A beat plan is a promise: these outlets, this frequency, this person. Most distribution businesses have one. Far fewer can answer the question that actually matters — was the promise kept? The plan lives in a spreadsheet, the day lives on the road, and nothing compares the two. xMatix closes that loop: beats designed on a map, sequenced by a real optimizer, executed with geo-verified visits, and measured against the plan outlet by outlet.
Plan: beats designed, not inherited
In xMatix Field Sales, a beat is a named, owned route of outlet stops with its own schedule — day-of-week, week-of-month, or any repeating pattern. Visit plans generate from that schedule automatically over a rolling window, so the day's list exists before the day starts. Outlets are classified so frequency can follow contribution, stops transfer between beats as territories change, and reps can onboard nearby outlets that are not yet in the universe. (New to the vocabulary? Start with what beat planning is and the permanent journey plan.)
Optimize: sequences with evidence behind them
Sequencing is a versioned property of the route, not a one-off calculation. A route holds a planned sequence, an optimized sequence computed over real road distances, and a most-followed sequence learned from the order reps actually drove — so the plan absorbs reality instead of arguing with it. The mechanics are documented in the route optimization architecture; the practitioner's version is how beat planning works.
Execute: visits that prove themselves
Each stop carries its own geofence tolerance, so a visit is a verified event — the rep was at the outlet, at that time — not a checkbox on a form. In-outlet work (orders, merchandising, collections, surveys) attaches to the visit, and all of it is captured offline-first with a durable outbox, because coverage is usually worst exactly where the network is. See offline order capture for how the last mile stays durable.
Compare: the plan versus the day
Because the plan and the execution live in one system, "planned versus actual" is arithmetic: which outlets were promised this week, which were reached, which beats run chronically long, which outlets have gone quiet despite being covered. Coverage, strike rate and drop size sit on governed dashboards — and Sense can answer route questions in plain language, under each user's own permissions.
Common questions
What is the difference between beat planning and route optimization?
Beat planning decides which outlets are visited at what frequency by whom — it is a coverage promise. Route optimization decides the order of stops within the day to minimise travel. xMatix treats them as two layers of the same route: the beat carries the promise, and the optimizer sequences it over real road distances.
Can beats follow week-of-month and custom frequency patterns?
Yes. A route carries its own schedule — day of week, week-of-month patterns, or any repeating rule — and the system generates visit plans from it automatically over a rolling lead-time window. High-value outlets can be promised weekly calls while the tail runs fortnightly, on the same beat structure.
How do you know a planned visit actually happened?
Every stop has a geofence with its own tolerance, and a visit is recorded with location and time. The comparison between the plan and the day — outlets promised versus outlets reached, planned sequence versus driven sequence — is a report, not an interview.
Does beat planning work offline?
The day's visit plan, the outlet universe, pricing and schemes are on the device before the rep leaves. Visits, orders and in-outlet activities are captured with no connectivity and reconciled later through a durable outbox — the plan does not depend on signal to be followed or measured.
How do beats stay current as the territory changes?
Stops transfer between beats without losing history, reps can propose nearby outlets for onboarding, and the most-followed sequence shows where the plan and reality disagree — evidence for the next re-planning pass rather than a reason to abandon planning.