Location analytics has the potential to completely revolutionize your sales process.
Once you have access to this kind of technology, territory management, route optimization, and activity tracking tasks will become easier and more accurate for your sales team.
Keep reading to learn what location analytics is, how to use this technology in a sales context, the benefits of location analytics for sales teams, and nine tools you can use for this purpose. Let’s take a look!
What Is Location Analytics?
When it comes to field sales, the term “location analytics” refers to the use of human movement to identify important sales-related trends, and extract insights from the available data to aid sales processes.
Field sales departments often refer to location analytics as “sales mapping”. Whatever you call it, this technology helps sellers visualize important location data. When this happens, it becomes easier to make smart decisions that lead to sales, revenue growth, and ultimately, more success.
Sales Uses of Location Analytics
We know what you’re thinking, “That’s all great. But what does location analytics for field sales teams actually look like?” We’re glad you asked. Here are five important use cases:
Sales Mapping
Use location analytics to visualize your pipeline and understand where your sales come from. For example, prospects and customers can be represented as pins on a digital map. Said pins can then be color-coded to signify each prospect or customer’s place in your sales process. The result? Reps can look at the digital map on any internet-capable device and immediately know where to focus their efforts.
Route Planning
Location analytics can also be used to plan efficient routes between potential customers. Depending on technology used, reps can often input a collection of addresses into their location analytics tool at once. The app will then plan the perfect route to each destination. Some software will also track mileage for reps so that they don’t have to waste time on tedious data entry tasks and can focus on selling.
Territory Management
Location analytics technology makes it easy to cut territories and assign them to qualified reps. Where are your prospects? How can you divide them between your sales reps in an efficient and fair manner? And how do you make sure there’s no overlap between sales areas? Location analytics will help you answer these questions—in addition to monitoring individual territory performance in real time.
Sales Prospecting
According to recent research, more than 40% of sales professionals say prospecting is the most difficult part of their jobs. Location analytics technology simplifies the prospecting process. Reps can use it to quickly find leads in their territories that match their ideal customer profiles. Armed with a list of potential customers, sales reps can then work to close as many deals as possible.
Rep Tracking
Finally, location analytics for sales teams will help you keep track of your reps. Where are they? And how do they spend their time in the field? The right tools will give you this information. Once you have it, you can properly assess performance. For example, you’ll know if reps miss quota because they lack training or simply refuse to put in the required effort. You can then act accordingly.
Benefits of Location Analytics For Field Sales
Location analytics will help you improve your sales targeting efforts, enhance your sales strategy, make data-driven decisions, and increase customer engagement. Let’s dig deeper into each of these benefits:
Improved Sales Targeting
When you can access location analytics for sales teams, you’ll be able to identify high-potential areas. In other words, it will be easy to find territories with quality prospects that match your ICPs (Ideal Customer Profile). Just as important, you’ll be able to understand these customers on a deeper level. For example, you’ll have data regarding demographic information, which you can use to inform your sales strategy. Speaking of which…
Enhanced Sales Planning and Strategy
You wouldn’t drive from California to New York without GPS, would you? You’d almost certainly get lost along the way. Sales is similar. You need a plan if you want to meet quota and drive revenue. Location analytics will help you uncover key data points and identify trends. You can then use this information to adjust your approach to sales, which will lead to more opportunities, deals, and success.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Location analytics will also give you real-time data regarding where prospects are located and how your reps interact with them. This kind of information will help inform your general decision-making processes and coaching programs. It will also help you predict future results with greater accuracy. After all, when you know what’s happening right now, you can better guess what will happen in the future.
Increased Customer Engagement
Finally, access to location analytics will help your reps engage with customers in productive ways. This is because they’ll be able to personalize their marketing efforts based on where said customers live. (If selling solar panels, for example, you might contact prospects in Denver, CO during the summer months, when they’ll see a greater benefit from the product.) Personalization is a core tenet of effective customer relationship management. Get it right and sales will be much easier to come by.
Top 9 Location Analytics Tools for Sales Teams
Location analytics for field sales will make your team more efficient and successful. The question is, which tool should you use? Here are nine options you should consider investing in:
1. SPOTIO
G2 rating: 4.5 stars / 348 reviews
Best for: High-growth field sales teams
SPOTIO is the go-to tool for field sales teams—especially those that want to supercharge productivity and revenue. This is because SPOTIO is purpose-built with all of the features field reps need to succeed. Many of these features include location analytics tech, which provides visibility into sales activity, improves the sales process and increases rep productivity.
Key features:
- Cut territories based on geographic boundaries or by drawing on a map
- Generate leads that perfectly match your ICPs—all in just a few clicks
- Plan efficient routes between prospects and track mileage along the way
- View analytics to learn how different territories and reps are performing
- Track your reps’ travel paths in the field and verify check-ins with GPS
- Integrate SPOTIO with major CRMs, calendar apps, HubSpot and other systems
2. Maptitude
G2 rating: 4.7 stars / 137 reviews
Best for: Experienced sales reps
Maptitude will give your reps the ability to cut territories, optimize routes between prospects, and visualize sales data. Unfortunately, it’s not the most usable tool, which is why it’s suggested for experienced sellers.
Key features:
- Identify where your prospects and customers are
- Pinpoint common characteristics between buyers
- Visualize all of these data points on a digital map
- Create sales routes and reduce windshield time
- View areas with high market share and growth potential
3. Salesforce Maps
G2 rating: 4.3 stars / 319 reviews
Best for: Existing Salesforce users
Salesforce is the biggest name in CRM software. But this tool does way more than simply help sales reps manage customer relationships. It can also be used to map efficient routes between prospects.
Key features:
- Plot accounts, opportunities, and other Salesforce data on a digital map
- Use filters to help prioritize outreach to specific prospects and/or customers
- Adjust territories at any time to account for trends and to maintain performance
- Build efficient routes between sales meetings to save time and boost productivity
- Connect Salesforce Maps to many other Salesforce tools, or integrate with SPOTIO
4. CARTO SalesQuest
G2 rating: 4.5 stars / 75 reviews
Best for: High-tech sales teams
Carto is an in-depth spatial analytics software. When applied to the sales process, it enables reps to create effective territories and design efficient routes between prospects.
Key features:
- Quickly create analysis procedures with a drag-and-drop interface
- Build complex data visualizations inside your cloud data warehouse
- Design your own location-based apps with comprehensive APIs
- Optimize routes between locations to reduce costs and carbon emissions
5. Maptive
G2 rating: 4.7 stars / 34 reviews
Best for: Short-term field sales needs
Maptive is a popular sales mapping software. With it, users can turn their data into a “custom Google map in minutes.” The tool can also be purchased in 45-day increments, which benefits short-term sales needs.
Key features:
- Create custom maps with personalized markers and views
- Access Google Streets View from inside the Maptive app
- Filter sales data by category, date, number range, and more
- Get driving directions from one prospect to the next
6. GeoMetrx
G2 rating: N/A
Best for: Real-time U.S. demographics data
GeoMetrx is an intuitive tool that will help you locate demographic data in the United States. Learn everything you need to know about prospects in specific states, counties, and/or zip codes.
Key features:
- Access demographic data with unparalleled accuracy
- Create demographics, business, retail, crime, and other reports
- Enjoy curated insights to help understand the data on a deeper level
- Use an intuitive platform that makes it easy to tease out key insights
7. Esri ArcGIS
G2 rating: 4.5 stars / 528 reviews
Best for: Large organizations
ArcGis was designed to help you visualize, analyze, and understand your data. For sales, it enables reps to see where their prospects and customers are, then design efficient routes to meet them in the field.
Key features:
- Map information to discover important trends
- Visualize data on maps, charts, and infographics
- Personalize your maps with colors, symbols, etc.
- Design the most efficient routes to sales meetings
8. Geopointe
G2 rating: 4.3 stars / 282 reviews
Best for: Small businesses that use Salesforce
Geopointe is a top sales mapping app for Salesforce users. While Salesforce does have its own mapping solution (see above) Geopointe is easier to use and has fantastic customer support.
Key features:
- Optimize the routes reps take between prospects
- Find sales opportunities near pre-planned meetings
- Enable reps to check in and out of stops in the field
- Take sales notes directly inside the Geopointe app
- Map customers and visualize your Salesforce data
9. HyperTrack
G2 rating: 4.5 stars / 19 reviews
Best for: Tracking productivity in the field
Use HyperTrack’s low-code / no-code solutions to “build logistics apps for the future.” Once your sales team is set up, reps will be able to plan routes and management will be able to track rep progress.
Key features:
- Help reps plan the best routes to their various stops in the field
- Use geofence technology to always know where your reps are
- Integrate HyperTrack with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other tools
Boost Results With SPOTIO’s Location Analytics For Sales Teams
Your department will improve its productivity levels, decision-making abilities, and overall success when it commits to location analytics for sales teams. You just need to choose the right platform.
For most field sellers, the “right” platform is SPOTIO. Our app was specifically designed with you in mind. As such, it has all the features you need to plan efficient routes, track reps in the field, and collect location-based data. It can also be used to source leads, communicate with prospects, and build reports.
Book a free demo of SPOTIO today to see our industry-leading solution in action!
