture of the field.
Route plan versus actual
A route is built from visit frequency, geographic proximity and the visit window the customer accepts. What should be measured is not the number of visits but plan adherence: how many planned visits happened, how many were postponed, and how many unplanned visits were made. A high share of unplanned visits means either the route plan is unrealistic or the field is not following it — and the two need different remedies.
Visit verification: location alone is not enough
No single method verifies a visit reliably. In practice three are combined: location matching within a radius of the customer address, a minimum duration threshold, and content evidence such as a shelf photograph, a stock count or a signed document. Location-only verification produces both false positives (being in the next building) and false negatives (signal loss indoors). Treating verification as a score rather than a rejection mechanism creates less friction in the field.
Location data and employee privacy
Employee location is personal data. A workable framework: collect location only during working hours and only tied to a visit event, without continuous tracking; state the purpose and retention period in writing; and let the employee see in the app when location is being collected. Continuous tracking creates legal risk as well as battery and data cost, and in most scenarios provides no operational benefit.
Collections in the field
Collection is the highest-risk function in the application. The necessary controls are: numbered receipts with the number range assigned to a specific representative; showing the account balance at the moment of collection and enforcing an amount limit; reconciling cash collected with the end-of-day handover to the till or bank; and using an operation key so an offline collection does not produce a duplicate record. For the offline and synchronisation details see the [mobile application guide](/en/blog/mobile-app-development-guide).
Indicators worth measuring
- Plan adherence and average duration per visit
- Order conversion per visit and average order value
- Distribution breadth per product — which products are present at how many customers
- Collection-to-order ratio and the trend of overdue balances
Without written definitions, comparisons between teams are misleading.
Frequently asked questions
Must the application work offline?
Yes if the team works in basements, warehouses and rural locations. Otherwise the visit record cannot be captured at exactly the moment evidence is needed.
How long should photographic evidence be kept?
For a period limited by purpose and written down. Shelf photographs grow quickly, and without a defined period both storage cost and retention risk increase.
Should representatives be able to give discounts?
Yes, bounded by an authority matrix. Discounts above the defined rate should route for approval, and the approval record should be stored with the order.