Give every RDM and SEM a virtual team.
Distributor plans, scorecard emails, check-ins, incentive math, meeting prep. Shopra's virtual team members do the first pass for your RDMs and SEMs. An RDM with no SEM gets covered, and a team that already has one gets more reach. Your people review, approve and spend the time they get back with distributors.
See it with your teamSee a Monday queueAlways on, no usage limits. For beverage and CPG brands.
Your field team's week goes to work a virtual team member could draft.
RDMs and SEMs spend hours every week on work that repeats every cycle: plans built line by line, a scorecard email per distributor, follow-ups, incentive reconciliations, meeting prep. Where an RDM has no SEM, all of it lands on one person, and the tail SKUs get planned flat because there's no time. Where there is an SEM, it eats the hours that should go to distributors and accounts.
A virtual team does the first pass for both. It fills the gap where there's no SEM and gives the teams you already have more reach, without a new hire.
- Always on, no usage limitsYour virtual team works nights, weekends and the week before the plan is due. Ask for as many drafts, rewrites and checks as you need; nothing is metered.
- Scales with the workAdd virtual members when the work spikes, like planning season, and scale back after.
- People stay in chargeVirtual team members draft. The RDM or SEM approves, edits or rejects. Nothing reaches a distributor without a person signing off.
- Built on your real dataDepletions, PODs, inventory and incentive rules from the systems you already run, so drafts start from the distributor's actual history.
- Every piece of work has a statusDrafted, approved, sent. Everyone knows what's done and what's left, even after a day of calls.
- Leadership sees the loadHours saved, work completed and plan accuracy, by person and region, so you can see where the virtual team is carrying weight.
A virtual team of four, each with one job.
Start with one. Add the next when the first is earning its keep.
The first pass of every distributor plan
Drafts next year's plan by distributor, SKU and month from each distributor's own history. Your team edits by exception.
- Tail SKUs planned flat, focus SKUs planned from PODs × velocity
- Innovation planned like the item it replaces
- Flags lines planned far above or below last year
- Marks each line drafted or approved, so nothing gets forgotten
The weekly email to every distributor
One scorecard and one draft email per distributor every week. The RDM or SEM sends it from their own inbox.
- Shipments vs depletions, days on hand, PODs and out-of-stocks
- Stores to visit and why each item is out
- Follow-ups drafted when a distributor goes quiet
- A log of who heard from the RDM and when
Incentive programs tracked by the rules
Checks every account against the program's actual terms before anyone gets paid, not after a dispute.
- Qualifying accounts and payout to date, by distributor
- Accounts close to qualifying, so reps know where to push
- Accounts that miss a mix rule caught before payout
- Program spend compared with the volume it bought
Prep for every distributor meeting
A one-page brief before each joint business plan or distributor visit, built from the latest data.
- Year to date vs plan, by category and SKU
- Voids, days on hand and out-of-stocks
- Where the distributor is ahead or behind its peers
- Talking points and asks, ready to edit
What a virtual team is worth.
Virtual team members are always on, with no usage limits. Each one takes about 10 hours of work a week off your RDMs and SEMs, and they work for the whole team, not one per person.
Shopra platform free with 4 or more virtual members.
Measured the way leadership will ask.
Every virtual team member reports the same four numbers by person and region, so the case for the virtual team doesn't rest on anecdotes.
- Hours savedTime each approved piece of work would have taken by hand.
- Dollars savedIncentive payouts caught before they went out wrong, and spend that didn't buy volume.
- Work completedPlans finished, scorecards sent, check-ins closed, briefs delivered, against what was due.
- Plan accuracyEach distributor's plan against actual depletions as the year plays out.
Live in two weeks.
We usually start with the RDMs who have no SEM, then extend the virtual team to everyone else.
Connect
We pull depletions from VIP or Encompass, your org chart of RDMs and SEMs, and any active incentive programs.
Pick the start
Choose the first people and the first virtual team member. Planning season usually means the virtual planner.
First queue
Each person gets their first drafts and a 30-minute walkthrough of approving, editing and rejecting.
Measure and add
Hours, dollars, completion and accuracy by region. Add the next virtual team member when the first is proven.
See the queue for your own team
Book a walkthrough and we'll load your distributors and org chart, so your RDMs and SEMs see their real first drafts, not a demo.
Book a walkthroughStart 60 days freeQuestions
Does this replace our SEMs?
No. It gives the people you have a virtual team. An RDM with no SEM gets the SEM work covered. An RDM with an SEM gets both of them out of the drafting, so they spend more time with distributors. Judgment calls and relationships stay with people.
What if the data is wrong?
Distributor data has gaps: a distributor changes hands, a store sits outside its call point, a code gets recycled. That's why nothing goes out without a person's approval, and why every draft shows the numbers it was built from. When someone corrects something, we fix it at the source so it doesn't come back.
Do distributors talk to the virtual team?
No. Emails and scorecards go out from the RDM's or SEM's own inbox, under their name, after they approve them.
How is it priced?
$2,500 per virtual team member per year (about $208 a month), shared across the team. No usage limits: no caps on drafts, questions or emails, and no per-task charges. Each one costs a small fraction of a new hire.
Can we change the size of the virtual team?
Yes. Add virtual members for planning season, a new incentive program or a new region, and scale back when the work drops off. Start with one and add more as each proves itself.
Do we need the rest of Shopra?
Yes. The virtual team runs on the Shopra platform, which brings together your depletions, org chart and incentive program rules. With four or more virtual members, the Shopra platform is free.
