By Avantika Kapoor (PGDM student, Class of 2026) and Professor Ashita Aggarwal (Chairperson – PGDM & PGDM-BM, SPJIMR)
Every morning, as the city stirs awake at about 9 AM, a quieter race begins, as frontline salesmen in FMCG companies prepare for their daily beats. Their day starts with a gate meeting where focus points and targets are discussed, productivity is set, and beats are downloaded on apps/handheld devices. Then, they hit the ground: visiting one outlet after another, taking orders, nudging retailers toward schemes, or maybe simply catching up to nurture relationships. Between calls, they switch modes of transport—some still walk every step of their route, while others zip around on bikes. Their day ends with syncing calls, updating their managers, and catching up on the targets. It is repetitive and physically demanding, which requires relentless discipline.
At the heart of this hustle lies the question: how do we evaluate their efficiency? If we must drive offline sales, we must understand and measure our frontline effectively. That is where the TRIUMPH framework comes in.
TRIUMPH is a holistic lens to evaluate sales force efficiency, focusing on:
Tools and tech,
Rewards and recognition,
In-store behaviour
Unseen variables
Managerial support
Processes and habits.
Let’s decode each:
Tools and tech
Efficiency begins with enablement. A salesman’s most critical assets are their Sales Force Automation (SFA) app and sales aids, such as scheme sheets or product portfolio folders, with SFA being more prominent than we would like to admit. Having too many features on the app often confuses more than it helps.
The goal of technology should be to simplify and help sales teams perform better and align with the company’s strategy. But that only happens when tools are intuitive, reports are relevant, and training is consistent and thorough. The following variables help to measure the effectiveness of the SFA platform.
Representation of categories: Pictures, images, and text stick to us more easily than text. Apps with visual interfaces outperformed those with only textual cues.
Home screen comparison: The first screen a salesman sees shapes their day. Does it show targets? Incentives? Nudges for missed SKUs? The best ones do.
Click optimisation: Order taking is the most crucial part of an SFA and must aid salespersons by making the process easier and faster. To take a standard order of 5 SKUs, the industry standard turned out to be 15 clicks. Any friction beyond that hampers speed and accuracy.
Scheme visibility: High attrition makes real-time scheme visibility essential. The easier it is to access and pitch schemes, the more likely they are to convert.
Retailer target visibility: For program outlets, showing MTD (Month to Date) targets helps the salesman focus and push stock accordingly.
Key takeaway: Smarter adoption beats smarter apps. Equip, don’t overload. Empower, don’t overwhelm.
Rewards and recognition
What you incentivise is what you drive. Salespeople recalibrate their effort based on what earns them rewards. That’s why the parameters that determine incentives are not just operational—they are strategic. Go beyond value targets.
Leading organisations now reward for:
New product launches
Onboarding new outlets
Ensuring basic merchandising in non-program stores
SKU depth and range, and strategic push.
But incentives only work when they are timely, visible, and layered. They must show up as nudges during the order-taking process—not once at the end of the month. Nudges must be sporadic but well-placed, making the salesperson feel they are being noticed, guided, and rewarded. And in a world where most salespeople survive on ~20k/month, recognition (even a message or a small win) can go a long way.
Key takeaway: Strategic focus starts with smart incentives. Choose your parameters wisely, reward consistently, and nudge often.
In-store behaviour
Sales isn’t just taking an order. It’s about reading a room, nurturing a retailer relationship, and ensuring your product stands out. Good in-store behaviour encompasses not just what is sold but also where it’s placed (hot zones matter), how it’s arranged (large SKUs at eye level and the beginning of the shelf, depending on where the customer enters from = more off-take), and how merchandising assets are maintained. A well-informed pitch can convert hesitation into a trial. And the best reps know visibility isn’t just the merchandiser’s job—it’s theirs too.
Key takeaway: A product seen is a product half-sold. Great salespeople sell with their presence, not just their price.
Unseen variables
These are the silent influencers of efficiency. Age shapes the salespeople’s behaviour. While a 40-year-old would walk the entire beat, saving every penny, a younger one would zip around on a bike and crave novelty. Their motivations, energy patterns, and engagement levels are different—and so are their outputs.
Payroll matters too. Salespeople on third-party agency payrolls often receive all employment benefits, while those under distributors may not, and this affects their morale, stability, and retention. A salesperson who sees no growth often switches jobs.
Then there are the beat dynamics. A longer beat subconsciously signals, ‘Spend less time per outlet.’ This reduces focus and relationship-building. Poor beat rotation leads to complacency, while regular rotation helps avoid saturation.
And finally, there are things beyond the salesman’s control—non-timely payouts for visibility to retailers, unreliable deliveries, and delays in expired stock returns. Each of these deteriorates retailer trust, which in turn makes the job harder.
Key takeaway: Morale, method, and motivation live in the shadows. Surface them. Solve for them. And you’ll find hidden gains.
Managerial support
A salesman doesn’t operate alone. Supervisory layers, from team leads to first-line managers, determine rhythm and resolve. Companies with tighter layers and apps for supervisors see faster feedback loops and clearer accountability. Gate meetings, beat-wise reviews, and retailer interventions need to be structured and regular.
The quality and frequency of interaction matter. A supportive manager clears barriers; a disengaged one becomes one.
Key takeaway: Good managers don’t just monitor. They mentor. Field efficiency begins with field leadership.
Processes and habits
What is tracked gets done. What is celebrated gets repeated. Processes like morning meetings, call syncing, app usage discipline, and product refresher trainings build rhythm and culture. A salesman who begins the day with a clear plan, logs orders regularly, and revisits neglected outlets shows not just intent but professionalism.
App usage isn’t about surveillance—it’s about cadence. The best organisations drive discipline gently but consistently.
Key takeaway: Discipline isn’t a KPI (key performance indicator). It’s a habit. And habits are the infrastructure of high performance.
The frontline is where strategy meets execution. In a world obsessed with dashboards and numbers, the TRIUMPH framework brings back the focus on the person behind the performance. Because when a salesperson wins, everyone does. And to make him win, we need to stop managing salesmen—and start enabling them.