Sales Force Automation

Chapter 4
The CRM Handbook

SFA Sales Force Automation

Focus

on cultivating customer relationships

and
Improving customer satisfaction
Scenario Number One
Scenario Number Two

The Ever-Evolving SFA

Early

1990s companies with field sales

forces were faced with tremendous amounts
of customer information.
Software vendors realized this unmet and
unrecognized need.
Info about customers was kept in little black
books that left with the sales reps.

The Promise of SFA

Putting

account information directly in the

hands of field sales staff.
Making them responsible for it with the
promise of..
Making them more productive.
Synchronize information with the corporate
client/server database.

Sales Force Automation Tools

Sales

Sales
process

Sales
activity

Process/Activity Management

Include a sequence of sales activities

Guide sales reps through each discrete step in
the sales process

Opportunity

Opportunity
Generated
Generated

Lead
allocated

Prospect
contacted

Prospect
qualified

Solution
identified

Order
placed

Sales Force Automation Tools

Sales

Process/Activity Management (cont)

Offer calendars to assist in the planning of key

customer events
Proposal

presentations
Product demonstrations

Alarm Reminders
Signal

important tasks
Generate documents as they are needed
Make decisions based on the users input

Generate a mailing suggestions

Sales Force Automation Tools

Sales and Territory Management

Tools that enable sales managers and executives ondemand access to sales activities

Before, during and after the order

Enables managers to set up sales teams and link individual

accounts, regions and industries.
Allows tracing of territory assignments and monitor
pipelines and leads for individual territories.
Allows optimization of individual teams

Sales Force Automation Tools

Contact

Management

Deals with organizing and managing data across

and within a companys client and prospect
organizations.
See p. 84 of the types of questions that can be
answered with this tool.

Sales Force Automation Tools

Lead Management

Also known as opportunity management and pipeline

management
Track customer account history
Monitor leads
Generate next steps and
Refine selling efforts online
Allows sales management to automatically distribute client
leads to a field or telemarketing rep based on the res
product knowledge or territory

Sales Force Automation Tools

Configuration

Support

Automatically factors in complex customer

attributes and requirements to build a solution
from scratch
Among the companies who may use such tools
Computer

technology vendors
Appliance manufacturers
Telephone companies

Knowledge Management
Many

CRM tools geared to SFA include

functions specific to accessing and
conversing on a range of corporate
documentation to supplement sales efforts
and provide fast data during the heat of a
sale.

SFA and Mobile CRM

From

Client/Server to the Web

SFA functionality now rests on a headquarters

Web server running CRM software
Eliminates the traditional support costs of
managing communications
Resource expenses are less than those needed
to support the old client/server mode.

SFA and Mobile CRM

From

Client/Server to the Web

Simplifies access by allowing a company to

outsource remote access to the ISP
Laptop config and support costs are reduced
It staff now manage and protect critical customer
data in a central location at headquarters
Risk of deleted files, smashed laptops, or lost
sales reps are dramatically reduced.

SFA and Mobile CRM

SFA Goes Mobile

Support for handheld devices is the next step in the

evolution.
According to the Aberdeen Group, 74 million people will
have access to the Web via wireless technology by the year
2004.
PDAs
Cell phones
Web Phones
Two-way pagers
Tablet PC,
Etc.

SFA and Mobile CRM

Benefits

of Mobile CRM

Requires much less time than traditional fax or

email
Field staff have access to info and can update
making companies smarter about their customers
Real time alert about vital customer events
Just-in-time personalized messages
Provides field staff with access to vase amounts
of information

SFA and Mobile CRM

New

wireless protocols such as WAP

Bluetooth

New standard for short-range wireless

communications

Research

Bluetooth

the various wireless protocols and

Sales Force Automation Tools

Field

Force Automation (FFA)

Part customer service and part sales force

automation
Also known as field service management
Field technicians receive dispatch orders via their
PDAs, pagers, and cell phones
Making use of these same devices during the
actual repair.

An SFA Checklist for Success

Understand

how SFA will help, and enlist

salesperson stakeholdership at the beginning

Initial requirements gathering

Rollout tool

Communicate

the value to the sales force up

front
Invest in-and enforce-training.

An SFA Checklist for Success

Beware

of inherent sales processes

packaged into SFA tools

Customize YOUR sales process

Understand

the infrastructure necessary to

support wireless technologies
Let SFA use affect sales compensation.
Change hiring practices and job role
descriptions to include use of CRM

Case Study: Hewlett Packard