Field sales app: the day's route, every customer's history and orders even without signal

A field sales app puts what a rep needs right in their hand: the day's route, each customer's history (what they bought, what they owe, which prices apply) and a way to take the order even in a back room with no signal. On the other end, the office sees orders as they come in, instead of waiting for the rep to get back with a notebook.

It's different from a sales catalog app for reps, which is built for showing products. Here the focus is the visit: walk in, know who you're talking to, get the order right and move on to the next stop.

What a rep's day actually looks like

The rep heads out early with a list of stops: corner stores, convenience stores, hardware stores or pharmacies, depending on what you distribute. At each one the owner is busy with customers, has two minutes to spare and wants to repeat last week's order “more or less.” The rep writes it in a notebook or a phone note, snaps a photo, sends it to the office, and someone types it into the system that afternoon.

Something gets lost at every step: a code copied wrong, a product that's out of stock, a price from the old list, a customer with an overdue balance nobody told the rep about. None of it is a disaster alone, but together it means the office does the work twice and the customer gets something different from what they asked for.

What the app needs at each stop

Built to be used standing at a counter, one-handed and in a hurry:

• Today's route: the stops in order, with the address and one tap to open the map.
• The account view: recent orders, anything back-ordered, the balance and any flags (“don't deliver until the last invoice is paid”).
• Repeat last order: the most common case, done in one tap, then adjust quantities.
• Their price list: each customer gets their own pricing and terms, without the rep having to remember.
• Stock levels: so the rep knows what's available before promising, or at least sees what's out flagged.
• Visit with no order: log the stop, why they didn't buy and a shelf photo if it helps.

No signal, still selling

The basement storeroom, the metal-roofed warehouse, the rural town where coverage comes and goes: the rep can't wait for a connection to take an order. The app has to work anyway, with customers, products and prices stored on the phone, and send everything once the signal returns.

That gets designed from day one, not bolted on later. You have to decide what happens if a price changed while the rep was offline, or if two reps touched the same account. Those are business rules, and we set them together. The same idea, applied to trade shows, is in selling at trade shows without internet.

Notebook and photos vs an order app

What the office and the sales manager get

For the owner of a distribution business, the biggest win isn't on the rep's side. It's not having to retype orders. They arrive with the right codes and the right prices, and the warehouse can start picking as soon as they land. I covered how that ties into stock and picking in inventory system for distributors.

The sales manager also gets to see each rep's day: how many stops, which customers didn't order and why, which territories are pulling their weight. Not to police anyone, but to know where to help. And if some of your customers would rather order on their own between visits, that pairs well with a wholesale ordering portal.

How we'd build it

First I get the details of a real day: what the route looks like, what reps write down, how it reaches the office and where it gets stuck. From there I build a first version for one or two reps, they try it out in the field, and we adjust before rolling it out to everyone.

I work remotely from Buenos Aires, Argentina (UTC−3), in English or Spanish, with video calls and progress you can open from a link. Each project is quoted separately. You can see other work in projects.

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