Dynamic Route Planning: AI-Powered Sales Management Reimagined

How a mid-sized trading company automated its field sales operations in 6 weeks.

Many mid-market field sales organisations don't have a data problem. They have a utilisation problem. Information on customers, potentials and visit frequencies is available, but doesn't flow systematically into day-to-day sales management. Instead, decisions are driven by experience, intuition and habit.

That was exactly the starting point when a trading company engaged UNEX Management Consulting. The objective was clear: make the existing data operationally useful. The goal: dynamic, potential-driven route planning for the entire field sales force.

The challenge:

The company's customer base comprised over 1,500 customers from highly diverse segments: food retail, hospitals, care facilities and the hospitality sector. The field sales team consisted of several ADMs with fundamentally different strength profiles — experienced account managers on one side, acquisition-focused field reps on the other. The route plans the team was working with had not been fundamentally revised in several years.

In the meantime, the market had changed, the customer base had grown and new target segments had emerged — but the routes reflected none of this. High-value customers were visited no more frequently than low-revenue accounts. ADMs with strong acquisition skills were deployed on established account routes. When colleagues were on leave or sick, there was no clear logic for which customers still needed to be visited. The company had a wide range of requirements: unlocking new potential, steering visit frequencies by customer value, mapping deputy arrangements, accounting for maximum overnight stays per ADM, observing country-specific requirements for international customers, and reliably integrating fixed appointments and visit windows into the planning. Ultimately, everything came down to one central question: which customer needs to be visited when, in order to maximise profit?

The solution:

Together with the sales leadership, UNEX developed a multi-dimensional potential matrix that calculates an individual score for each of the 1,500+ customers. The model incorporates target segment membership, revenue trajectory, visit frequency, competitive positioning at the outlet, and market potential. The model continuously evaluates each customer and derives concrete steering recommendations: which customer is visited when, by which ADM, and with what visit intensity.

Building on this, UNEX implemented a fully automated visit and route planning system. Every week, an algorithm calculates optimised weekly schedules for all ADMs — accounting for customer priorities, individual capacity constraints, real travel times and overnight scenarios. Every Monday, all ADMs have their completed weekly plan on their smartphone. No manual planning effort. No discretion in prioritisation.

The implementation:

Six weeks after project kick-off, the system went live. Fully integrated into the company's existing server infrastructure, connected to the CRM system, with no new software licences or external cloud dependencies. The technical architecture was consistently adapted to the client's requirements — not the other way around.

In parallel, UNEX developed a Power BI dashboard that, for the first time, provides management and field sales with shared, real-time KPIs. Visit completion rates, revenue trends, category upgrades, new customer acquisition: steering-relevant, accessible on mobile, individualised per ADM.

The result:

The company now manages its field sales force dynamically and data-driven. ADMs with strong acquisition skills are deployed in regions with new potential; account managers focus on customers where frequency and relationship depth make the difference. Customers below the profitability threshold are no longer visited by field sales but are managed by the inside sales team. Customers with untapped potential are systematically addressed.

What remained unchanged for years is now re-optimised every week. This isn't marginal efficiency improvement — this is sales management at the next level.

UNEX Management Consulting

UNEX Management Consulting is an entrepreneurially driven strategy consultancy with offices in Hamburg and Munich. Our commitment is the interplay of deep industry experience and proven methodology: we combine rigorous analysis with measurable execution across strategy, sales, pricing and digital transformation. Our clients benefit from field-tested methods, tailored approaches and a clear focus on sustainable performance improvement.