Sales Force Automation or SFA refers to a tool or software which is used by the field sales team to automate its field sales process. It generally involves tasks like order processing, route optimization, stock monitoring, sales forecast, and other analytic tasks.
SFA captures field sales or service information in real-time using communications technology, typically handheld PDAs, wireless devices, or mobile phones. Sales force automation for FMCG helps in reducing tedious and time-consuming but imperative tasks connected with sales. This allows sales reps and executives to work on the revenue-generating activity like Field Sales.
According to a study, Sales Force Automation can lead to a 30% increase in deal closures, an 18% reduction in the sales cycle, and a 14% reduction in sales administration time. The report further stated that SFA is proven to boost sales productivity by 14.5% and reduce sales and marketing overheads by 12.2%.
The biggest benefit of a sales force automation software is that it helps in increasing productivity by digitalizing the sales processes. This includes enhancing the order size through order maximization tools, using digital mediums to connect to retailers, increasing market coverage through customer profiling and segmentation, assisting in route optimization, etc. It also helps in increasing in-store sales through visual merchandising audits and product promoters app. There are endless benefits of a sales force automation, one being its configurability.
As a Business Leader, one may experience a lot of situations where an SFA software needs to get configured depending on the situation. With the ever-changing market, there might come a new trend that needs to get aligned with the software, or a new data point that needs to get captured, or maybe a functionality that could help the sales reps in increasing their outputs.
Whether you already have a software or you are planning to purchase one, if the sales force automation software lacks proper configurability, you can’t travel miles with it in your business journey. One needs to have a framework to check the configurability of an SFA software.
That is where we, at BeatRoute, have come up with three questions framework that every sales leader should use to check the configurability of a sales force automation software. These questions have been designed with our experience working with multiple CPG brands in the market, as we closely look at their field sales challenges and help them solve those challenges.
For a better understanding of the framework, we have included a few cases.
Case 1: If the business team comes to you and asks you that they want a piece of information to be captured when the sales reps visit the customer in real-time,
Question 1: Is it possible for the SFA software to capture real-time information when the sales rep visits the customer?
If the answer to this question is that the software takes more than an hour to capture the information then the software is already 6 months old and you can not go more than one year with that software. Real-time information capturing is very much essential as it helps business leaders get the necessary real-time updates regarding customer profiling and segmentation.
Case 2: If your business team comes up to you and asks to add a simple process, maybe a one or two-step process,
Question 2: How long does it take the Sales Force Automation Software to add a simple process to the software?
If the Sales force Automation software takes more than a day then the software is already 5 years older and such outdated software will serve you not more than 2 more years.
There may come a need to add simple processes to your existing Sales Force Automation software whenever there is a change in the sales techniques or business structure. At that time a Sales Force Automation software must be well versed to add a simple process to the software.
Case 3: Now if your business team comes and says everything is working fine but they want to facilitate and trigger people into collaborating within themselves, which is again an important part of any organization.
Question 3: How long does it take to achieve the collaboration of people within the software?
If the answer is that it is not possible with simple configurations or it’s out of the box with, then the software probably belongs to the previous era. Processes like achieving the collaboration of people within the software are of utmost importance as communication is the backbone of any organization. The ideal sales force automation software should be able to achieve collaborations of people without any hassles through quick & simple configurations.
Conclusion
In today’s time, it becomes a bit difficult to find the perfect and most configurable SFA software in this sea of Softwares available!
BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation answers all the above-mentioned questions. It takes absolutely no time to add a field for capturing real-time information when the sales rep visits the customer. In some cases, it could also use AI for capturing real-time information, depending on the need.
The moment you need to write a complex code for adding some simple processes, the whole software loses its agility. BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation can add simple processes with utmost ease without any need for complex coding. The software takes a couple of hours to add any kind of complex process with the utmost ease.
BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation also makes it super efficient and easy for different members of different departments to collaborate and achieve this collaboration of people through a proper communication channel.
With growing competition and business demands, you must consider a Sales Force Automation Software which answers all the above questions. The purpose of Sales Force Automation is not about “Can you do it”, it’s about “How fast can you do it.”
BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation answers all the above questions. It ticks all the boxes when it comes to the features and the feather on the cap is that BeatRoute’s Sales force Automation is an ideal combination of speedy service and controlled technology. It truly justifies its name BeatRoute’s New Age Technology Software.
If you too are willing to choose an ideal software for your business needs, you are at the right place! Click here to book an online demo of BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation Software.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How important is it to have an up to date sales automation software?
There have been constant changes in the sales force technology over the years and it is very important to be on track with these changes because as the sales methodologies change with the changing customer behaviors, the tool required to automate the sales process also needs to be updated constantly. The frontline sales reps and the sales leaders when equipped with the latest technology tend to give the best productivity. BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation takes pride in being up to date with the latest technologies for delivering the best results for its clients.
Which is the best Sales Force Automation Software?
The best sales force automation involves tasks like order processing, route optimization, stock monitoring, sales forecast, and other analytic tasks. It should capture field sales or service information in real-time using communications technology, typically handheld PDAs, wireless devices, or mobile phones, and also be available for any changes in the system within a few hours.
Related Read: Top 10 SFA Software in 2023
What Question should you ask before considering the configurability of sales force automation software?
There are a lot of questions that you can ask before deciding the configurability of a Sales force Automation software, but there are three very significant questions you should ask before considering any Sales Force Automation software. 1) Is it possible for the SFA software to capture real-time information when the sales rep visits the customer? 2) How long does it take the Sales Force Automation Software to add a simple process to the software? 3) How long does it take to achieve the collaboration of people within the software?
