Control tower alerts
Every morning SmartMy Distribution checks the network and raises alerts for the right area manager. Dealers not ordering, retailers who stopped buying, stock-outs, late dealer figures, salesmen without visits or away from the shops. The manager closes each one as Dealt With.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- A dealer stops ordering and the area manager hears of it at month end.
- A dealer runs out of a fast item and the shelves around him go empty for a week.
- A salesman skips his beat and nothing shows until the sales fall.
- Problems are spotted in reports nobody opens every day.
How it works
- Every morning (the job runs at about 1:30 at night) each entity is checked against the rules below.
- Each problem becomes one alert, raised once while it is open, for the manager of the area (or the area above). With no area manager, it goes to the entity's distribution manager.
- The manager is told at once, in the app and as a phone notification, and opens Reports > Control Tower.
- The manager acts, writes What Was Done and presses Dealt With. An alert can be opened again.
- A Dealer Figures Late alert closes by itself when the dealer's figures come in.
Everything it does
Alerts raised
- Dealer Not Ordering: an active dealer with no order for 21 days (a setting)
- Retailer Lapsed: a retailer who bought before but not for 45 days (a setting)
- Dealer Out of Stock: a dealer with none left of an item it sells
- Running out (raised under Dealer Out of Stock): an item a dealer is forecast to run out of within 7 days, season included
- Salesman Without Visits: no visit on a beat day yesterday (Sunday is not checked)
- Salesman Off Route: 2 or more visits yesterday checked in away from the shop's pin
- Dealer Figures Late: a dealer's stock and sales late by more than 7 days (a setting)
Each alert
- The alert text, kind, date, dealer or retailer, salesman, item and area or beat
- For: the manager responsible
- Open or Dealt With, with What Was Done and its history
- Filters: Open, For Me; group by kind, status, manager, area, entity
Who uses it
Area managerGets the alerts of the area each morning, acts on them and closes them with a note.
Distribution managerGets the alerts of areas without a manager and watches open alerts across the network.
Distribution administratorSets the days for dealers not ordering, retailers lapsed and figures late.
Where you use it
- Web: Reports > Control Tower
- Phone notification and in-app notice open the alert
- Not as a list screen in the SmartMy Distribution app yet: alerts are read and closed on the web, including at phone width
What you control
Settings
- Alert: Dealer Without an Order: 21 days
- Alert: Retailer Without a Purchase: 45 days
- Alert: Dealer Figures Late: 7 days
- Fixed in the code: running out within 7 days; off route from 2 visits away; Sunday not a working day
- The manager of each area (Configuration > Places and Field Work > Areas and Beats)
Notifications
- Control Tower Alert: to the manager the alert is for, in the app and as a phone notification, sent at once. Each person can switch off the phone channel. The in-app notice always arrives
Questions
Will the manager get the same alert every day?
No. An alert is raised once while it is open. Once it is Dealt With, the same problem can raise a new one the next morning if it is still there.Can we add our own alert rules?
You set the days for dealers not ordering, retailers lapsed and figures late. A new kind of alert is built by us; tell us what you need.Who gets an alert if an area has no manager?
The manager of the area above it. If no area up the line has one, the entity's distribution manager.Are alerts sent by WhatsApp or email?
No. Control tower alerts go in the app and as a phone notification.Related features
MARKET INTELLIGENCEData freshness and late dealer remindersSee when each dealer's stock and sales last came in, from where, and which dealers are late. Late dealers are reminded every morning, and you see how much of your secondary sales is up to date.DEALER STOCK AND MESSAGESDealer stock ledger, stock cover and suggested reorderEach dealer's stock of your items as a ledger, with its damaged and expired goods. See how many days of sales it holds, and the reorder that brings it back to your norm. One click turns the suggestion into a dealer order.RETAILERS AND FIELD SALESBeats, visits and the salesman's day with km claimEach salesman gets his beats and their days. He starts the day in the app with a photo, checks in at shops against their pin, and ends the day. With SmartMy HRMS the kilometres can be claimed.LARGE NETWORKSAI suggested orders, shelf photos and stock-out forecastAt the shop, Suggest fills the order with what the shop is due for and what shops like it buy, each with a reason. The AI reads shelf audit photos for your share of the shelf, missing items and competitor prices. Each dealer item gets a run-out date, with the season counted.MARKET INTELLIGENCEHead office drill-down to the outletOne screen goes from the whole country down to a region, area, beat, dealer and one outlet. Every level shows sales against last month and last year, billed outlets, coverage and launches. Pick any item and every figure follows it, on the web, a phone or the manager's app.ACROSS SMARTMY DISTRIBUTIONNotificationsSmartMy Distribution tells dealers when an order is confirmed, held or dispatched and when a claim or return is decided. It reminds them to report stock, and tells managers about approvals, alerts and their team's day, by WhatsApp, SMS, email, phone notification and in-app.
See your market on it.
Tell us how many dealers and salesmen you have, and how orders and claims reach you today. We will set up your dealers, price lists and beats with you.