DIM: behind the scenes of a successful territory redesign
With 116 territories in grocery retail and over 5,400 customers to cover, the DBI group (DIM and Playtex) chose Datakiss Territory Planning to rebalance its territories, run two distinct sales organizations and secure every decision with reliable, shared data.
116
sales territories in grocery retail
5,400+
customers covered every day
2
national territory maps managed in parallel (hypermarkets and supermarkets)
100%
of territories redesigned at the same time
Contents
Client profile
Company
DBI group, DIM and Playtex brands, an iconic underwear brand for over 60 years.
Industry
Textiles and underwear, grocery retail
Sales force
150+ people: 90 sales negotiators, 8 regional sales managers, 29 merchandising reps, DIM Academy
Could your territories benefit from the same rebalancing?
“Datakiss: a company, a team and a tool that serve the organization and optimization of our sales forces’ activity.”
Maxime Grand, Sales Director France & Export, DBI group
DIM at a glance
DIM is an iconic French underwear brand. Founded more than 60 years ago, it has always aimed to bring quality and comfort to as many people as possible. Together with Playtex, it forms the DBI group.
This testimonial comes from Maxime Grand, Sales Director France & Export of the DBI group for the past six years, and Patrice Carré, National Sales Director, who has been with DIM for 36 years.
DIM’s grocery retail sales force has more than 150 people across four teams: 8 regional sales managers and 90 sales negotiators, a sales school (the DIM Academy, with 2 sales managers and 21 work-study students), 29 merchandising reps and a 6-person sales development team. Together, these teams serve more than 5,400 customers covering almost the entire grocery retail landscape.
stat: 90 | sales negotiators
stat: 8 | regional sales managers
stat: 29 | merchandising reps
stat: 21 | work-study students at the DIM Academy
The challenge: restoring fairness to a territory design that had drifted
After several years of adjustments and changing assignments, DIM noticed anomalies and inconsistencies in its territories. Three workstreams were defined with Datakiss:
- Rebalance every territory. Return to a fair footing across sales reps and reduce travel time.
- Manage two maps of France at the same time. With the creation of two sales teams, one for hypermarkets (HM) and one for supermarkets (SM), the split had to fit each territory design.
- Have a reliable, flexible tool. Be able to adapt the organization easily and, above all, simulate before deciding.
“After several years of adjustments and changing assignments, we realized there were anomalies and inconsistencies. This allowed us to restore the basics of fairness and, above all, to reduce travel time.”
Maxime Grand, Sales Director France & Export, DBI group
The Datakiss solution: a project delivered in five stages
DIM relies on Datakiss Territory Planning, supported by Datakiss expert Alexandra Gomez Kowalewska. The project is built on two databases, one HR and one customer, enriched with DIM’s specific constraints.
- Diagnosis of all territories and of the activity
- Import of key data and identification of areas for action
- Simulations in the tool to measure the related benefits
- Presentation to the teams to win their buy-in
- Large-scale rollout
The tool served as an objective guarantee for the works council (CSE): reliable, forward-looking data showed that the new organization was aligned with the company’s objectives and roadmap.
“This tool is genuinely accessible, engaging and visual. It allowed the teams to see exactly where the errors in the territories were.”
Patrice Carré, National Sales Director, DIM
Project benefits
Both leaders highlight three main benefits:
- All territories redesigned simultaneously, with a significant reduction in travel time and more efficient customer coverage.
- Fair territories: everyone has a fair and comparable workload, which reassures the teams and indirectly boosts their motivation.
- Time saved on the annual territory organization, both at headquarters and with the sales teams.
“When you are fair, you also tap into motivation.”
Maxime Grand, Sales Director France & Export, DBI group
The key to success
For Patrice Carré, the quality of the outcome depends first on being demanding about input data, and on an approach shared with the teams rather than imposed on them.
“One of the essential points is to be extremely demanding about input data. Datakiss was never seen as some kind of black box, but on the contrary as a collaborative tool.”
Patrice Carré, National Sales Director, DIM
In summary
“If you are looking for a rational, simple tool to base decisions on your business KPIs, go with Datakiss. This is a turnkey project and we are well supported.”
Maxime Grand, Sales Director France & Export, DBI group
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