Know what each model asks of the rep
In presales the rep visits, checks the shelf and takes an order. The warehouse picks it, and a delivery run brings the goods a day or two later, with the invoice. In van sales the rep carries the stock, sells it at the shelf, invoices on the spot and collects payment before leaving.
The real difference is not the phone or the paperwork. It is where the stock sits at the moment of sale: in the warehouse, waiting for an order, or in the van, waiting for a buyer. Almost every other difference follows from that one.
- Presales: one visit to sell, a second trip to deliver
- Van sales: one visit sells, delivers and collects
- Presales: the full range is there to order
- Van sales: only what fits on the van
- Presales: stock stays in one warehouse until picked
- Van sales: every van is a stock balance to count
TipWrite down which model each customer is on today; most businesses find they already run both.
Where presales wins
Presales suits customers who buy in volume, choose from a wide range and can wait for delivery: supermarkets, wholesalers, restaurants and anyone ordering by the pallet. The rep spends the visit selling, not unloading, so one rep covers more shops in a day, and the delivery truck carries a full day’s orders in one planned load.
Because nothing is sold until the warehouse picks it, stock is checked once, in one place, and slow lines never ride around in a van. The cost is the second trip: every order is a visit plus a delivery, and a mistake in the order is found only when the truck arrives.
TipAgree a cut-off time for orders, so the warehouse knows when tomorrow’s picking can start.
Where van sales wins
Van sales suits small shops that buy a few cartons at a time, pay in cash or on short credit and want the goods now. A grocer who has run out buys from whoever is at the door. A rep with stock on board makes that sale; a rep with an order pad promises it for tomorrow, when a competitor may already have filled the shelf.
Van sales also collects cash at the point of sale, so less credit sits on the books. The cost is a smaller range, more counting and fewer visits a day, because the rep also unloads, invoices and takes payment at every stop.
TipA van rep’s day is limited by time at the shelf, so count stops, not kilometres, when you judge whether a route is full.
Compare them on your own numbers
The two examples above are not a verdict; they show why comparing sales per rep misleads. A presales rep books more per day, but every order still needs a truck, a driver and a second visit. A van rep books less but delivers and collects in the same stop.
Put both on the same footing: what it costs to sell and deliver one order, and how much is still owed at the end of the month. Use real figures from a few weeks of each, not targets.
- Add up the daily cost of each rep, vehicle and driver
- Count the orders or invoices each one delivers
- Divide to get the cost per order delivered
- Compare the average order size in each model
- Check how much credit each model leaves unpaid
Run both, split by customer
Most distributors settle on a mix. Large accounts stay on presales with planned deliveries; small shops are served from the van. Some reps do both on one day, selling from the van at small shops and taking orders for delivery from the larger ones on the same route.
The split should follow the customer, not the rep’s preference. Review it when a customer grows or shrinks, and keep price, credit and discount rules the same in both models, so a shop that moves from one to the other notices only the delivery.
- Order size: by the pallet suits presales, by the carton suits the van
- Range: many lines suit presales, a fast-moving core suits the van
- Payment: cash at the door favours the van
- Urgency: a shop that often runs out favours the van
- Shelf life: short-dated lines favour planned deliveries
TipKeep one customer list and mark each customer’s model on it, rather than separate lists for two teams.
Decide what each model needs from your system
Presales needs orders that reach the warehouse quickly, delivery that can go out in part when an item is short, and invoices drawn from what was actually delivered. Van sales needs the van counted as stock, selling that keeps working with no signal, and a close each evening that matches stock and cash.
Both need the customer’s own prices and credit limit applied in the field exactly as in the office. If a rule holds in only one model, reps will move customers to the model where it does not.
TipTest one order and one van sale end to end, through to the invoice and the customer’s balance, before you commit to either.
Checklist: Before you choose a model
- List each customer with their usual order size
- Mark which customers pay at the door
- Count the lines each customer buys regularly
- Work out the cost per order delivered in each model
- Check how much credit each model leaves unpaid
- Assign every customer to one model
- Apply the same prices and limits in both
- Review the split every quarter