In a world of continual rising costs and inflation, it is more crucial now than ever to implement ways to minimize and control costs within your business. Everyone within an organization can do their part to contribute to this effort including those within the sales team. A sales team is constantly on the go visiting customers and fuel costs on these travels play a huge role in affecting overall operating costs. The good news is there are ways to reduce and control fuel costs for a field sales team. We have outlined some tips on how to reduce fuel costs to help you out and make a large impact in the long run.
Pay Close Attention to Fuel Prices
You might be wondering just how do I go about reducing fuel costs for my sales team? The quickest route to seeing results is to have them begin paying close attention to fuel prices. As you or your sales team passes gas stations while you drive through different towns on your travels make sure to note which gas stations or towns seem to be the cheapest. If it is a route that you travel often you will notice regular patterns within the fuel pricing, and you can plan your route accordingly.
There are a number of fuel tracking apps out on the market today that can help your field sales team out when it comes to paying close attention to fuel prices, such as GasBuddy or Gas Guru. These apps are easily downloaded through an app store onto your phone, and will show which gas stations within certain areas have the cheapest prices. In addition to fuel tracking apps, there are mileage tracker apps that can be useful when it comes to tracking your mileage on the road. One of the most commonly used mileage tracker apps is Mileage Tracker by MileIQ.
Leverage Fuel Memberships and Loyalty Programs
As your team begins to learn which gas stations along their routes seem to have the most competitive prices, they could then check to see if they have a fuel membership or loyalty program. Depending on the type of program, they should begin to see fuel savings right away. At first, these savings might seem small, but they will add up over time.
Implement Route Optimization
Another fuel cost reduction tactic that can contribute to fuel cost savings is sales route planning. This is not as quick to implement as simply paying attention to gas prices, but will pay off in the long run. Sales route planning is no easy task, especially if you have a large sales team. Sales route planner tools like Map My Customers can help you tackle this. Using Map My Customers, you can view the areas with the most business opportunity on an easy-to-use map, create, save and share optimized routes and call lists based on location, priority, deal size and more. You are able to map sales routes easily by utilizing multi-stop route planning; as well as find nearby leads to add to your reps routes on the fly and to fill gaps in their day. Your field sales reps will also have the ability to log activities, check-ins, and notes directly from their routes, simplifying data entry across your teams.
When choosing which sales route planner tool is the best for your organization there are a number of things to take into consideration. The first is which aligns best to your business needs. Are you needing this tool just for sales route planning or are there other features that the tool can help you with. It is also important to make note of which will integrate with your CRM system. Map My Customers can be used as a standalone program or easily integrated with most top CRM systems.
Having the ability to complete all of this in one program will save time, and give your field sales reps optimized sales routes to help them make the most of their travels, and is considered a best practice when you are trying to determine how to reduce fuel costs. If you are wondering what type of savings you might see, you are able to easily calculate the average fuel savings by using a sales route planner like Map My Customers, by visiting the ROI calculator.
Coordinate Field Sales Rep Schedules
Once you have begun to tackle sales route optimization, you will then have the ability to coordinate your field sales rep’s schedules easier than you would have before. For example, if you have reps traveling to the same area for any reason, or you need to visit a customer at the same time as one of your field sales reps you can coordinate your travels accordingly. Such as carpooling or using the same rental car to save on fuel.
Implement Fuel Savings Best Practices with the Field Sales Rep Team
Simply sharing some common tips and tricks for fuel savings can also be an effective strategy in reducing fuel costs. There are many online resources that will outline some of these best practices to implement. Which can include anything from keeping your tires properly inflated to avoiding aggressive driving, or using fuel efficient cars.
Find the Mix that Works the Best for You and Start Saving
Any of the tips that have been shared in this article are all great ways to reduce fuel costs within your field sales rep team. There is no right or wrong answer, but to maximize savings implementing several fuel saving tactics into your organization will have the largest impact. Utilizing a field sales mapping and sales route planner tool, like Map My Customers will optimize your sales route planning process, enabling you and your team to get the most out of their time on the road, and when used in conjunction with other fuel saving best practices will lead to a significant reduction in fuel costs and overall operating costs for your organization as a whole.
