Sales Force Automation: Why Automation Is Not Enough

Last Updated:February 23, 2021
Reading Time:8 Minutes
Sales Force Automation app interface on smartphone; orange and white design.

Table of Content

Sales Force Automation once meant replacing paper forms with digital ones. That era is over. FMCG brands now need SFA that does more than automate: Goal-Driven AI tied to company goals, insights that direct reps where to spend their hours, and channels like WhatsApp that meet retailers where they already are. This article walks through why pure automation has plateaued and what the next layer looks like.

BeatRoute moves beyond automation to Goal-Driven AI, ensuring SFA adoption translates to field behavior change.

Key takeaways

  • Pure automation plateaued years ago; sales teams need Goal-Driven AI that converts company goals into daily actions for every rep.
  • Misaligned ground execution happens when headquarters strategy does not map to what reps actually do on their daily beats.
  • Inconsistent sales behavior hurts productivity; modern SFA should shape behavior, not just record it.
  • Managers who only check data to police reps miss the point; SFA should surface sales problems and suggest fixes via AI.
  • Hybrid coverage via WhatsApp ordering plus field visits lowers cost-to-serve for low-revenue outlets without sacrificing reach.

What is sales force automation?

Sales force automation is the way to digitally manage distributed field teams efficiently in today’s world. It refers to all the software applications that automate the sales management. The comprehensive list of features covered by the Sales Force Automation Software includes every step in the process of sales, as mentioned below:
  • In-field customer profiling
  • Visit scheduling/beat planning
  • Relationship management & follow-ups with dealers/distributors
  • Tracking deliveries
  • Collecting leads
  • Updating sales opportunities
Interestingly, this is only the start as these software can be customized and tailored to cater to your business needs and keep up with every step of sales process. When it comes to running businesses effectively, sales force automation is your best chance at procuring a technological solution that can easily manage, control, and communicate relevant instructions to the bandwidth that is responsible for the revenue of a FMCG or Consumer Goods Company. 

Why has it become mediocre over the years?

Even though sales force automation has empowered companies to manage their sales teams better,  it has failed to fulfil business goals effectively to its full potential. The market demands from sales force automation have changed over the last few years as it faces some new challenges now. With the automation and digitization of mundane sales tasks, sales teams can now focus on their respective targets and performance but they may not be directed to the best direction if the sales force automation software is not adapted to the business needs. Some of the emerging challenges for successful execution of sales force automation are as follows:
  • Inconsistent sales behavior
Most SFA fail to track or improve sales behavior thereby failing to drive productivity right from it’s core i.e. the sales rep.
  • Misaligned ground execution
It often happens that headquarter level strategy does not match up with ground level execution, clearly due to inflexibility of conventional SFA solutions in incorporating company goals on the field sales targets. 
  • Adoption issue
With the elimination of paperwork and expected adoption of fancy interfaces of SFA software, the sales teams may find it tough to operate in case of inadequate training.
  • Policing instead of  problem solving
In most cases, managers only check the data on SFA software to track the sales reps activity or attendance instead of identifying the real sales related problems in their territories. Modifying SFA software with automated on the go analytics and problem notification with an AI assisted bot can help organizations to overcome this challenge.
  • Failure to understand key customers
Lack of CRM integration into SFA software prevents sales teams from gaining insights about customer behavior, experience and demands to optimize their sales. Even though sales force automation has streamlined marketing and sales operation, it may not fulfil business goals if these challenges are not outplayed. When the prime focus is to drive efficiency and boost sales, it is essential to adopt sales force automation software that offers solutions for the emerging challenges. 

What is the Future?

The future of the business sector relies on CRM sales force automation software’s that can be operated over cloud-deployment! However, the market is flooded with options, making it a really daunting task to help select the right sales force automation software solutions because all of them offer a similar basic functionality that is limited to analytics, data capturing, or digitization among others.  We understand the confusion that you might come across in selecting the best sales force automation solutions from the existing CRM SFAs. We suggest you try out the BeatRoute application as it is the ultimate next-gen solution  for your business.  Don’t believe us?  Check out below what makes us your go-to solution!

  • Goal-driven AI

Being a business leader, automation might be your best bet at improving business efficiency and aligning sales force to your business goals. However, the former is the most basic function for almost every sales force automation software, the later goal may not be fulfilled by any basic SFA software. Shouldn’t the best software not only help in business automation but help secure in achieving scalability and sales goals as well?  BeatRoute’s Sales Force Automation Software helps you formulate a goal-oriented sales process and helps define company sales goals (long and short-term), which  are then integrated with the current course of action and converted into individual sales goals to achieve for field sales teams.

  • Hybrid approach on Market coverage

While the order taking process has become simpler with the help of SFA software, a sales rep is still required to make a visit to the retailer, but what of those last mile outlets where the cost to service exceeds the budget. Physical visits to the retailer require human resource, time and transport which come at a marginable cost. When more than 80% of retailers across territories are using WhatsApp on a daily basis why not enable them to place orders directly via WhatsApp, which directly saves cost as fewer executives can cover more stores and low revenue stores can be served without wasting resources for regular physical visits. Furthermore, BeatRoute’s WhatsApp BOT  also allows you to conveniently target offers, schemes, loyalty, product information, reminders, etc

  • Route Optimization 

The conventional route optimization technique allows the different area managers to manually mark out the territory and then start with the planning of their routes for the sales drivers. This way, the unorganized approach increases travel time and also adds to the cost of visit whilst reducing the productivity. However, BeatRoute’s Route Optimization algorithm helps you calculate the logistically most efficient way for covering the stores in a territory, along with the number of resources required to cover all routes in a streamlined way for more face time than travel time. Take for example, a typical consumer goods company gains 15-20% optimization in their coverage strategy with this, which means if 20 people in a territory covered 300 stores each can save 3 persons worth of effort and cost after Route Optimization.

Conclusion

With the sales force automation meeting its dawn, it’s time to move ahead with the technology, it’s time you stay upgraded with the latest CRM SFA software’s to keep up with the competition. However, it is important for you to understand all the different aspects of such software’s before integrating them!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to select the Best Sales Force Automation Software for your Business in 2024?

Listed below are the steps to help you select the best sales force automation software for your business in 2024:
  • Checkout the review and ratings of the software
  • Consider the integration requirements
  • Calculate the costs of installing the new software in your business
  • Calculate the ROI from the deployment of the software
  • Look out for the scalability of your operations with the installed software
  • Go for the free demo!
BeatRoute offers you easy-to-use highly configurable sales force automation software that can revolutionize your field sales and marketing operations to cater your every business need across GT, MT & B2B/HORECA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is automation alone no longer enough for sales force software?

Pure automation digitizes paperwork but does not change outcomes. FMCG brands today need SFA that translates company sales goals into daily rep actions, surfaces problems via AI, and adapts coverage strategy based on customer potential. Recording activity is the floor, not the ceiling. The next layer is Goal-Driven AI.

What does a Goal-Driven AI approach look like in practice?

Leaders set company-level sales goals like range selling, VM execution, or scheme adoption. The platform breaks each goal into store-level and rep-level targets with specific actions and KPIs. Reps see what to do at each visit; managers see deviation alerts; dashboards show progress across territories in real time.

How does hybrid coverage via WhatsApp change field economics?

Field visits to low-revenue outlets often cost more than they earn. Letting those retailers order directly on WhatsApp cuts cost-to-serve while keeping coverage wide. Reps focus physical visits on high-value stores, and the WhatsApp channel handles the long tail plus promo communication, reminders, and loyalty updates.

How should managers use SFA dashboards without becoming data police?

Dashboards should flag sales problems, not just attendance. Look for dashboards that surface outlets with falling sales, schemes that are underperforming, or reps missing coverage targets with a root-cause signal. The job of SFA is to help managers coach and fix problems, not just monitor rep movement.

What ROI can brands expect from route optimization?

Typical consumer goods companies see 15 to 20 percent optimization in coverage strategy. If 20 reps each cover 300 stores in a territory, the same coverage can be achieved with three fewer reps, or the saved bandwidth can be redirected to new territories. More face time with retailers, less travel time on the road.

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