How to get ahead of the market and improve trade marketing operations

While field service management (FSM), or geo-management, tools are excellent resources for supervisors who need to monitor a team of marketers in the field, they also have real power to improve management at the most senior level, making decisions easier and better informed.

In leadership roles, an FSM tool provides a clear, real-time view of the most relevant KPIs tied to trade marketing operations. We discussed this in our article 5 key indicators in point-of-sale management and how to track them better. 

That data lets us measure how effective the operation is and weigh our trade actions. The marketer also captures the same kind of information about competitors' activity; in other words, we get the full picture of what is happening in the field. 

Beyond that, geo-management software also lets us get ahead of the market. The benefit is clear: acting to meet demand before it arrives. How is that forecast possible? Through analysis of the data captured and, thanks to the artificial intelligence in the geo-management software, patterns emerge from that information.

So decision-making that draws on these tools gets not only the current view of operations but a forward view, to anticipate demand and the variations expected over time. This analysis of demand behavior makes it possible, among other things, to foresee stockouts, plan promotions and anticipate price and inventory swings. 

Broadly, productivity gains from implementing FMS software run on the order of 20 to 30%. They come from a stack of competitive advantages, all resting on digital transformation, which makes field service management one of the fastest-growing industries: over the next five years, its market will double in size.

Field service management is already in place as a tool at every company that stands out, and in the near future it will be the norm for managing field operations at companies of every size. 

At GoDoWorks, we are agents of that digital transformation, equipping consumer goods companies with powerful tools that connect them more closely to their operations. GDW Trade lets them navigate the huge volume of scattered information trade operations generate, to raise productivity immediately and over the long run, since it offers a comprehensive view, updated in real time, with a forward picture of what demand for their products will look like.