Blog · Territory, capacity and quota planning · Distributors
How a distributor finds the accounts whose delivery frequency is out of proportion to their order size, from the delivery log and the invoice lines: drops per week against value per drop, the norm from accounts of the same size and type, the accounts on daily drops that similar accounts serve twice a week, the cost of the extra drops, and the offer that consolidates without losing the account.
A distributor's route runs to an account every weekday for orders that would fit in two. The account never asked for daily; it started that way and nobody changed it. The delivery log and the invoices, against the norm for accounts of that size, show which accounts those are and what the extra drops cost. This guide sets out the measure, the norm, the list and the offer.
Per account, per period:
Drops per week = deliveries ÷ weeks Value per drop = invoiced value ÷ deliveries Norm drops per week = median among accounts of the same size band and type Excess drops = (drops per week − norm) × weeks, floored at zero Cost of excess = excess drops × cost per drop
Account identifiers only.
Σ deliveries per route per day = route's stops that day
A delivery with no invoice, or an invoice with no delivery in the window, is listed; it is usually a collection or a credit, and it is excluded from the frequency.
Cost per drop $60.
| Account | Type | Size | Drops/wk | Value/drop | Norm drops/wk | Excess drops/yr | Cost | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2207 | Restaurant | Mid | 5.0 | $380 | 2.0 | 156 | $9,400 | none |
| 4471 | Hotel | Large | 6.0 | $2,100 | 5.0 | 52 | $3,100 | none |
| 9034 | Café | Small | 3.0 | $140 | 2.0 | 52 | $3,100 | Fresh only, no storage |
| 1187 | Restaurant | Mid | 5.0 | $410 | 2.0 | 156 | $9,400 | none |
Two mid-sized restaurants on daily drops that similar restaurants take twice a week, at nine thousand dollars a year each in deliveries. The café is on the right frequency for what it is and has a reason for the rest. The list is accounts 2207 and 1187, with the offer: a Tuesday and Friday schedule, which is what the norm accounts run on.
Per route: excess drops and cost, and the route's stops per day if the list were consolidated. A route at thirty-one stops that would be twenty-two is a route that can take new accounts without a new vehicle.
Blanket minimum. The wrong accounts on both sides.
Norm without type. Kitchens and hotels do not deliver alike.
Constraints ignored. The fresh-only café is asked to take three days of stock it cannot store.
Cost per drop unstated. The saving cannot be defended.
Mapped once, the delivery log, the invoice lines and the account master produce drops, value per drop, the norms, the excess and the ranked list every quarter. Covirage builds this from the exports as they are. The distributors page describes the setup, and the margin by account guide covers the contribution figure that excess drops reduce.
A blanket minimum hits the small accounts that are on the right frequency for their size and misses the large account on daily drops. The norm by size and type finds the accounts that are out of line for what they are, and the offer is specific to each.
The distributor's own figure: vehicle, driver and handling per delivery, stated on the report, possibly by route type. It is the same rate used in cost to serve, so the two reports agree.
Fresh product, no storage, a kitchen with no cold room. Those accounts are flagged from the account master's attributes or the rep's note and shown beside their norm rather than on the list. The list is accounts with no stated reason.