Marketing & Sales Force Automation: 5 Common Mistakes

Sales force automation (SFA) software is designed to make the sales team more effective and streamline sales processes by automating tasks. The powerful software helps your sales professionals in effective sales planning, increased sales, better sales productivity per person, and better sales person quota performance. Finding the right sales force automation solution is critical to optimizing its benefits.

Here are a few common sales force automation selection mistakes that you might want to avoid:

1. Not analyzing existing sales processes

Analyzing existing processes is an important step before purchasing a new SFA tool since most sales teams follow different sales processes. Examining the existing sales process will help the management identify deficiencies and take steps to resolve the issues.

Since most SFA software feature well-designed default processes, a company that does not understand its own processes may find it extremely challenging to use the software’s integrated processes that may not match with the company’s sales processes, creating confusion and frustration.

2. Not picking a customizable solution

When selecting SFA software, it is critically important to look for a tool that allows for customizing sales stages and other information. Collect, prioritize, and weigh your existing sales processes and map them to the new software features. Does the new software provide all the required features? If not, can it be customized?

It does not make sense to choose a new program that comes with integrated sales processes that do not fit your business. Choosing such a system would amount to wasting your time, effort, and resources. This could adversely impact your entire sales process, instead of improving it. Look for SFA software that allows you to put in your own process and customize the system accordingly.

Choosing a system without first identifying your pain points is one of the biggest marketing & sales force automation selection mistakes made by businesses.

3. Not identifying your pain points

Some companies make the mistake of choosing the most popular software in the market, without assessing whether it has the features to offer solutions to the problems faced by the business.

Before selecting a sales force automation solution, it is critically important to identify your pain points, such as missing sales numbers, overly optimistic sales representatives, inaccurate sales forecasts, lack of insight, and non-productive sales reps, among others.

Choosing a system without first identifying your pain points is one of the biggest marketing & sales force automation selection mistakes made by businesses. Doing so is simply a waste of time, money, and resources.

4. Lack of User Involvement

Investing in a new tool without taking the end users into confidence can prove to be a futile effort. Instead, management should ask the team how useful a new SFA program will prove for the organization.

Be sure to include representatives from the sales force, whether scattered throughout the company branches or available at the main branch.

Remember, resistance to change can play spoilsport in the successful implementation of the new sales software. It is important to involve end users in the entire process of selection of the software instead of forcing a new sales tool on them. This will encourage them to become willing participants in the process and not resist change.

Further, it is also essential to get input from each member of the sales team while selecting SFA software, as they can offer better insight into a sales tool that the management may not have thought of.

This will also make them feel included in the process and they would be more willing to share their experience and review of the new software and whether it makes a better fit for the organization.

5. Too complex and complicated

Some businesses simply choose the most expensive software in the market, hoping it will have all the features needed to run their sales team more efficiently. Unfortunately, such software products may not prove to be the best investment and come with features that are too complex or complicated to use. As a result, training is required to understand the functionalities.

When you are wondering how to choose sales force automation, take into account the amount of training recommended by the manufacturer. Then consider whether your sales department can afford the delay as well as the cost associated with training, support, and maintenance.  Of course, you do not want to end up investing in a system that is beyond your capabilities and complicates tasks further.

Are you overwhelmed with the number of sales force automation software systems available in the market? Wondering which one to invest your money in? Worry not! ITQlick has a team of experts to help you select the best sales force automation software and avoid the mistakes made by other businesses.

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