RAA Limited Case Study

RAA Limited is a leading brand-development company that helps International and local FMCG companies that are not present in East Africa develop in the region.

The company’s primary activities include importation, distribution and brand management for products in the FMCG category.

Its product portfolio consists of spices, seasonings, snacks, biscuits and cookies, confectionery, OTC pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, household items, stationery items,

They have a team of 20 sales staff and 30 merchandisers in Kenya, with a client profile of 3000 individual customers.

RAA Limited Sales Team Operation

  • SALES;
    • Distribution – Ensuring all RAA LTD products are listed in all the stores visited by RAA Ltd at all the time in all the stores
    • Pricing – Sell RAA Ltd products to the customers at the correct pricing and advise them to sell at the recommended retail price (RRP)
    • Shelving – ensuring RAA Ltd product have been placed in the right category
    • Merchandising – Ensuring all RAA Ltd products have been placed as per approved standards (Share of shelf (SOS), visibility, Point of sales material (POSM))
    • Volume- the sales team is required to deliver monthly/quarterly/yearly targets
  • MERCHANDISING;
    • Distribution – generation of HQ orders
    • Pricing- Ensuring our RRP have been implemented in the outlets and price tags erected
    • Shelving- Ensuring all RAA products are in the correct category
    • Merchandising – Activities that will encourage impulse buying E.G. use of POSM, Ensuring our goods are as per the standard planogram, first in first out (FIFO),
    • Expiry- Communicate on arising expiry issues as per the expiry policy
    • Communicate on competitors activities
    • Market intelligence

As for the merchandisers, they are required to visit the outlets and supermarkets to check on the status of the stock and collect feedback.

Challenges to be solved by SENRI

RAA Limited was experiencing delays in the order process. It took a lot of time for customer orders to be processed.

The company did not also have a clear picture of their coverage. The field representatives had a difficult time trying to map every customer in every location and ensure that the client database is updated.

Part of the managers’ job requirements is to track every salesperson and merchandiser, and gain an overview of how the field staff works. They were previously unable to ensure that the field staff are always on time and visit their customers regularly.

The old system involved a lot of paperwork and was prone to a lot of human errors. It was also difficult to update the system and keep up with new changes.

Benefits of the SENRI System

  1. Tracking of the Sales team and Merchandisers
    • What SENRI Does
      • Real-time GPS tracking function: The management can keep tabs on the location of their field representatives. This helps the management to know when they’re on site and the duration of time the staff take at each outlet by also showing their check-in and check-out time. This means that the sales teams can also be tracked even when they visit remote locations. The management is able to know who’s working where and for how long.
      • Visit report Function: This is a real time report function that helps the team to provide reports quickly and efficiently when they are still on the site. It helps the management know their customers’ needs, how many times they’re being visited and what the consumers are saying about their products. Besides that, the field team can also collect useful data about competitor’s products. The management can then make data-based decisions rooted in this information.
    • Changes Happened to Team
      • The Schedule Function helps the management to know whether the sales teams are working as required and meeting their daily targets. In addition, the Target Management function helps the managers to set and monitor targets for the remote teams.
      • Sales representatives can now refer to previous discussions with clients using the Visit Report. This helps the company be in touch with each customer by providing good services and ensuring they’re satisfied. The managers are now also able to make better decisions based on the available data.
  2. Business Development
    • What SENRI Does
      • Customer Mapping: The sales representatives can map customers once they visit them to get accurate data on their location. The management can also tell where their customers are mostly located
    • Changes Happened to Team
      • The management has been able to have a map of their coverage and customer distribution. This helps them know where their products are being consumed and identify new areas they need to introduce their products. RAA has been able to expand their customer base and boost their sales.
  3. Customer Satisfaction
    • What SENRI Does
      • Visit Report: Sales representatives collect data concerning their products or competitors and the management receives this in real time. The management can set appropriate measures to enhance their services and products or take action from the report.
      • Real time Order booking: The SENRI system integrates with SAGE to automatically process orders collected in the field in real time. This helps eliminate manual order entry and streamline the order process flow and delivery
    • Changes Happened to Team
      • Sales Staff are now able to ensure their customer’s needs are met considering the feedback received from them. The important data about the customers is automatically updated in the system so the team always has access to it.
      • The field staff are now able to access the orders that were placed by the customers directly to the office. They can track the status of customer orders and confirm the orders that have already been invoiced from SENRI.
      • The field staff can check the exact sales in real time and hence work on achieving their targets.
      • Merchandisers give reports on products/ competitors in the market in time for management to make informed decisions on how the market looks like.
      • The process of onboarding new customers has also been streamlined using SENRI.

Conclusion

In conclusion, RAA Limited has experienced major improvements in the productivity and efficiency of their sales team. The management has also been able to make more informed decisions by analysing the data collected by the staff. This has helped them understand their market better and put in place measures to drive them towards their goals and targets.