Which dealers to focus on this week: a method for sales officers
A sales officer with sixty dealers and five working days cannot push everyone. Most officers visit the biggest dealers, because that is where the numbers are. It is also where the least additional volume is. This page gives a method for choosing the week's dealers that fits on one sheet.
A sales officer should decide which dealers to focus on by ranking them on the volume each can realistically add this period, and on how close each is to the next scheme threshold. The realistic addition comes from the dealer's own history: recent average, peak month and trend. A dealer whose gap to the next slab is smaller than the volume he has shown he can add is worth a visit this week. The dealer who earns the most from the scheme is usually already at his ceiling.
Why the biggest earner is the wrong first call
The top dealer in a territory is the easiest visit. The relationship is warm, the order is large and the officer's daily report looks good. But a dealer already running close to the most he has ever bought has little room left. His warehouse, his credit limit and his market set a ceiling. Pushing him further in the last week mostly moves next month's purchase into this month.
The volume that would not otherwise happen sits elsewhere: with the mid-sized dealer who is 50 units short of a slab he has crossed before, and with the smaller dealer whose purchases are rising. The scheme has already given them a reason to stretch. What is often missing is someone telling them how close they are. Scheme design is covered in dealer incentive programs. This page is about using a live scheme well.
Three numbers per dealer
Projected month-end
Month-to-date purchases projected to the end of the month. The simplest method is the straight run rate: month-to-date divided by days elapsed, multiplied by days in the month.
Realistic ceiling
What the dealer has shown he can do. The peak month in the last twelve is a fair ceiling for a dealer with a flat or rising trend. For a dealer whose purchases are falling, the recent three-month average is a more honest ceiling.
Next threshold
The next scheme slab above the projected month-end.
From these come two derived figures. Addable volume is the ceiling less the projected month-end: how much more the dealer could realistically buy. Gap is the next threshold less the projected month-end: how much more he needs to buy for the scheme to pay him more. When the gap is no larger than the addable volume, the threshold is reachable and the officer has something concrete to say at the counter.
Worked example: five dealers on day 20
The figures are illustrative. It is day 20 of a 30-day month, so the run rate multiplies month-to-date by 1.5. The scheme has monthly slabs at 250, 500, 750 and 1,000 units.
| Dealer | Month-to-date | Projected month-end | 3-month average | Peak month | Trend | Ceiling used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 600 | 900 | 880 | 920 | Flat | 920 |
| B | 300 | 450 | 430 | 560 | Flat | 560 |
| C | 150 | 225 | 240 | 400 | Rising | 400 |
| D | 440 | 660 | 640 | 700 | Flat | 700 |
| E | 60 | 90 | 150 | 300 | Falling | 150 |
Dealer E's ceiling is his three-month average, not his peak, because his trend is falling. Now the derived figures:
| Dealer | Addable volume | Next threshold | Gap | Reachable? | Rank by addable volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 175 | 250 | 25 | Yes | 1 |
| B | 110 | 500 | 50 | Yes | 2 |
| E | 60 | 250 | 160 | No | 3 |
| D | 40 | 750 | 90 | No | 4 |
| A | 20 | 1,000 | 100 | No | 5 |
Ranked by scheme earnings, the order would be A, D, B, C, E, and an officer following habit would spend the week with A and D. Together they can realistically add 60 units. B and C together can add 285. The five dealers have 405 units of addable volume in all, and 70 percent of it sits with two dealers who would not have been the first calls.
What to do with each dealer
- C. 25 units short of the first slab, with room for much more. First visit. The 500 slab is not reachable this month, so do not sell it.
- B. 50 units short of 500, a level below his own peak. Second visit, with the slab benefit worked out in rupees.
- D. 90 short of 750 with only 40 of room. Pushing him to the slab means loading stock he will not sell. A normal service call.
- A. Running near his peak. Keep him serviced and supplied. Extra pressure buys little.
- E. Purchases are falling. This is not a scheme conversation. Find out why: a competitor's offer, a credit problem or a service complaint.
Suggested dealer-wise targets from trend
The same figures give a defensible target for each dealer, in place of last year plus a flat percentage. Where a threshold is reachable, the target is the threshold. Where it is not, the target is the ceiling.
| Dealer | Projected month-end | Suggested target | Basis | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 900 | 920 | Ceiling; 1,000 slab not reachable | 20 |
| B | 450 | 500 | Reachable slab | 50 |
| C | 225 | 250 | Reachable slab | 25 |
| D | 660 | 700 | Ceiling; 750 slab not reachable | 40 |
| E | 90 | 150 | Recover to recent average | 60 |
| Total | 2,325 | 2,520 | 195 |
The territory target of 2,520 is 195 units, or about 8.4 percent, above the projected 2,325. It is built from what each dealer has shown he can do, so the officer can explain every line. C's target is set at the reachable slab of 250, although his history suggests he could go further. That is a judgement call: a target a dealer hits builds more trust than a stretch he misses. A rising dealer can be given a higher slab next month.
The Excel sheet officers build today, and why it fails
Good officers already do a version of this. They keep a sheet with dealer names, last month's figure, this month's figure to date and the scheme slabs, and they update it from the billing report or from calls to the dealer. The thinking is right. The sheet fails for practical reasons.
It is stale
The sheet is updated when the officer gets the billing extract, often weekly. By the time it shows a dealer is 25 units short, the month has four days left.
It covers one scheme
A dealer may be in three schemes with different thresholds. The sheet tracks the main one and the rest are remembered or forgotten.
History is thin
Peak month and trend need twelve months of data per dealer. Most sheets hold this month and last.
It belongs to one person
When the officer moves territory, the sheet goes with him, and the new officer starts from nothing.
Nobody can check it
The area manager cannot see which dealers each officer chose to push, or why.
The underlying problem is that the officer is doing data preparation in the hours that should go to visits. If your team's incentives depend on visit coverage, as in a feet on street incentive plan, it matters even more that the visits go to the right dealers.
What a system does with the same logic
Unotag's officer focus list ranks an officer's dealers by the volume they can realistically add, using each dealer's purchase history, with modes for nearest-to-threshold, value and growth, and it suggests dealer-wise targets from trend. It runs on the same engine that calculates the schemes, so the thresholds, eligibility and month-to-date figures are the ones the payout will use. The dealer, for his part, sees his own progress and next target in the app or on WhatsApp, which means the officer's visit confirms something the dealer has already seen. The dealer scheme engine and dealer incentives pages describe this, and the sales tracking app records the visits that follow.
Limits of the method
- Straight run rate misleads. Many dealers buy heavily in the last week. A straight projection on day 20 understates them. Where history allows, project using the dealer's own pattern within the month.
- Peak month can be a one-off. A peak caused by a project order or a price-rise pre-buy is not a ceiling the dealer can repeat. Use the second-highest month if the peak looks abnormal.
- Primary purchase is not sell-out. A dealer can cross a slab and sit on the stock. Where secondary sales data exists, check that his sales out are keeping pace.
- The list is a starting point. The officer knows things the data does not: a dealer's family event, a dispute, a new competitor counter next door. The ranking should inform the plan, not replace judgement.
- Thresholds must be sensible to begin with. If slabs were set too high for most of the base, almost no dealer will show as reachable. That is a finding about the scheme. The slab design guide covers setting thresholds from data.
Key takeaways
- Rank dealers by the volume they can realistically add, taken from their own average, peak month and trend, not by who earns the most.
- A dealer is worth a push this week when the gap to the next scheme threshold is no larger than his addable volume.
- Set dealer-wise targets at the reachable threshold, or at the dealer's realistic ceiling when no threshold is reachable.
- The officer's Excel sheet has the right idea but is stale, single-scheme and personal. The same logic needs live data from the scheme engine.
Frequently asked questions
Which dealers should a sales officer focus on?
The dealers who can realistically add the most volume this period and are within reach of the next scheme threshold. These are usually mid-sized or growing dealers, not the largest ones, who tend to be near their ceiling already.
How do you do dealer prioritisation as a sales officer?
For each dealer, project the month-end from month-to-date purchases, set a realistic ceiling from the dealer's peak month or recent average, calculate the volume he could add, and compare it with the gap to the next scheme slab. Rank by addable volume and visit reachable dealers first.
How do you set dealer-wise targets?
Build each target from the dealer's own history. Where the next scheme threshold is within the dealer's realistic ceiling, set the target at that threshold. Where it is not, set the target at the ceiling. This gives targets the officer can explain line by line.
Why should a sales officer not just focus on the top dealers?
Top dealers are usually buying close to the most they have ever bought, limited by warehouse space, credit and their market. Extra pressure mostly shifts next month's purchases forward. The additional volume is larger with dealers who have room and a threshold in reach.
What is a dealer focus list?
A dealer focus list is a ranked list of the dealers a sales officer should prioritise in a given week, ordered by the volume each can realistically add and by closeness to the next scheme threshold, with a suggested target for each.
What data is needed for dealer target setting?
Month-to-date purchases, at least twelve months of monthly purchase history per dealer to find the average, peak and trend, and the thresholds of every scheme the dealer is eligible for. Secondary sales data, where available, shows whether stock is moving out.
Can dealer prioritisation be done in Excel?
Yes, for a small territory and a single scheme, and many officers do it. It becomes unreliable when the data is updated weekly, dealers are in several schemes, and history is short. The logic is sound, but it needs live figures from the scheme calculation.