Financial ServicesBusiness Intelligence & Analytics

Field-Force Productivity & Location Analytics

Geographical tracking of field sales staff with a rule-based analytics model.

Objective

The objective was to create a fact-based view of field-force productivity by combining performance information with location and meeting activity. Management wanted to understand whether field time was being used effectively, distinguish genuine effort from weak execution or unreliable activity records, and use the resulting evidence to improve resource allocation, coaching, appraisal and accountability.

The challenge

The company had limited management visibility over the day-to-day activity of its field sales force. Existing systems captured parts of the picture, but did not provide a reliable way to assess where staff were, whether reported meetings aligned with observed movement, or whether low sales performance reflected weak effort or a need for targeted coaching. The challenge was therefore both analytical and managerial: create visibility without relying on a single data source or simplistic performance measure.

Approach & analysis
  • Combined CRM meeting data with hourly tower-based location data from the network provider (daily refresh).
  • Built a rule-based model scoring attendance, meeting efficiency and tracking status.
  • Classified staff as movers/couchers and flagged ‘dummy visits’ vs ‘dummy entries’ against a 20% tolerance.
Key insights
  • Staff persistently at an unknown location for 3+ hours during work were flagged; repeat patterns became red flags.
  • Investigation found some staff running parallel jobs (including ride-hailing) during work hours.
  • A group exerting real effort but not closing deals was identified for targeted mentoring.
Solution
  • Deployed an interactive scoring tool comparing efficiency, attendance and tracking against defined rules.
  • Reviewed flagged cases alongside performance and revenue-to-cost before action.
  • Shared findings in formal stakeholder reports.
Results
↑Retail sales revenue contribution
↑ vs prior yearSales staff productivity
Fair & transparentAppraisals from better visibility