Page 354 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Ashwani Panesar, Lovely Professional University
Unit 14: Sales Force Automation

Unit 14: Sales Force Automation Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction

14.1 Overview of Sales Force Automation
14.1.1 Sales Force Automation Solution
14.1.2 Benefits of Sales Force Automation Software

14.1.3 Disadvantages
14.1.4 Features of SFA
14.1.5 Other Features
14.2 Sales Force Automation Solution – An Overview
14.2.1 Functional Features

14.3 Summary
14.4 Keywords
14.5 Review Questions

14.6 Further Readings
Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
 Describe the meaning and features of sales force automation
 Know that what the advantages and disadvantages of SFA

 Explain the overview of SFA

Introduction

Any sales team in a company today, has to deal with various constraints. They need to
continuously be in touch with their office, for updates on availability, prices and schemes for the
products they sell. While this external reliance is a bottleneck, even the information obtained is
not always accurate. Sales Force Automation enables a highly mobile sales force to increase
productivity on the field, react faster to customer requirements and access and update sales
related information anytime, anywhere.

SFA is often used interchangeably with CRM; however, CRM does not necessarily imply
automation of sales tasks.
Sales Force Automation (SFA) contains multiple aspects of sales functionality, including sales
activities, opportunity & pipeline management and forecast capabilities. Sales Force Automation
is frequently combined with marketing tools to help facilitate the lead to opportunity (sales)
flow. SFA enables you to analyze the entire sales cycle and successfully manage your sales
pipeline—from first contact to final sale.

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