Visit preparation: save time with AI

Ah… visit preparation.

It is an essential step of any sales visit, and yet, it is often a subject of debate. Why is that?

Quite simply because it takes time. And if you think otherwise, it might be because you are not doing it 100%. In that case, it will never bring you all its benefits.

Visit preparation is the set of actions carried out before entering the store, to optimize every minute on-site and achieve your goals. In practical terms, this involves:

• Analyzing customer history: past orders, volumes, ongoing promotions, potential disputes.

• Consulting performance data: sales, rotations, linear share (in supermarkets), distribution rate (DN), stockouts.

• Identifying opportunities: product displays, offer follow-ups, new products to present.

• Defining visit objectives: what to present, ask for, or negotiate? What are your managers expecting?

• Anticipating roadblocks: potential objections, layout constraints, budget limits.

• Preparing your tools: sales pitches, product sheets, layout plans, previous surveys, agendas.

• Etc.

And all this takes time. Between 15 and 30 minutes per visit if it is prepared seriously. This time can drop to less than 10 minutes if all information is centralized and easily accessible in an adapted CRM. Conversely, it can exceed 30 minutes if you are juggling between Excel files and scattered paper reports.

And then, there are those – maybe you – who sometimes skip this step. According to several internal FMCG studies, about 20 to 25% of area managers admit they do not systematically prepare their visits. Due to a lack of time, lack of access to data, or lack of clear instructions. Among them, many "improvise" in-store, relying solely on their current observations and discussions with the store manager.

But how can you avoid rushing it without letting it eat up your day? That is exactly what I came to talk to you about in this article: how to save time on visit preparation, thanks to your CRM and AI!

How can technology help you better prepare your visits?

To better prepare your visits, there is no need to revolutionize everything from the start.

Begin with a simple first step, which will require a little help from your CRM manager or sales management: standardize your visit reports, by retail chain or by objective. Suggest the idea to them.

Why? Because if, at the end of each visit, you always answer the same questions, you will develop reflexes. You will quickly know which points to check in-store and what to focus on. Your reports will be filled out faster and with greater accuracy. And it is a virtuous cycle: the better your reports are filled out, the easier your visit preparations become.

Let's take a concrete example. Every time your goal is to introduce an innovation in E.Leclerc hypermarkets, you are asked:

• Did you meet the department manager? Yes / No

• Were you able to list the innovation? Yes / No

• If yes, where did you place it? Central aisle, endcap, standard shelf...

• Did you negotiate a tasting? Yes / No

• If yes, what date?

• Do you need display furniture? Yes / No

• Do you need POS materials? Yes / No

The result: by knowing these questions in advance, you remember to ask them during your visit. You also know that if you order display furniture or POS materials, your next meeting will be to follow up on the installation and review the sales rotation of the innovation. If it sells well, you will know that you need to reorder quickly.

Structuring your reports thus allows you to better understand what is at stake during each visit, gain efficiency, and never start from scratch.

Another lever: measure the impact of your preparations. Does a well-prepared store perform better? Are the most effective visits the ones you anticipated the best? Observing that your three best visits of the week are also the ones you prepared in detail can be a real source of motivation.

Finally, think about customer scoring. It is not just for prioritizing your visits: it also tells you where to focus your efforts when you run out of time (which happens often).

How does it work? Each store is scored automatically based on its performance, potential, and visit history. For example, if a point of sale has a score above 75, you know it requires thorough preparation. No going in unprepared.

How can AI help you better prepare your visits?

Artificial intelligence has revolutionized the way we work, by automating many tasks. And visit preparation is no exception to this revolution.

Because if AI saves time – as the title of this article indicates – it above all brings a gain in quality. Where manual preparation takes 15 to 30 minutes, AI reduces it to a few minutes without losing relevance. You gain time, clarity, and impact.

Concretely, the AI automatically summarizes the history of previous visits. It analyzes key data (orders, surveys, disputes, promotions) and presents them as a clear briefing, with a real action plan.

Thanks to its predictive models, AI identifies:

• products at risk of going out of stock,

• products to follow up on,

• cross-sell opportunities based on recent sales and local trends.

It thus transcribes the priorities and opportunities of the day for you, so you know immediately where to focus your efforts.

But its main asset remains the generation of a personalized action plan. AI suggests concrete actions to carry out in-store: setting up POS, checking a product display, negotiating a listing, pushing a reorder... Each visit is structured and results-oriented.

At Sidely, we deeply believe in this. That is why we developed our AI-boosted preparation module. It summarizes key information, highlights the primary objective, suggests the right products to showcase... and even the most impactful arguments based on the context.

Does this mean humans are being replaced? Absolutely not. Quite the contrary. AI acts as a true assistant, automating low-value-added tasks and freeing up time for what really matters: customer relationships and field performance.