portatour® not only helps us with planning, but above all with bringing transparency to our field sales operations.
Philip Wilms,
Head of Controlling
Hofmeister & Meincke SE is an established wholesaler for commercial vehicle parts and vehicle construction systems. In addition to the traditional trading business, the company also develops and produces its own vehicle construction systems and supplies both original equipment and the spare parts market. Its customers include, in particular, haulage companies, transport companies, commercial vehicle workshops and vehicle manufacturers.
With a product range of over 1.6 million items, the company generated sales of 218.4 million euros in 2025. More than 700 employees at 28 locations contribute to its success, including around 95 field reps who are on the road with portatour®.
Philip Wilms works as Head of Controlling and has been with the company since 2008. Among other things, he is responsible for sales controlling and supports sales management in managing the sales force. Here, portatour® plays a central role.
portatour® helps us not only with planning, but above all with bringing transparency to the field sales force.
Before the use of portatour®, route planning at Hofmeister & Meincke was strongly characterized by individual habits. Sales reps often planned their weeks manually and based on personal routines. At the same time, there was no clear data basis for assessing how intensively the sales force actually visited customers.
According to Philip Wilms, the focus has broadened with portatour®. In addition to route optimization, the main focus today is on transparency. Thanks in part to the detailed reporting system at portatour®, it is now possible to see how many days field reps are actually on the road, how many customers they visit and how broadly they cover their customer base. These insights were previously not possible in this form.
Now we know much better what is happening outside at the customer's premises.
The introduction of portatour® was straightforward, as the system could be rolled out quickly as a web-based solution. The fact that portatour® can be used across platforms without the need to install an app is one of the biggest advantages of the software for Philip Wilms. When introducing the system in the company, the focus was primarily on the structured integration of customer data.
New employees quickly find their way around and are able to work productively after just a short time. Operation is intuitive and requires only minimal training. Experienced sales representatives could also be integrated step by step. Existing routines were not replaced, but rather supplemented and optimized.
After two hours of training, new colleagues can in principle start straight away.
According to Philip Wilms, a major added value of portatour® is the improved management of sales territories. The entire customer base is systematically processed. Sales representatives are actively reminded to adhere to the desired call intervals. As a result, market coverage is much more systematic and the existing potential is better exploited.
At the same time, portatour® provides a clear data foundation. It becomes evident when territories are not being utilized optimally or when employees deviate from defined targets. This transparency enables targeted management and further development of the field service. Moving forward, Hofmeister & Meincke would like to delve even deeper into the topic of territory planning.
We want to systematically edit specific territories. That’s exactly where portatour® comes in.
Simulations for territory adjustments can be created quickly and refined iteratively in a workshop with the field sales representatives involved. “How does the distribution of customers, revenue, and potential change if we divide a territory in one way or another? What would the workload be for the representatives, and how would the amount of customer calls improve?”
These questions can be simulated quickly and easily with just a few clicks: "Once a decision has been made, the desired results can be easily exported and used internally for customer rewriting," explains Philip Wilms.
Since the introduction of portatour®, there has been a noticeable change in the way field sales and field sales management work. The frequency of visits has increased and the number of customers visited per quarter has also risen.
In addition, the field reps benefit from significantly better preparation for customer appointments, as relevant information is available quickly and centrally. "Key figures have given us control options, we can give our field sales colleagues better feedback and can see more quickly where sales management needs to provide support."
Thanks to portatour®, we can now spot any issues much more quickly and take targeted corrective action.
For Philip Wilms, the decisive advantage of portatour® lies in the combination of planning, structure and transparency: "The system forces the field sales force to look at their own sales strategy in a positive way." It clearly defines which customers are to be visited how often and how the available time is to be used sensibly.
At the same time, portatour® ensures that this strategy is implemented consistently. Transparency at all levels is particularly valuable. Both field reps and sales management can see at any time how work is being done and where deviations occur.
portatour® forces us to have a clear sales strategy and to implement it.
With portatour®, Hofmeister & Meincke has created the basis for modern and data-based sales management. The combination of automated planning and intelligent territory optimization makes it possible to deploy the field sales force more efficiently and strategically.
The newly gained transparency ensures that decisions are no longer based on gut feeling, but on clear key figures. At the same time, the customer base is processed more broadly and systematically. The result is a sales organization that not only works more efficiently, but also grows more sustainably.
Available by phone from Mon-Fri, 9-17h CET
