Two ways to run a route sales business, with genuinely different economics. Many distributors run both without having decided why.
The two models
Presell. A sales representative visits the customer (or calls, or the customer orders online) ahead of delivery. The order is picked at the depot and delivered by a driver whose job is delivery, not selling.
Sell from truck (van sales). The driver arrives with a general stock of product, agrees quantities with the customer at the stop, invoices on the spot and delivers immediately.
Most successful distributors run presell for their largest accounts and sell-from-truck for the long tail — the customers whose order value cannot support two visits.
Comparing them honestly
| Dimension | Presell | Sell from truck |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle utilisation | High — carries only what is ordered | Lower — carries a speculative range |
| Inventory accuracy | Easier — van stock matches order | Harder — full van stock control needed |
| Headcount | Higher — separate sales and delivery | Lower — one person does both |
| Route time per stop | Shorter — delivery only | Longer — sell, price, invoice |
| Order accuracy | Higher — picked in a warehouse | Lower — driver picks from van |
| Upsell capability | Strong — dedicated sales visit | Moderate — driver may lack sales focus |
| Out-of-stock risk at the stop | None — ordered in advance | Real — the item may not be on the van |
| Responsiveness | Lower — order lead time | Immediate |
| Cash and credit exposure | Managed centrally | At the vehicle |
| Suitability for new customers | Good — planned acquisition | Good — opportunistic |
| SKU range served | Full catalogue | Limited to van capacity |
When presell wins
- Wide product range. If the catalogue exceeds what a van can reasonably carry, presell removes the constant compromise.
- High-value or slow-moving items. Carrying speculative stock ties up capital and creates obsolescence risk.
- Large drops. When a customer takes a full pallet, there is no decision to make at the stop.
- Strong sales function. If the visit's purpose is category development, merchandising and negotiation, a dedicated representative achieves more than a driver under time pressure.
- Tight inventory discipline required. Regulated products, high-value goods and short shelf life all favour picking in a controlled environment.
When sell-from-truck wins
- Small, frequent orders. Where the average drop is a handful of cases, a separate sales visit costs more than it generates.
- Impulse and reactive demand. Convenience stores that reorder when they notice a gap.
- Limited SKU range. A narrow catalogue fits comfortably on a van.
- Geographic sparsity. In rural territories, two visits to the same customer is unaffordable.
- Low headcount availability. One person doing both roles is often the only viable structure in a small operation.
- Immediate cash businesses. Independent trade where the transaction completes at the door.
The economics, worked
Consider a customer taking £180 per visit.
Presell: sales visit (20 minutes fully loaded) plus delivery visit (12 minutes fully loaded). Two vehicle movements, two touches, two costs.
Sell from truck: one visit of 25 minutes. One movement, one cost — but the vehicle carries perhaps £6,000 of speculative stock across the route, and inventory control effort rises.
The break-even depends on your cost per visit and your inventory carrying cost. Compute both for three customer bands (small, medium, large) and the answer usually falls out clearly. Most operations discover their boundary sits lower than their current practice — that is, they are pre-selling customers who do not justify it.
Software implications
Presell requires: order capture with catalogue and pricing, credit checking at order time, warehouse picking integration, delivery confirmation against order, and sales representative call planning and journey plans.
Sell from truck requires: everything in van inventory management, plus mobile invoicing, pricing at the point of sale, payment capture and full settlement.
Sell-from-truck is materially more demanding of the system, which is one reason some distributors migrate to presell as they grow — the operational control is easier, and the software requirement is lower.
Transitioning between models
Moving from van sales to presell is a significant change:
- Customers must accept ordering in advance, which removes their flexibility
- Drivers lose the selling element of their role, which affects pay structures and morale
- Sales headcount must be added before the benefit appears
- Route structures change, since delivery-only routes serve more stops per day
- Out-of-stocks become the customer's problem to anticipate rather than yours to solve
Pilot it on one territory, measure drop size, revenue per customer and service failures for a full quarter before extending. Revenue per customer sometimes falls initially, because impulse purchasing at the stop disappears; whether it recovers depends on the quality of the sales function you put in its place.
Common questions
Which model has lower total cost?
It depends almost entirely on average drop size. Below a threshold — which you can compute from your own visit costs — sell-from-truck is cheaper because it requires one visit rather than two. Above it, presell wins on vehicle utilisation and inventory efficiency.
Can drivers really sell?
Some can, most can adequately when the "selling" is suggesting a top-up on lines that are running low. Expecting drivers to perform consultative category selling under route time pressure is unrealistic and tends to produce neither good selling nor punctual delivery.
How does the model affect inventory investment?
Sell-from-truck requires speculative stock on every vehicle, multiplying inventory across the fleet. A 20-vehicle operation may carry a significant working capital cost purely in van stock, which is invisible until someone calculates it.
What about telesales as a third option?
Telesales is a form of presell with lower cost per contact and less relationship depth. It works well for the middle tier of customers — too small for a field visit, too large to leave to reactive ordering — and is frequently the most economical option for that band.
Should new customers start on one model?
Many distributors start new independent customers on sell-from-truck to establish the relationship and understand their demand, then move the ones that grow onto presell. That is a sensible progression provided the review actually happens.
