Sales force automation or SFA platform is a type of software, which is aimed at automatization of various business tasks. The latter include inventory control, sales management, tracking of customer service, and analysis of marketing forecasts and performance.
What is sales force automation? It is a many-sided system, developed specifically for the company’s needs satisfaction. Such programs help businesses find new buyers and meet the requirements of existing customers. Using these platforms, the specialists of sale departments can inspect the patrons’ detailed data, plan and pipeline various missions, assess the effectiveness of lead management strategies, and fulfill a number of other tasks.
How can SFA automate your business?
Being an important part of CRM-oriented systems, sales force automation software has a number of strong points, which, acting together or separately, make a substantial contribution into development of any business. Let us have a closer look at all the advantages of such systems:
Mobile Sales Force Automation platforms
Using SFA platforms, sales representatives can count every interaction, no matter where and when it has been made. The members of your sales department will easily control the purchases made from different gadgets at any given time. Moreover, they’ll be able to associate with buyers, manage transactions, and track operations, even when being offline.
Integration of notes
SFA platforms help salespeople work with more information more effectively. For instance, can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook, Google Gmail, and other everyday office tools, so that the users do not need to duplicate data in different services or look for the necessary figures in several places.
Real-time analysis
Sales force automation systems will save you from unwanted surprises and ‘what-if’ situations. Using these platforms, you will be able to track performance in real-time mode and render correct decisions on the basis of available data. They let salespeople forecast the way the customers’ behavior will change, and make precise calculation of where to focus.
Back-office integration
All the necessary data like prices, quotes, lists of customers and so on is automatically sent to sales professionals, so that they could use it in real-time mode. They do not have to hunt for the figures they need – everything is right around the corner.
What is sales force automation and is it right for you?
Selling of goods or services can be compared to art. Naturally, it has its own laws, principles, and approaches, but one thing remains certain – you need to treat your business with care and attention. This rule concerns both big and small companies, no matter what they offer to their clients. SFA platforms, like the general approach to business, are great for all types of companies.
For instance, let’s take a glance at large enterprises. They are all about the scale. Big businesses need hundreds of employees. Therefore, their programs should be easily plugged into the assembly line, and quickly replaced when a salesman decides to leave job. What is sales force automation for big companies? It can even be a backup plan, which helps businesses make their sales departments work continuously and automatically. At the same time, the automation of key business process helps the new employees perform their duties as effectively as their more experienced colleagues.
As for small businesses, they operate in a slightly different way. Their key advantage over the bigger rivals is the personalized approach to clients. As a rule, small companies offer a more personal experience to their buyers, this is why their salesmen do not have to behave like robots – they do need to remain human beings, common and understandable. Nevertheless, sometimes lesser businesses also have to automatize their processes. In such cases, they should not use ready-made SFA platforms, but choose abridged versions of these systems. It will help them save their key advantages and win the battle for customers.
In any way, sales force automation software is a perfect helper for big companies that want to turn their sales offices into assembly lines. As for other businesses, they should appraise the situation and single their goals. Being an essential component of an effective sales process, these platforms deprive a company of craftsmanship, making all its processes automatically controlled. At the same time, they make an invaluable contribution into business development: with SFA solutions every company finds new clients, pushes the sales up and gains traction.