A beat is the fixed list of outlets a salesperson visits on a given day, in route order. Good beat planning groups outlets by area, sets how often each outlet is visited by its importance, fits a realistic number of calls into each day, and is checked against actual visits every week.
What a beat plan is
In Indian FMCG, pharma, agri-input and building-material distribution, a beat is the route a salesperson covers on a particular day: the same outlets, in the same order, every week or fortnight. A beat plan assigns every outlet in a territory to a beat and every beat to a day.
Beats matter because retailers order on rhythm. When the salesperson arrives on the same day each week, the shopkeeper keeps the order ready, and competitors do not get the gap.
Step 1: classify your outlets
Not every outlet deserves the same attention. A simple A/B/C split by monthly purchase value works for most teams:
| Class | Typical outlet | Visit frequency (example) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Top outlets by value: wholesalers, large retailers | Weekly |
| B | Steady mid-sized outlets | Fortnightly |
| C | Small or occasional buyers | Monthly, or by phone between visits |
Use your own sales history to set the cut-offs. Review the classes every quarter, because outlets move up and down.
Step 2: work out daily capacity
Capacity is how many productive calls one person can make in a day. It depends on travel time, how long a call takes, and the market. In a dense town market a rep may manage many short calls; in rural markets with long distances, far fewer.
A practical way to set it: take two weeks of actual visit data (time in each outlet and travel between them) and use the median day, not the best day. Then plan beats to that number, leaving room for new outlets and collections.
Worked example (illustrative): a territory with 60 A outlets, 120 B outlets and 240 C outlets, visited weekly, fortnightly and monthly, needs 60 + 60 + 60 = 180 visits a week (B outlets split over two weeks, C over four). Over a six-day week that is 30 visits a day, which is too many for one rep in most markets. So either the territory is split between two reps, or C outlets move to phone ordering between monthly visits.
Step 3: group outlets into beats
- Cluster by geography first: a beat should be one area or one stretch of road, not a zig-zag across town.
- Balance the load: each beat should carry roughly the same number of calls and similar sales potential.
- Order the route: sequence outlets to minimise travel, starting near the rep's base or the distributor.
- Fix the day: assign each beat to a weekday and keep it stable so outlets learn the rhythm.
- Leave slack: keep part of the day free for new outlets, complaints and collection calls.
Step 4: measure whether beats work
Four numbers tell you most of what you need, reviewed weekly by rep and by beat:
- Beat adherence: planned outlets actually visited, as a share of the plan. Visits should be verified by GPS, not self-reported.
- Productive calls: visits that produced an order, as a share of visits.
- Lines per call: how many different products each order contains, a measure of range selling.
- Coverage: outlets visited at least once in their frequency cycle, as a share of all active outlets.
Low adherence usually means the beat is too long or the route is badly ordered. Low productive calls with good adherence often points to stock, scheme or credit problems, not to the rep.
Common mistakes
- Designing beats on a map without real travel times.
- Giving every outlet the same frequency.
- Changing beat days often, so outlets lose the rhythm.
- Measuring visits that are typed in at night instead of checked in on the spot.
- Planning beats in a sheet that the order-taking app never sees.
Running beats in software
Beat plans work best when the plan, the visit check-in and the order sit in the same system. In the BeatOS field apps, each rep sees today's outlets in route order, checks in with GPS at each one, takes the order with the outlet's price list and scheme, and the order goes straight into BeatOS ERP for distribution. Managers see adherence and productive calls the same day.