Gone are the days when a salesperson's product sheets and inventory data could be stored in a three-ring binder and prospects tracked on index cards. Today, effective salespeople need instant access to up-to-date customer/prospect databases, product feature specs, stock availability, pricing, and delivery timing.
Easy, fast access to this information enables your salespeople to meet customer demands and thereby sell more. Internet-based sales automation tools provide this kind of access to growing businesses at a price and configuration that meets their needs.
Sales automation applications—sometimes referred to as sales force automation (SFA) tools—allow salespeople to quickly identify promising leads, then coordinate team efforts to move deals to closure. They help companies lower costs, extend customer outreach efforts, and share information across entire organizations.
For example, sales teams can use SFA solutions to gather up-to-the-minute client information over the Internet before calling on potential customers. They can then use this data to customize products and offer quotes in real time during the sales calls. These orders can be instantly forwarded over the Internet to fulfillment centers and corporate headquarters. This speeds delivery and accounting processes, and increases sales teams' ability to respond to customer needs.
Sales automation tools support key aspects of the selling process, including marketing, contact management, account management, prospecting, order fulfillment, and customer service.
By implementing Internet-based sales automation tools companies can:
- Streamline sales processes: Sales automation tools handle repetitive and time-consuming activities such as capturing Web site leads, qualifying buyers, and triggering follow-up. They also make data rekeying unnecessary by automatically disseminating information to appropriate departments, which reduces errors and saves time.
- Boost salesperson knowledge: Online product catalogs can be updated the moment a new product or service is available. Salespeople can access product spec and configuration information at their fingertips. These electronic catalogs can also be set up to inform salespeople of complementary products and promotions, immediately creating other selling opportunities.
- Enhance collaborative selling: All users of your sales automation system share access to a single data source, which facilitates collaborative selling, marketing efforts, and customer support. In addition, these capabilities can be extended to include third-party sales representatives and distribution partners.
- Improve customer relationships: SFA systems can target data to customers based on their specific needs and keep existing clients abreast of product updates. They also support online customer service, including automated help and access to information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Reduce quote times: Online product configurators allow customers to configure complex solutions in minutes instead of days. A salesperson can use this tool to determine customer requirements and immediately provide a professional and complete proposal after a single meeting, cutting days or even weeks from the selling cycle.
- Integrate sales with other company data. Sales automation tools can communicate with financial and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, establishing an open data flow among departments such as accounting, sales, and fulfillment.
- Increase sales force morale. Sales automation applications reduce the time your staff spends on low-level business functions. They create a more flexible work environment by allowing employees to use the Internet to access information when and where they need it, whether working from home, on the road, or in your corporate offices.
There are currently more than 600 sales force automation packages on the market, testimony to the growing demand for these capabilities. Part of the reason for this rapid adoption is that growing companies are finding that sales automation tools offer an affordable and effective way to compete with larger counterparts. Another major reason is that today's solutions can be implemented without expensive and lengthy installation projects. Companies with limited IT resources can lease sales automation systems from application service providers (ASPs) and access them through the Internet. This allows companies to get their solutions up and running quickly, and removes the need for onsite maintenance. Those with internal IT support can maintain solutions in house.