Sales Force Automation: Selling Made Easier

Generating sales is increasingly becoming a complicated and challenging task amid rigorous competition and product proliferation. The entire sales process involves the efforts of many people, engaged directly and indirectly, which further adds to the complexity. This is where Sales Force Automation (SFA) can play a very important supportive role.

In simple words, Sales Force Automation is the method of using technology to automate the sales activities within an organization to better meet the demands of customers. SFA software can be used to automate sales related tasks such as order processing, contact management, inventory monitoring, information sharing, sales forecasting, customer management and employee performance evaluation.

SFA should not be confused with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) although they are quite inter-dependent and intimately related to each other.

A well-implemented software system can save sales and marketing managers a lot of time and energy. Implementation is the key, so companies must make sure that employees do not resist the technology and are trained to attain maximum results. A well begun sales force automation initiative is half the job done already!

The concept of Sales Force Automation is not something revolutionary; it’s actually old wine in a new bottle. Look at it as another way of keeping customers happy by minimizing the fuss in the process. At the same time, it adds efficiency to the sales process and offers several advantages to marketers.

Tracking: SFA helps companies keep track of sales histories, and take appropriate action. For example, it can generate automatic reminders to follow up with dormant clients, or send out interesting communication to prospective ones. This is of immense value to the usually harried sales team, faced with the challenges that each day brings.

Reporting: Ask any salesperson what he or she thinks of reporting, and you’ll probably need to run for cover. Periodic reporting is a pain for salespeople, who would rather be walking the halls in search of new customers. Sales Force Automation software enables them to generate a variety of progress reports quickly once they have keyed in basic information. Think of all the paperwork saved!

Lead Routing: This makes possible the allocation of leads in a much more fair and transparent manner. Leads can be assigned in a number of ways such as by workload, geography, area of expertise or completely at random. SFA brings a certain method to the process, so that everyone is aware of how the leads are being distributed, thereby creating a better working environment. Also, since there is transparency about all the leads in the system, the risk of duplication of effort is minimized.

Generating Quotations: Sales Force Automation can also be used to generate customized quotations based on customers’ past buying patterns. This is especially important in businesses where prices are flexible or negotiated for each order.

Ease of Use: Last but not least, Sales Force Automation software is designed to be user-friendly. Employees can therefore get cracking with minimal training.

The bottom line is that SFA helps sales teams to sell more by improving the efficiency of the process and reducing the time spent on routine “non-sales” activities. It also gives sales managers a quick overview of an individual salesperson’s progress towards set targets. If only it could do the selling as well!

For professional help on installation of SFA software, read books like “Sales Force Automation Using Web Technologies”, “Sales Automation Done Right” and “High-Impact Sales Force Automation”