> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.fieldko.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Run a 90-Day Retail Execution Pilot > Pilot a stronger retail execution operating model in 90 days: diagnose, pilot, and scale with gates, stop signs, and FieldKo setup steps. This page is for sales leaders, program owners, admins, and managers starting or resetting a retail execution program. The outcome is a 90-day pilot that proves a focused operating model in real stores before you roll it out everywhere: one business problem, a trusted baseline, a practical field workflow, and a clear decision at each gate. ## What Good Looks Like * One business objective, such as improving availability of a short must-stock list, with a named owner. * A baseline for 2 or 3 outcomes, with known data gaps written down. * Pilot territories that reflect real variety: store formats, distances, access, and performance. * Reps and managers involved in design and testing, not only told the result. * A written decision at each 30-day gate. ## When to Use It and Common Failure Patterns Use this plan for a new FieldKo rollout, a new region, or a major change to how visits, surveys, or exceptions work. Common failure patterns: * **Big-bang rollout.** Every store and rep changes at once, so problems multiply. * **Disputed definitions.** Teams don't agree what in-stock, authorized, visited, or resolved mean. * **Dashboards before workflow.** A survey produces attractive charts but frustrates the reps who complete it. * **Easy pilot stores.** The pilot works only because it used the best territories. * **Scaling broken basics.** Sync problems or unowned exceptions are rolled out to the whole team. ## Operating Procedure ### Days 1 to 30: Understand and Design * Interview reps, area managers, commercial teams, and retailer-facing staff. Shadow real visits. * Map how stores are chosen, how call cycles are planned, what's surveyed, what evidence is taken, who owns issues, and how reporting works. * Agree the business objective, the pilot stores, and the product scope. * Write a short metric dictionary, and agree what in-stock, authorized, visited, and resolved mean. * Record a baseline for 2 or 3 outcomes. * List the most time-consuming field tasks that add little value. **Gate:** you have enough reliable information to design a focused pilot. ### Days 31 to 60: Pilot in Real Conditions * Run a short standard visit, the must-stock list, a few priority metrics, and an exception process in the pilot territories. * Train reps and supervisors, and watch how long visits really take. * Count incomplete or ambiguous answers, and check a sample of evidence. * Run a weekly exception review. * Fix the design quickly instead of waiting for a formal review. **Gate:** the field workflow is practical, and the action process works. ### Days 61 to 90: Stabilize and Scale Deliberately * Compare pilot results with the baseline and with similar stores outside the pilot. * Review data confidence: sync timeliness, completeness, and evidence quality. * Refine store tiers, task lists, and resourcing. * Set change control for questions, products, campaigns, and metric definitions. * Train supervisors to run short weekly reviews. * Plan a staged expansion by region or store segment. **Gate:** the evidence supports scaling without multiplying unresolved problems. ### Stop Signs Pause expansion if any of these is true: * Records aren't syncing reliably. * Reps can't complete the workflow within real visit times. * Scorecard denominators are still disputed. * Nobody is accountable for exceptions. ## How to Implement It in FieldKo For the technical setup, follow the [Implementation Checklist](https://support.fieldko.com/admin/implementation-checklist.md). This table shows where each pilot step happens in FieldKo. | Pilot Step | In FieldKo | Availability | | - | - | - | | Build safely | Configure and test in a sandbox first. See [Manage Releases: Sandboxes, Deployments, and Package Upgrades](https://support.fieldko.com/platform/data/releases.md). | Built-in (Salesforce) | | Define pilot stores | Save them as an account set. See [Run Field Campaigns](https://support.fieldko.com/managers/field-campaigns.md). | Built-in | | Set visit frequency | Call cycles and recurrence patterns. See [Segment Stores and Set Visit Frequency](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/coverage-and-call-cycles.md). | Built-in | | Standard visit and must-stock list | Visit templates, task types, surveys, and product sets. See [Run a Great Store Visit](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/store-visit.md) and [Build Surveys](https://support.fieldko.com/admin/surveys.md). | Built-in | | Roll out pilot work | A field campaign on the pilot account set. See [Launch a New Survey or Field Campaign](https://support.fieldko.com/platform/day-to-day/launch-survey-or-campaign.md). | Built-in | | Test the app with pilot reps | Test new app versions before wider release. See [Test New Versions of the App](https://support.fieldko.com/mobile-testing/test-new-versions.md). | Built-in | | Measure visit time | **Actual Time Spent (Mins)** against **Planned Time Spent (Mins)**. See [Time in Store and Attendance](https://support.fieldko.com/managers/platform/recipes/time-in-store.md). | Built-in | | Check sync reliability | Sync Detail records for each pilot rep. See [Diagnose Rep Issues](https://support.fieldko.com/admin/support-diagnostics.md#sync-details). | Built-in (FieldKo Native) | | Run the exception process | Next Visit To Do's, incidents, and Flow; ownership and due dates need configuration. See [Close the Loop on Store Exceptions](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/close-the-loop.md). | Configured | | Compare with other stores | Sales comparison needs external data. See [Measure Retail Execution Impact](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/measure-impact.md). | External data | ## Fictional Example Fictional example: a made-up snack company, Redwood Pantry, pilots in 3 territories with 12 reps and 180 stores. The objective is availability of 15 must-stock products. * **Day 30 baseline:** reps check 15 products in each of the 180 stores, 2,700 checks in all. 2,322 are present, so observed on-shelf availability (OSA) is 2,322 ÷ 2,700 = 86%. * **Day 45:** visit times run 12 minutes over plan, because the pilot survey has 40 questions. The team cuts it to 18. * **Day 60 gate:** the same 2,700 checks show 2,457 present, so observed OSA is 91%. Sync Details show 2 reps with repeated failed syncs, which the admin fixes before the next gate. * **Day 90 gate:** results hold, weekly reviews run without the central analyst, and the team approves expansion to 2 more territories. ## What to Measure | Metric | Definition | Population | Denominator | Exclusions | Owner | | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Observed OSA | Must-stock products marked present ÷ must-stock products checked | Pilot stores, each check | Products checked | Products not ranged at the store | Program owner | | Visit time against plan | Average **Actual Time Spent (Mins)** − average **Planned Time Spent (Mins)** | Completed pilot visits | Not applicable | Visits completed by automated check-out | Field manager | | Ambiguous answer rate | Answers that need follow-up to interpret ÷ answers reviewed | A weekly sample of pilot answers | Answers reviewed | Optional questions left blank | Program owner | | Sync reliability | Pilot reps with a successful sync each working day ÷ pilot reps | Active pilot reps | Pilot reps | Reps on leave | Admin | | Exception ownership | Open exceptions with a named owner ÷ open exceptions | Pilot exceptions | Open exceptions | Authorized exceptions | Field manager | ## What to Do When It Goes Wrong | Symptom | Likely Cause | What to Do | | - | - | - | | Visits run long | Too many questions or tasks | Cut the survey to what the objective needs | | Pilot reps have no visits | No active call cycle for the rep | See [Check Call Cycle Coverage](https://support.fieldko.com/platform/data/data-quality.md#check-call-cycle-coverage) | | Baseline numbers are disputed | Definitions or product lists differ | Agree the metric dictionary and product sets before the next gate | | Results look great only in easy stores | Unrepresentative pilot territories | Add harder territories before deciding to scale | | Exceptions pile up | No owner, or no process for routing | Set up the exception process, and stop expansion until it works | ## Checklist * [ ] Name a sponsor, a program owner, and the pilot region. * [ ] Write the business objective, baseline metric, and success criteria. * [ ] Agree the metric dictionary and the must-stock list. * [ ] Set up the pilot in a sandbox, then in production, using the implementation checklist. * [ ] Choose representative pilot territories. * [ ] Run weekly exception reviews from day 31. * [ ] Record a decision at each gate. * [ ] Check the stop signs before any expansion. ## Industry Best-Practice Context FieldKo's guide [A 90-Day Plan for Improving Retail Execution](https://fieldko.com/best-practices/90-day-retail-execution-plan/) sets out the phases and stop signs. To plan your own pilot, use the [90-Day Improvement Plan](https://fieldko.com/best-practices/toolkits/ninety-day-programme-plan/) template. ## See Also * [Implementation Checklist](https://support.fieldko.com/admin/implementation-checklist.md) * [Close the Loop on Store Exceptions](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/close-the-loop.md) * [Measure What Matters](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/measure.md) * [Measure Retail Execution Impact](https://support.fieldko.com/retail-execution/measure-impact.md) * [Plan Your Team's First Week](https://support.fieldko.com/managers/first-week.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.