Route stops

A route stop is one outlet's place on a beat. It says which customer account is visited, where it sits in the order, what time window it has and how close the executive must be to check in. Stops belong to a visit route, the beat. Each time the beat generates a visit plan, every approved stop becomes one visit on that plan. Change the stops, and the next plans change with them.

Overview

A visit route on its own is a schedule with nobody to visit. Its stops supply the outlets. A stop carries:

• the Account being visited, plus a Stop Name for how it reads on the beat;
• its Sequence Number, which is the authored (Planned) order;
• an optional Start Time and End Time, which become the visit's planned slot;
• its own Account Location coordinates, used for route optimization and as the visit's planned position;
• an Allowed Geofencing Tolerance (KM) for the check-in distance warning;
• a Visit Purpose;
• a membership Status: Approved, Proposed or Rejected.

You maintain stops on the web, on the Visit Route record. Executives also create stops from the field app, as proposals that wait for approval. Supervisors move stops between beats with the field app's Outlet Transfer screen.

When to use it

• Building a new beat: add one stop per outlet, in the order the beat should run.
• Adding or removing an outlet: add or delete the stop. Plans generated from then on include it or leave it out.
• Changing an outlet's time window or check-in radius: edit the stop.
• Reviewing an executive's suggestion: a stop proposed from the field stays Proposed until someone approves it.
• Rebalancing beats: move outlets from one beat to another of the same channel partner with Outlet Transfer. Don't delete and re-create them.

How xMatix handles it

When the scheduler generates a plan for a beat, it reads the beat's stops and creates one visit per approved stop. Each visit copies these values from its stop:

The plan's end time is the latest End Time among the beat's stops. Each visit's Optimized and Mostly Followed positions come from the beat's current stored route sequences.

Some things do not come from the stop. The day a plan is generated comes from the route's schedule, and every visit gets the route's visit task template. A stop's own Availability switches, Day Numbers, Week Numbers and Visit Task Template are saved with the stop, but plan generation doesn't read them. To visit an outlet on a different rhythm from the rest of the beat, put it on a beat with that rhythm.

Visits are copies. Editing or deleting a stop changes plans generated afterwards. Plans that already exist keep the values they were built with.

Prerequisites

• A visit route to hold the stops.
• The outlets exist as active customer accounts. The stop's Account lookup only offers accounts with Customer Account and Active switched on.
• Coordinates for each outlet, either on the stop (Account Location) or on the account (Geo Location). Optimization uses only the stop's own Account Location.
• To create or edit stops, a security profile with access to Visit Route Stop (see Permissions below).

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the beat's stops

In the Field Sales app, open the Visit Route list and open the beat. Select the Visit Route Stops tab. Its list shows each stop's Name, Stop Name, Account, Sequence Number and Visit Route. Sort by Sequence Number to read the beat in its authored order.

Step 2 — Add a stop

On the Visit Route Stops tab, select New. The new stop is linked to the beat you started from. Fill in:

1. Stop Name: how the outlet should read on the beat, for example the shop's signboard name.
2. Account: the customer account to visit.
3. Account Location: the outlet's coordinates. Leave it empty to use the account's stored Geo Location for the planned position. Without it, though, the stop can't be placed by route optimization.
4. Expand Timing Details and set Start Time and End Time if the outlet has a fixed slot. Set Sequence Number to the stop's position on the beat. Set Allowed Geofencing Tolerance if this outlet needs a different check-in radius from the default.

Save. A stop created this way is Approved, so it's included in the next plan the beat generates.

Step 3 — Complete the stop's details

Open the stop to see its full record. It's grouped into Basic Details, Timeline Performance, Reference Details, Pattern & Preferences, Availability and System Information. Select Edit to set Visit Purpose (it is copied onto each generated visit) or to add Remarks. Duration shows the minutes between Start Time and End Time and is calculated for you.

Step 4 — Set the order of the beat

Give each stop a Sequence Number in the order the beat should run: 1, 2, 3 and so on. A stop with an empty number comes after all numbered stops. This authored order is the beat's Planned sequence. To have xMatix compute a shorter order over road distances, use Optimize Route Sequence on the beat. See Optimize a route.

Step 5 — Propose a stop from the field (mobile)

On a visit plan in the field app, the agenda can show a Nearby to onboard feed of outlets around the executive. On an existing customer's card, tap Add to Route. On a prospect's card, tap Onboard to create the account first. Either way the app creates a Proposed stop on the plan's beat, and the card changes to Proposed. Without a connection the proposal is saved on the phone and synced later ("will sync"). A proposed stop changes nothing in today's plan. Details are in Prospecting.

Step 6 — Approve or reject proposed stops

A proposed stop generates no visits and is left out of optimization until its Status is Approved. Open the stop, select Edit, and set Status to Approved to put the outlet on the beat, or to Rejected to decline it. The delivered stop forms and list don't show Status, so an administrator first adds it to the layout and list view (see Configuration below). After approval, the outlet appears in plans generated from then on. It isn't added to plans that already exist.

Step 7 — Transfer outlets to another beat (mobile)

To move outlets between beats, use the field app's Outlet Transfer screen. Choose the From Beat, the To Beat and the Outlets, then select Submit. Submit only files a request, and the outlets stay where they are. The submitter's manager opens the transfer requests and selects Approve or Decline. Approving needs a connection. On approval the stops move to the new beat and keep their visit history. The confirmation says the outlets moved, and how many were skipped because their account was already on the target beat. A decline leaves the outlets on their beat ("Request declined. The outlets stay on their beat.").

Step 8 — Remove a stop

To take an outlet off a beat, open the stop and select Delete, then confirm. Deletion can't be undone. Plans generated afterwards leave the outlet out, and existing plans keep their visit for it. To move an outlet to another beat instead, use Outlet Transfer (Step 7) so its history stays attached.

Fields

Business rules

• Only approved stops count. Plan generation and route optimization use only stops whose Status is Approved, or older stops with no status. A beat whose stops are all Proposed or Rejected generates no plans.
• One visit per approved stop per plan. Every approved stop on the beat becomes a visit on every plan the beat generates.
• Duplicate proposals are refused. Saving a Proposed stop for an account that is already on the beat, at any status, fails with "This account is already on the route (or already proposed)." Stops added directly as Approved aren't checked, so an administrator can put the same account on a beat twice on purpose.
• Changes apply going forward. Visits copy stop values at generation time, so editing, approving or deleting a stop doesn't change plans that already exist.
• Transfers move the stop itself. Outlet Transfer re-points the stop to the target beat rather than deleting and re-creating it, so past visits, stored sequences and the onboarding trail stay with it. Moved stops are numbered after the target beat's highest Sequence Number, and both beats' stored sequences are recomputed. Open plans that already contain the moved outlets aren't rewritten.
• Transfer limits. A transfer is refused when:
  • the target beat is inactive or deleted;
  • the beats have different channel partners;
  • with HQ grouping on, the beats are in different HQs (Resource Groups);
  • either beat is outside the user's Outlet Transfer scope;
  • a visit at one of the outlets is Started, In Progress or Paused.
• Transfer skips duplicates. An outlet whose account is already on the target beat is skipped and reported, and the rest still move.
• Check-in distance is a warning. In the field app, starting a visit outside the stop's tolerance shows a "You're … from the store" warning. The visit still starts, marked "Visit started (off-site)".

Example

A beat called North Market — Tuesday covers six outlets. The planner adds a seventh, Sunrise Provisions. They open the beat, select New on Visit Route Stops, and enter Stop Name Sunrise Provisions, the account, and its coordinates. Under Timing Details they set Start Time 11:30, End Time 11:50, Sequence Number 4 and a tolerance of 150. They save, then edit the stop to set Visit Purpose to Order Capture.

The next Tuesday's plan has seven visits. Sunrise Provisions is fourth in the Planned order, has an 11:30–11:50 slot, has purpose Order Capture, and warns the executive if they start the visit more than 150 m away. Last Tuesday's plan still has six visits.

That afternoon the executive walks past Lakeview Stores, an existing customer, and taps Add to Route in the Nearby to onboard feed. A Proposed stop appears on the beat. The planner reviews it on Wednesday and sets Status to Approved. Lakeview Stores first appears on the following Tuesday's plan.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, open any active visit route that has at least one stop.

1. Add a stop for an active customer account. Give it Sequence Number 1, Start Time 09:00, End Time 09:30 and a tolerance of 200.
2. Open the stop and confirm Duration shows 30.
3. Add a second stop for the same account with the Status field set to Proposed (your administrator may need to add Status to the form).

Expected result: step 1 saves and the stop appears on the Visit Route Stops tab. Step 3 is refused with "This account is already on the route (or already proposed)." The next plan generated for the beat contains a visit for the account, planned 09:00–09:30 and first in the Planned order.

Quick reference

• One stop = one outlet on one beat = one visit per generated plan.
• Only Approved stops generate visits and take part in optimization.
• Sequence Number sets the Planned order. Stops without a number go last.
• Start Time / End Time become the visit's planned slot. The latest End Time sets the plan's end.
• The tolerance field is read in metres by the field app. Empty means 100 m.
• The day and the task template come from the route, not the stop.
• Edits change future plans only.
• Move outlets with Outlet Transfer. Don't delete and re-create them.

Permissions

Which stops a user can see also follows record security. A user without access to the entity doesn't see the Visit Route Stops tab's records. A transfer outside the user's scope is refused with a message that explains why, for example "You can only transfer outlets from your own beats."

Configuration

Show Status for approvals

The delivered Visit Route Stop forms and the stop list don't include Status. To review field proposals, add Status to the stop's layout and to the list view used on the Visit Route Stops tab, then filter on Proposed. See Customizing xMatix.

Account lookup

The stop's Account picker uses the Customer Account lookup filter (Customer Account and Active both on). Change it only if stops really must point at other accounts.

Outlet Transfer rules

Go to Setup → Feature Hub → Sales → Settings, Outlet Transfer group. These four rules decide what the field app's transfer screen offers and what the server accepts. A rule change applies the next time a user opens the screen.

To check a user's transfer scope, go to Setup → Access Control → Users, open the user, then the Access Diagnostics tab and its Outlet Transfer card. See User accounts.

Field app screens

The Nearby to onboard feed and the Outlet Transfer screen are parts of the mobile layout that an administrator places and configures. See Prospecting for the feed.

Common problems

"This account is already on the route (or already proposed)."

You, or the field app, tried to save a Proposed stop for an account that already has a stop on this beat, whatever that stop's status. Open the existing stop instead. If it is Proposed or Rejected, change its Status rather than adding another.

An outlet I added isn't on today's plan

Plans copy the stops when they are generated, and an existing plan for a beat and date isn't regenerated. The outlet appears from the next generated plan. Also check the stop's Status: a Proposed or Rejected stop generates no visits.

A beat suddenly generates no plans

Check that it still has at least one Approved stop. A beat whose stops are all Proposed or Rejected (or deleted) is skipped by the scheduler. Also check the route itself: it must be active and inside its effective dates. See Visit plans.

The check-in warning fires although the executive is at the shop

The tolerance is read in metres. A value of 1 entered as "1 km" means 1 metre. Enter the radius in metres, for example 200. Also check the stop's Account Location: if it's wrong, every check-in looks off-site.

An outlet keeps visiting on the wrong day

Plan days come from the route's schedule, not the stop's Availability switches, Day Numbers or Week Numbers. Move the outlet to a beat that runs on the right days, using Outlet Transfer.

Optimization leaves some stops at the end

Stops without their own Account Location can't be placed on the road network, so they trail in authored order. Fill in the coordinates on the stop.

Outlet Transfer is refused

The message says why:

• "Outlets can only be transferred between beats of the same CP." or "…of the same HQ." The target beat is under a different channel partner or resource group.
• "The beat you are transferring to is inactive." Pick an active beat.
• "A visit is in progress at …. Finish or cancel it before transferring." Wait until the visit ends.
• "You can only transfer outlets from your own beats." Your Outlet Transfer scope doesn't include the beat. An administrator can widen Beats a user can transfer from.
• "… selected outlet(s) are no longer on this beat. Reload and try again." Someone moved them already.

Common questions

Does changing a stop change today's plan?

No. A plan copies its stops' account, times, sequence, purpose, tolerance and location when it is generated, and an existing plan for a beat and date is never regenerated. Your change applies from the next plan the beat generates. The same goes for approving a proposed stop, deleting one, or transferring outlets: plans already generated keep the visits they were built with.

Can one outlet be on two beats?

Yes. Nothing stops the same account having stops on several beats, and each active beat then generates its own visit to it. Within one beat, xMatix refuses a field proposal for an account already there. A stop added directly on the web isn't checked, so watch for accidental duplicates.

Why can't I visit one outlet every week on a fortnightly beat?

The schedule belongs to the beat. The stop's own Availability switches, Day Numbers and Week Numbers are saved with the stop, but plan generation reads only the route's schedule. Every approved stop is visited every time the beat runs. Put an outlet with a different rhythm on a beat that has that rhythm.

What happens to an outlet's history when it moves to another beat?

It goes with it. Outlet Transfer re-points the existing stop to the new beat instead of deleting it, so past visits, stored sequences and the record of how the outlet was onboarded stay linked. Deleting a stop and creating a new one on another beat would start the outlet's history again.

Related topics

• Beats and routes
• Optimize a route
• Visit plans
• Prospecting
• Territory planning
• Visit Route Stop — entity reference
• Visit Route — entity reference