With so much of the OEM’s focus being placed on increasing sales and profitability at the dealership level, the untapped value of field staff is being overlooked. These front-line representatives are a vital component in the business model. However, the value associated with field forces frequently goes unrecognised. With each business unit having its own dedicated field staff — from sales to service to certified-pre-owned — there is significant opportunity to increase efficiency. Today more than ever, manufacturers need to take the time to quantify the ROI of their field staff to ensure they are maximising value.

A manufacturer’s field staff plays an important role in ensuring that both manufacturer objectives and customer expectations are being met. It all begins with understanding your objectives and ends with aligning your field force for optimal performance. The process includes:

• Determining Field Staff Objectives
• Quantifying Value of Field Staff
• Determining How to Maximise Value
• Proposing and Measuring Solutions
• Aligning Field Staff and Geographic Coverage

For example, Urban Science recently worked with a manufacturer where significant field force inefficiencies were hidden. It was revealed there wasn’t enough staff and their workload varied widely by field representative. This inefficiency resulted in the OEM spending $25 million per year in unnecessary costs. After using Urban Science’s Field Force Allocation solution, this manufacturer is now realising increased customer satisfaction and decreased spending in servicing their customers.

Do you believe the workload of your field force is balanced and efficient? Have you explored the value your field force is providing? If you can’t answer each of these questions, it is worth an evaluation to determine if there’s untapped potential.

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