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Customer Relationship Management

Notes current information, information that they will be able to use while it is still valuable. Management
response time will be greatly reduced. The company will become more alert and more agile.
These systems could increase customer satisfaction if they are used with wisdom. If the information
obtained and analyzed with the system is used to create a product that matches or exceeds
customer expectations, and the sales staff uses the system to service customers more expertly
and diligently, then customers should be satisfied with the company. This will provide a
competitive advantage because customer satisfaction leads to increased customer loyalty, reduced
customer acquisition costs, reduced price elasticity of demand, and increased profit margins.

14.1.3 Disadvantages

Detractors claim that sales force management systems are:

 difficult to work with
 require additional work inputting data
 dehumanize a process that should be personal
 require continuous maintenance, information updating, and system upgrading
 costly

 difficult to integrate with other management information systems

Notes Sales Force Automation (SFA) application gives businesses the upper hand with
their sales data. Comprehensive and easy to customize, the solution empowers companies
to manage people and processes more effectively, so reps can close more deals. With SFA,
reps spend more time selling and less time on administration.

 Loved by the Sales Force: Reps need solutions that make their jobs easier, not more
complicated. SFA gives them fast access to data – on-line, off-line and via mobile devices
– and links easily to popular tools like Microsoft Office and Outlook. The user interface is
simple and intuitive. This is the one SFA solution every sales rep will love and use.
 Critical for Sales Managers: Managers need visibility into the activities of their reps and
insight into where they stand with their pipelines. The solution provides powerful
opportunity management, forecasting, reporting, and customization capabilities, so sales
managers can be confident their teams are producing at their full capacity.
 Trusted by Executives: Executives need accurate information so they can evaluate their
company’s past performance while looking ahead to the future. They want to answer
critical business questions quickly without sifting through reams of data. With the powerful
analytics and customizable dashboards that SFA provides, executives have the real-time
information they need to be effective.

14.1.4 Features of SFA

The underlying features of Sales Force Automation are as follows:
1. Sales Management
2. Lead Management
3. Opportunity Management

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