Optimised Field Sales Team Deliver Double Digit Revenue Growth

Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of confectionery and chewing gum, headquartered in The Netherlands. PVM’s global brands are enjoyed in over 150 countries and include Mentos, Chupa Chups, Fruit-tella & Smint.

The Challenge

• Before engaging with CACI, PVM UK were manually planning their field sales territories and routes, which the management team knew was inefficient.
• PVM wanted a tool to help grow their UK business, specifically in the independent channel where they had under traded in the past. Due to the unknown returns and instability in this market, they needed to drive efficiencies and savings in their current field team, rather than recruiting more headcount. Being more efficient would allow PVM to call on more stores in the independent channel.

The Solution

• PVM licenced InSite FieldForce, CACI’s resource planning and territory optimisation tool, to understand the utilisation of the current team, taking into consideration variables such as travel time, visit frequencies, in call times, and the additional visits to be made to the Independent channel.
• The field sales territories were optimised to create workload balanced and drive time efficient territories for each field sales rep, built around their home locations.
• PVM then used CallSmart, CACI’s route optimisation software, to optimise routes for their team. Planning with an algorithm gave them more control over the stores, and channels, the reps were visiting based on business strategy rather than ‘gut feel’.

The Results

• PVM were able to model multiple what-if scenarios prior to implementation which gave them the confidence that they could be impactful in the independent channel whilst maintaining appropriate call coverage to the multiples.
• Using CACI’s tools, PVM minimised the risk associated with entering a new channel, without investing in any additional headcount. The efficiencies gained enabled PVM to make thousands of additional calls to the independent channel, resulting in a double digit increase in sales revenue across the field sales team.
• CACI’s tools are used by PVM on an ongoing basis to maintain efficiencies and immediately respond to change. Optimised call schedules integrate with their retail execution solution providing reps with visibility of their calendars allowing the team to be more agile.

Further Information

If you want to hear more about how CACI’s field force expertise can help you and your team, get in contact now. We have a range of solutions that can help you optimise your field force.