A big decision for a customer of MasterRouter’s is whether to pick the software’s stand-alone or integrated mode for their business needs. Read on for advice that’s both helpful and strategic.
In order to make the above-mentioned choice, you’ll need to assess whether it would be better to do your route planning in a strategic and tactical way, or via enterprise-level integration with your middleware software. At MasterRouter, we refer to the first option, where data is uploaded via CSV (Excel), as Stand-Alone Mode; and the second, where MasterRouter is integrated with an existing ERP or CRM system, as Integrated Mode.
In the first instance, which is Stand-Alone Mode, data is extracted by the client and uploaded into MasterRouter; or the customer sends their data to a MasterRouter consultant who will upload and pre-plan on their behalf.
Either way, the results will provide answers to a range of strategic and tactical questions to aid operational decision-making – including best number of resources to optimally service customers; the impact of sleep outs on customer service; whether you are seeing customers often enough and whether increasing sales visits would be beneficial for your bottom-line; and even whether you have too many resources, sales and/or delivery staff members for your needs.
In the second instance, which is Integrated Mode, a customer’s master data is first updated and fed through their enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) software. Thereafter, tasks are assigned to resources and days via MasterRouter.
If your best bet in terms of customer satisfaction is the ability to have scheduled activities published to a calendar interface, this is your go-to mode. A benefit of this mode is that sequenced daily tasks can be allocated to resources (such as vehicles) and sent to the relevant staff members by means of their mobile devices or smart phones.
A last note about making this choice: do not hesitate to get in touch should you require further clarification. MasterRouter’s features strives to offer route planning and logistics optimisation that is flexible, client-centric and geared around your immediate sales and service operations.
