Managing a field sales team can be tricky because you often need to know what the sales reps are doing. Are they visiting the assigned region or zone? Do they spend quality time with clients? Or are they taking detours or longer scenic routes? The best GPS tracking apps for sales can alleviate these fears.
Face-to-face is the most effective prospecting channel, beating email and phone calls. That means the concerns around it shouldn’t compel you to minimize field sales activities. Instead, you should look for ways to ease the worries and instill a culture of transparency amongst your outside sales teams. This is where the GPS tracker for sales reps comes in handy.
With the app in place, you stay on top of sales reps' field activities without leaving your office. The app gives location, time, and event data, enabling you to determine where the representatives have been, the time spent in each place, and the miles covered. Read on to find an app to streamline field sales rep's monitoring.
Looking to increase field sales team accountability and don’t how a GPS app can help?
Watch this video to learn how sales teams are using Timeero.
What Makes The Best GPS Tracking App For Sales Reps
If you’re short on time, here’s a sneak peek of the best GPS tracking software for sales, ranked by performance:
Timeero — Best GPS tracker to track field sales mileage, time, and location
AllGeo — GPS app for tracking time spent with a client
OutField — Best for tracking sale rep location
B2Field — Best GPS tracking for large sales teams
Timr — Best GPS app for sales rep time management
What Are The Benefits of Using a GPS Tracking System For Sales?
The best GPS apps for sales deliver numerous benefits, including:
Know Where Sales Reps are: Using GPS employee tracker doesn’t mean you don’t trust your field sales team. Instead, using a GPS is all about fostering a culture of accountability and transparency. If your sales reps know you have information about their whereabouts, they won’t skive off during work or take detours en route to the client's location.
More Accurate Reimbursement: If the sales reps use their private vehicles, they have to report on gas and mileage usage. A mileage tracking app takes the guesswork out of expense tracking, helping you reimburse employees fairly and compute tax deductions more accurately.
Improved Route Planning: Take, for instance, a route that usually takes a sales rep exceptionally long. A recent study found that sales reps drive 14% of their work time. Driving time is one of the biggest time wasters for sales reps because, in most cases, they don’t use the optimal route. A sales rep tracking app suggests a shorter route to reduce windscreen time significantly.
5 GPS Tracking Apps for Sales Reps
Whether you want to track the location of mobile teams, know how they spend time, or track mileage, there’s an app for you. We’ve highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each GPS tracker to help your field team to hit their sales quotas and metrics. Let's dive straight in, starting with Timeero — the best GPS tracker for sales.
1. Timeero - Best GPS tracker to track field sales mileage, time, and location
Timeero lets you view your sales reps; current location at any time of the day
Timeero ticks the boxes if you need a GPS tracker to monitor field sales rep activity, including location, time spent with each customer, and mileage. You can create geofenced client addresses (as tasks) and assign them to your sales representatives to set the stage for rep tracking.
Location and Time Tracking
Timeero’s real-time GPS tracking provides accurate location intelligence. When you click on “who’s working,” you get a map with pins representing each rep's location. You can zoom in to view granular details such as the total time the sales representative has been working.
If you ever doubt a sales rep’s account for a missed visit, the route replay will help set the record straight. The feature recreates the sales rep's journey when they were clocked in. You can click on the breadcrumbs to see where the rep was at a specific time of the day and speed.
Determining a rep's total time with a client is a tough call, but the breadcrumbs on route replay can help. The breadcrumbs provide crucial time details that can help determine how long a rep spent at a client’s location. You only need to compute the time difference between the breadcrumb most proximate to the client’s location and one right after the rep leaves.
Timeero is launching a new feature called segmented tracking that will add a new hands-off way to track sales rep location and time.
Mileage Tracking
Timeero uses motion detection technology and records mileage when the vehicle exceeds the predetermined speed threshold. This way, the app doesn’t track mileage when the sales rep is stuck in traffic.
This enables you to reimburse sales reps fairly and compute IRS tax deductions more accurately. If you pay salaried sales representatives to drive certain miles (say 18,000 per year), you can see how long they drove and take appropriate action.
The suggested mileage is a worthwhile alternative to a route planner. The tool indicates the shortest route to the client’s location and is beneficial if a sales rep has to visit a client multiple times.
Timeero Pricing:
Starts from $4 per user per month
2. AllGeo - GPS app for tracking time spent with a client
With AllGeo, you can see the mileage driven by each sales rep
AllGeo is up your alley if all you need is to determine how much time the reps spend with clients. Like Timeero, the app enables you to create geofenced client locations and assign each client to a sales rep.
Location and Time Tracking
When a sales rep enters the geofence area, AllGeo clocks them in automatically and clocks them out when they exit that zone. The zero-touch approach saves your rep the hassle of constantly clocking in and out during every customer visit.
You can determine the sales rep's whereabouts on the “monitor” tab. The map isn’t as refined as Timeero, but it gets the job done as far as tracking sales rep GPS location is concerned. In addition, it helps see the time each rep spends with the assigned clients.
Alternatively, you can track the rep's location via text messages with a link. When the rep opens the message and clicks the link, AllGeo automatically captures time and location data. However, this method can be flawed because reps need to remember to read their text messages.
The breadcrumb report provides details about the places a sales rep has visited, including when they were inside and outside geofenced zones.
Mileage Tracking
AllGeo’s mileage tracking is entirely automatic. By default, the app automatically tracks mileage during the sales rep's working hours (9 AM and 5 PM), whether they start a shift or not. You can adjust the working hours to suit each rep’s preferences.
However, automated mileage tracking makes it difficult to differentiate between business and personal mileage. An AllGeo representative told us that you have to set different clock stages for home and work to prevent personal mileage from trickling into business mileage.
Sadly, AllGeo doesn’t offer a route planning tool or a feature to help determine the shortest route. Moreover, there’s no in-app communication, but this isn't a huge miss since you can communicate with reps directly through mobile or any preferred means.
AllGeo Pricing:
Starts from $5 per user per month
3. OutField- Best for tracking sale rep location
OutField provides a thread of everything your sales reps do in the field.
Like AllGeo, the OutField app isn’t the most streamlined and can present a steep learning curve for first-time users. That aside, OutField effectively tracks sale rep time and location.
Location and Time Tracking
OutField is similar to AllGeo and Timeero apps in that you have to create places (geofenced client’s address) and tasks and assign them to sales reps. When a sales rep enters the geofence, OutField sends a notification, prompting them to check-in. Similarly, it notifies the reps as they leave the geofenced area, requiring them to check out.
Reps can take pictures, attach them as proof they have been to the said client, and even add notes about their meeting. While AllGeo time and location tracking method works, it has two caveats. First, the time will only be accurate if the sales rep remembers to clock in and out.
Second, AllGeo allows sales reps to add time before they clock out manually. If a sales rep falsely adds an hour, it will create a false impression that they spent quality time with the client, while in reality, they just stopped by. However, the system flags any check-in and check-out outside the geofenced zones.
Mileage Tracking
AllGeo seems to put mileage tracking on the back burner and instead focuses on expediting the prospecting and sales processes. The route planner and optimizer help sales reps sidestep inefficient travel logistics such as unexpected snarl-ups.
A sales rep only need to select all client destination and hit ‘plan route’ on their smartphone. OutField uses historical data and real-time traffic updates to suggest the best possible route.
Thanks to the chat feature, the sales team can keep in touch while still in the field through private or group messages. Beyond that, OutField gamifies sales with a head-to-head matchup and leaderboard for reps.
OutField Pricing:
Quote-based pricing model
4. B2Field - Best GPS tracking for large sales teams
B2Field gives comprehensive details about each sales rep’s location during the day
Like the rest of the applications, B2Field lets you create geofenced client addresses called “places.” You can create tasks using these addresses and assign them to your sales reps. B2Field has a CRM module that allows you to create client addresses using customer data in the CRM.
Location and Time Tracking
B2Field notifies a sales rep when they enter or exit a geofenced area. Rather than clock them in or out, the app notifies them and records the time details. You can look at the time a sale rep entered and exited the area to calculate the time they spent with the client.
The ‘map’ displays the mobile sales reps’ location, which is refreshed in real-time. The app also details their movement: whether they’re standstill, and if they’re moving, you can see where they’re headed. The ‘employee’ tab also provides details about employee location.
The trip reports provide details such as routes the rep took, stops, mileage, and duration of trips. Additionally, you can create site visit (POI) reports to verify whether your sales reps have visited places they say they visited.
Mileage Tracking
B2Field has three mileage tracking modes, namely walking, driving, and special. In the walking mode, B2Field recorded mileage when our speed was as low as 1 mile per hour. However, when we switched to the driving mode, it recorded mileage for speeds exceeding 4 miles per hour.
Unlike OutField it doesn’t allow you to add all locations and create one optimal route. Instead, you can only select one location and hit the direction icon on your mobile app to find the best route. You have to repeat that process for all the places you visit, which makes the process tedious, especially if you have to visit multiple customers daily.
B2Field has an offline mode, but it doesn’t seem to be effective. Whenever we switched off the internet connection, the app sent a notification “lost connection to server.” The tasks and places were inaccessible, rendering the app unusable without the internet.
B2Field Pricing:
Start from $20 per user per month
5. Timr - Best GPS app for sales rep time management
Timr doesn’t provide details about the sale rep's real-time location
We saved the last spot for Timr —the simplest GPS tracking app for sales on our list. The app's simplicity is mixed-blessing for sales reps. While it's easy to use, it means some key features are missing, as you'll discover.
Location and Time Tracking
Timr is a safe bet for sales rep time and vehicle tracking. It lets you add users and car details (with model and registration number). Sadly, unlike the other GSP tracking apps, you cannot create geofenced client locations.
The lack of geofencing is a bane for field sales teams. You can’t tell when a sales rep was at the client's location, and that’s not all. The app doesn’t provide the real-time GPS location of outside sales reps. You can see all the reps from the “users” tab, but you can’t see where or what they’re doing.
On the bright side, Timr lets you determine how much time a sales rep spends with a client. However, that relies heavily on the rep's ability to remember to “start” the project when they arrive at the client’s location and “stop” the project before they leave.
Mileage Tracking
Besides tracking project time, Timr enables salespeople to track mileage manually. The system tracks mileage but doesn’t segment the journey or pick up the stops. For this reason, you can determine the distance traveled between client locations.
Timr Pricing:
Starts from $7.20 per user per month
Find The GPS Tracking App For Mobile Sales Team
The best GPS tracking apps for sale help build a culture of transparency around your field sales team members. It increases accountability with newer sales reps, boosting their efficiency and productivity. Moreover, a GPS tracking app helps monitor sales operations and establish performance benchmarks. This way, you can pinpoint reps that aren’t pulling their weight, despite being held accountable.
That said, sales GPS tracking apps aren’t built the same — some are apt at tracking location, while others excel at tracking mileage. What works for you depends on your most pressing needs.
If you need an app that can track GPS location and mileage, Timeero ticks the right boxes. It enables you to monitor field team activity and can help determine the time they spend with the client. You can take Timeero for a spin, risk-free when you subscribe for the free trial.
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Samson is a mathematician turned content marketer specializing in SaaS and Tech content. He focuses on the practical aspects of software systems while keeping abreast of the industry’s cutting-edge principles to create informative and engaging content. When he’s not writing, Samson spends time playing or watching soccer.
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