What is a van route planner?

It decides which outlets a van sales route covers on which day, in what order, with what stock on board. A working planner holds the outlet master with service frequency, groups outlets into beats that repeat on a weekly or fortnightly cycle, sequences the stops to minimise travel, and produces both a call list for the salesman and a load plan for the depot. The output is a day plan somebody can be measured against.

How do I decide visit frequency per outlet?

Use value and category rather than distance. Outlets that turn over quickly, hold limited shelf stock or carry perishable lines need weekly or twice-weekly service. Smaller outlets with slow offtake can be fortnightly or monthly without losing sales. Set the frequency first, then build beats that deliver it. Building beats from geography and then assigning whatever frequency falls out is how high-value outlets end up under-served.

What is a productive call, and why measure it?

A productive call is a planned visit that resulted in an order. The ratio of productive calls to total calls tells you whether the route is worth running, and it separates two very different problems. A high call count with low productivity usually means the beat contains outlets that should not be on it. A low call count with high productivity usually means the salesman is skipping the harder stops.

Can I build beat plans in a spreadsheet?

Yes. One tab as the outlet master with code, name, type, address, area, frequency, average drop size and credit status. One tab per beat listing outlets in sequence with a planned visit time. A third tab records daily actuals: visited, ordered, value, reason code. Review coverage weekly. The limitation is the field end, since a printed beat sheet cannot record a GPS check-in or show live outstanding at the counter.

How should van load planning work?

Work backwards from the beat. For each outlet on tomorrow's route, take recent average offtake by stock keeping unit, sum across the beat, add a modest buffer on fast lines, and cap slow lines at what genuinely sells there. Load to that plan rather than to habit. Reconcile at the end of the day against orders billed and stock returned, and adjust the next load. Over a few weeks the buffer shrinks and van productivity rises.

Why do reason codes matter more than they look?

Because a blank line is unactionable and a coded one is not. Shop closed, owner unavailable, credit exceeded, stock still in hand, competitor scheme, and price objection each demand different responses from a supervisor. When non-productive calls are coded consistently, a weekly view shows whether the route has a timing problem, a credit problem or a competitive problem, and the fix is specific rather than a general instruction to sell harder.

What does HelloGrowthCRM cost for a distribution team?

Paid plans start at ₹899 per user per month, and a free plan is available so a single distributor can run a beat cycle before committing. Field salesmen, the supervisor and the depot in-charge are the usual seats. The mobile app matters most here, since the whole record is created at the counter rather than typed up in the evening from memory.

Van Route Planner

Van Route Planner: Cover the Right Outlets, in the Right Order, with the Right Stock

Build beats from service frequency, sequence the stops, load the van from real offtake, and measure productive calls and coverage instead of kilometres travelled.

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Van route planner showing a day beat with sequenced outlets, planned visit times, expected drop size and van load plan

Quick answer

Is HelloGrowthCRM right for Van Route Planner?

Yes. HelloGrowthCRM gives Van Route Planner a single system to capture every lead, automate follow-up across phone, WhatsApp, and email, prioritise leads with AI scoring, and forecast revenue — with calling and messaging built in instead of sold as add-ons. It's built for the problems these teams actually hit — like routes were drawn years ago by geography alone, so high-value outlets get the same visit frequency as marginal ones — rather than generic sales busywork.

Beats built from service frequency first and geography second, so a weekly outlet and a fortnightly outlet are not forced into the same run
Visit sequence numbered on the route, which removes the zig-zag that costs a van an hour of selling time every day
Van load plan generated from expected demand on the beat, so slow-moving stock is not carried across town and back

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The job this tool does, and who does it today

Van sales is a numbers business run on a timetable. A vehicle leaves the depot with stock, covers a defined set of outlets, sells from the van, collects cash, picks up returns and comes back. Everything about its profitability is decided before it leaves: which outlets, in what order, with what on board.

In most distribution businesses that plan lives in a register at the depot and in the salesman's head. Beats were drawn years ago on a rough map. New outlets get added verbally to whichever beat is nearby. Outlets that closed stay on the list. At the end of the day the salesman reports the total value billed, and the supervisor has no view of which planned calls actually happened.

A van route planner replaces that with something checkable: a dated beat, a sequence, a load plan, and an outcome for every planned call.

What the planner needs to capture

Three layers: the outlet master, the beat definition, and the daily actuals. Keep them separate and the whole thing stays maintainable as the market changes.

Field	Why it matters
Outlet code, name and type	Kirana, chemist, HORECA or modern trade.
Address and coordinates	Sequencing and check-in verification.
Service frequency	Weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Drives beat design.
Beat name and day	The repeating cycle the van actually runs.
Visit sequence number	Removes the zig-zag that eats selling time.
Planned visit time	Makes the day plan checkable, not aspirational.
Average drop size	Feeds the load plan and flags decline early.
Last order date and value	Identifies outlets quietly going dormant.
Credit status and outstanding	Known at the counter, before billing.
Van load by stock unit	Cases loaded against expected demand.
Visit outcome and reason code	A zero-order call must still say why.
Cash collected and returns	Reconciled against the same visit record.

Worked example: one Tuesday beat

An illustrative day plan for a single van covering eight outlets in a fortnightly cycle, with two weekly accounts scheduled first because they turn over fastest.

Seq	Outlet	Type	Freq	Planned	Expected drop
1	Balaji Stores	Kirana	Weekly	09:15	₹8,400
2	Sri Medicals	Chemist	Weekly	09:45	₹5,200
3	New Corner Shop	Kirana	Fortnightly	10:20	₹2,100
4	Hotel Amrut	HORECA	Fortnightly	11:00	₹6,800
5	Gupta Provision	Kirana	Fortnightly	11:40	₹3,300
6	Sai Super	Modern trade	Fortnightly	12:30	₹11,500
7	Anand Kirana	Kirana	Fortnightly	14:10	₹1,900
8	Lakshmi Stores	Kirana	Fortnightly	14:50	₹2,600

Expected drop totals about ₹41,800, which is what the van should be loaded to serve plus a buffer on fast lines. If Anand Kirana returns a zero-order call for the third cycle running, that outlet needs a decision rather than another visit.

The honest case for moving this into a CRM

A distributor with two vans and a stable market can run beats on paper for years, and plenty do it well. The trouble starts when coverage has to be verified, when outlets change faster than the register, and when a supervisor manages routes they cannot personally accompany.

Job	Register and Excel	Inside a CRM
Design the beat	Fine	Fine
Prove the visit happened	Salesman's word	GPS check-in with a timestamp
Outstanding at the counter	Phone call to the depot	On the outlet record
Zero-order calls	Invisible	Reason codes, reviewed weekly
Dormant outlets	Noticed eventually	Flagged by last-order date
Load versus sale	Reconciled at the depot	Against the same day plan

Common mistakes in beat planning

Building routes from the map alone

Geography decides efficiency, but frequency decides sales. Set the frequency each outlet deserves, then optimise the driving.

Loading the van by habit

Carrying slow lines every day wastes capacity and hides the fast-line stockouts that actually cost orders.

Never removing dead outlets

A beat padded with shops that have not ordered in six months inflates the call count and depresses productivity for no reason.

Measuring calls instead of productive calls

Total visits is easy to hit and tells you nothing. Productive calls and average drop size are the pair worth reviewing every week.

Where to go next

Challenges we solve

The problems holding this industry back — and the fix

Every team in this space loses revenue to the same recurring gaps. Here is what they cost you and how HelloGrowthCRM closes each one.

Routes were drawn years ago by geography alone, so high-value outlets get the same visit frequency as marginal ones.

Frequency is set per outlet from value and category, and beats are then built to serve that frequency efficiently.Frequency-first beats

The salesman decides the order of visits each morning, so the van crosses the same market three times.

Visit sequence is fixed on the beat and visible on the mobile app, with deviations recorded rather than assumed.Sequenced routes

A visit that produced no order simply does not appear anywhere, so nobody knows whether the shop was shut or the shopkeeper refused.

Every planned call is closed with an outcome, and non-productive visits carry a reason code that feeds a weekly review.Reason codes

Van load is decided by habit, so fast lines run out by mid-morning while slow stock travels the whole route.

The load plan is built from the beat's outlets and their recent offtake, and shortfalls are visible before the van leaves.Load planning

What you get

Why teams choose HelloGrowthCRM

AI-powered CRM with the features you need to close more deals.

Beats built from service frequency first and geography second, so a weekly outlet and a fortnightly outlet are not forced into the same run.

Visit sequence numbered on the route, which removes the zig-zag that costs a van an hour of selling time every day.

Van load plan generated from expected demand on the beat, so slow-moving stock is not carried across town and back.

Outlet type recorded, because a kirana, a chemist, a HORECA account and a modern trade store buy different assortments.

Reason codes for every non-productive call, so a zero-order visit produces information instead of a blank line.

GPS check-in at the outlet from the mobile app, giving a timestamped visit record rather than an evening estimate.

Credit status and outstanding visible at the counter, so a salesman knows before billing whether to insist on cash.

Returns and expiry pickups captured on the same visit, rather than reconciled separately at the depot.

Cash and collection recorded against the visit, so end-of-day reconciliation matches the order record.

Coverage against plan reported daily, which surfaces the outlets nobody has actually visited in six weeks.

Productive call percentage and drop size per beat, the two numbers that tell you whether a route is worth running.

New outlet addition and dead outlet removal as a routine, so beats reflect the market rather than a list from two years ago.

Compare HelloGrowthCRM to HubSpot, Salesforce & more

HelloGrowthCRM by the numbers

$12: per user/month list price — $10/user/mo on annual billing, ₹899/user/mo in India
$0: free forever starter plan — no credit card required
14-day: trial included on paid plans
259+: live integrations, from WhatsApp to Tally and QuickBooks
500+: teams worldwide run their pipeline on HelloGrowthCRM

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about using HelloGrowthCRM in your industry.

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