Best Sales Force Automation Software

The number of sales done ultimately matters for any type and size of business. The sales figures show whether the company is successful or not. So, it becomes critical to ensure that the entire sales process in the organization is streamlined and synchronized enough to yield excellent results in high sales volume and profitability. 

Sales teams usually face many challenges, such as poorly defined sales goals, lack of training, communication gaps among team members, mismanagement, and leadership failures. The best sales force automation software is the ultimate key to seamlessly overcoming these challenges and achieving predetermined sales goals.

Whether you are planning to buy Salesforce software for the first time or require changing the existing one, this buyer’s guide will walk you through the complete information to help you make the right choice.

Sales force automation refers to automating different tasks throughout the sales pipeline. Whether it is about sending emails to customers, sharing information, or tracking sales performance, automating and streamlining these tasks becomes essential to save time, reduce errors, and achieve efficiency. Below are some essential functions in sales that need to be automated to accelerate sales and achieve predetermined business goals.

Reporting

A daily, weekly, and monthly reporting system is the most potent action to improve sales performance. The sales reporting system can keep track of the sales achieved or opportunities missed. Reporting is essential for salespersons and sales managers as it provides answers to questions like -

• What is the total amount of sales made?
• Are your sales efforts working?
• Are you following the right sales strategy?
• Do you need to change anything to hit the sales targets?

Sales Force automation ensures that your sales team doesn't miss out on an essential task - reporting. The sales managers can easily access those reports to plan their strategies accordingly.

Lead Management

Lead management is the process of consistently and equally managing all leads. You need to sort, segment, and nurture leads to convert them to customers. Lead management becomes complex, especially when the number of leads is high. Sales Force Automation streamlines the tasks of lead management. It ensures that every lead is attended to highly efficiently and that a maximum number is converted to achieve sales goals.

Opportunity Management

The leads that are sure to get converted are known as opportunities. Differentiating the opportunities from leads is based on various parameters like the buyers' response, budget, purchasing process, and decision-making authority. Sales Force automation can help streamline identifying leads as opportunities by assigning a status to each lead like "needs negotiation," "needs to consult higher authorities'', and many more. The sales force automation process allows each sales team member to access the information about each opportunity's status. This ensures that the entire sales team knows each buyer's journey and can approach them using the right strategy.

Contact Management

Contact management is the systematic process of recording the contact details of leads, opportunities, and buyers. Having access to contact information at the fingertips makes the sales process easier and more efficient for the sales team. Sales Force Automation helps the sales team access contact information from anywhere and easily approach their current and potential customers.

Task Management

Task management includes managing all the aspects of a task, like prioritization, time allocation, human and financial resources management, notifications, assignments, dependencies, recurrence, etc. Streamlining these aspects can help accomplish tasks efficiently and effectively. Various sales tasks need to be done systematically, like following up with clients, preparing presentations, order and delivery management, collecting payments, and many more. Automating task management can help complete these tasks flawlessly and deliver excellent customer experiences.

Team Collaboration

Team collaboration refers to a systematic approach that can improve teamwork. The teams that collaborate efficiently are highly productive. Sales automation can excellently engage the workforce through better knowledge sharing and reducing communication gaps, resulting in enhanced performance.

Reports & Analytics

Generating reports to gather information about sales efforts is required. In contrast, analytics is the process of extracting data to get meaningful insights that can be used to make better decisions. Sales automation helps the sales team access reports and analytics that monitor the current situation and improve their strategies to achieve their sales targets.

Sales force automation software is a tool that automates all sales-related business tasks, including managing leads, opportunities, contacts, information, inventory, orders, customers, and sales forecasting. Sales teams use sales force automation systems to become highly productive and efficient by automating repetitive and mundane tasks relating to the entire sales process, including follow-up emails & calls, quotes, closing deals, and order delivery. 

The ultimate goal of the sales force automation system is to allow businesses to sell more of their products and services, which can be done -

• By automating administrative tasks, sales force automation can focus more on revenue-generating activities like calling leads, setting up appointments for meetings, and planning successful strategies.
• By streamlining the sales process, the sales team can achieve flawlessness in their jobs, leading to increased sales. The sales team might forget to send the follow-up emails, but properly configured sales automation software can never forget that. The managers can gain insights into the strategies that are working and improve those strategies.

Sales force automation can have some attributes of CRM and vice versa, but both technologies are not the same. Let's have a look at the basic difference between both of them -

Similar to the roles of sales and marketing teams, the technology used by these teams also differs. Let's examine the primary difference between sales force automation and marketing automation tools.

Sales force automation software, marketing automation software, and CRM all these three tools are all used at different levels of the buyer's journey, as shown below -

Sales Force Automation tools can benefit -

Businesses: By providing the ability to enhance customer relationships, increase sales & revenue, improve market share, and stay competitive.

Salespersons: By making it easy to monitor sales activities and collaborate with team members, we can increase the chances of closing deals and achieving sales targets.

Sales Managers: By providing the ability to monitor the sales team's productivity and take actions based on real-time information about the customers’ preferences.

Customers: By providing access to quality products & services, the best shopping experience, and after-sales service.

Sales force automation solutions can be categorized based on aspects like functionality, usage, deployment, and price. Let's have a basic understanding of each one, as that will help you select the one that suits your business infrastructure, budget, and requirements.

A. Functionality

i) Salesforce ERP

There are enterprise-level CRM sales force automation tools available like Epicor, SAP, etc., that are strong in sales, marketing, and customer relationship management. This type of ERP tool is also known as all-in-one salesforce software solutions. The large enterprises use these software solutions as they are rich in features and versatile in terms of functionality, allowing them to handle every process of their business.

ii) Sales Force Marketing Automation Software

Many software solutions include features supporting sales and marketing automation. This type of sales force marketing automation software helps sales and marketing teams collaborate effectively and deliver excellent results.

ii) Sales Force Software for Small Businesses

Small businesses' requirements for managing their sales team, sales figures, and customers are limited, and so is their budget. Usually, small businesses choose low-cost cloud-based sales force software on a monthly subscription basis or free and open-source sales force automation software to manage their sales operations effectively and flawlessly.

B. Usage

i) Web-based Sales Force Automation Software

The web-based sales force automation system can be accessed using the Internet and web browsers on devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. These devices use different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

ii) Mobile SFA Applications

Salesforce mobile applications have become quite popular these days. These applications work on mobile devices based on different platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, etc. The users get the freedom to manage their sales on the go with the help of mobile SFA applications.

C. Deployment

i) On-Premise Sales Force Automation Software

An on-premise sales force automation solution is installed on the computers and devices of the user or organization using the software rather than a remote server or cloud. Companies equipped with high-end infrastructure and technical resources required to maintain the software prefer deploying on-premise sales force automation solutions.

ii) Cloud-Based Sales Force Automation Software

Cloud-based sales force automation systems, also known as SaaS, are accessed via the Internet instead of installing the software on the devices used by software users. Companies that require the ease of accessing the software from anywhere prefer using cloud-based sales force automation software.

D. Price

i) Free Sales Force Automation Software

As the name suggests, free sales force software means you don't need to pay anything to purchase its license or use it. When it comes to free sales force automation software, there are two options you can select from -

• Free and open source sales force automation software - download and customize as per your requirements.
• Free cloud-based sales force automation software - log in and start using it immediately from anywhere with the help of internet-powered devices.

ii) Paid Sales Force Automation Software

When it comes to paid sales force automation tools, the companies have three options -

• Buy a readymade sales force automation system hosted on the cloud or remote server, with monthly, yearly, or one-time subscription options.
• Hire an in-house software developer or a team of software developers who can develop customized sales force software according to the organization's demands and pay them their remuneration.
• Outsource the complete software development project to a freelancer or a professional sales force automation software development company and pay the mutually agreed quoted price.

The option you choose from above depends on your company’s requirements, budget, and infrastructure.

iii) Freemium Sales Force Automation Software

Many paid CRM sales force automation tools offer freemium versions. The freemium version may have limitations in terms of features, users, or time period. For example, Zoho CRM is free to use for 15 days, Streak has a free version with limited features, and Agile CRM is free forever but only for 10 users.

In this competitive business scenario, organizations need to adapt to customer-oriented methodologies. The best sales force software can help you in doing that by providing below-mentioned benefits -

Increases Accountability of the Sales Team

By using the sales force automation tools, the sales representatives can view their reports sent to the management and document lead generation and productivity. The sales managers can measure their respective teams' performance and inform the higher authorities about the success of the sales strategies implemented. This makes every individual on the sales team accountable for their roles and improves their performance, which ultimately helps them meet their sales targets.

Reduces Cost Per Sale

The sales force automation solution provides clear visibility over the sales funnel and the buyer's journey, which can help in quicker conversions and increased sales ratios. It can also shorten your sales cycle and help the sales team focus on acquiring more customers. The shorter sales cycle and a high number of sales figures result in reduced cost per sale.

Helps In Gaining Insights to Real-Time Information

Sales automation software consolidates all the information and presents it in easy-to-understand reports. This helps the sales team and managers gain insights into real-time information about the tasks done and pending, allowing them to improve efficiency and reduce mistakes.

Allows Accurate Sales Forecasting

Applying sales force automation software, you can seamlessly track the opportunities and probability of the closures. As per the latest market research report, sales forecasting is projected as one of the most lucrative segments of sales force automation. It gives total control of your sales pipeline, including information about the status of every lead. That helps in forecasting sales accurately and planning successful business strategies for the future.

Improves Customer Retention Rates

As most of the administrative tasks are automated using a sales force automation system, the sales team can focus more on selling and maintaining customer relationships. The salesforce software empowers the sales team to provide customers with a better shopping experience and win their loyalty.

Not all sales force automation tools are built equally, as they include different features. The features you require in a sales force automation software depend on your business type and size. But there are some must-have features that your sales force automation system should include -

Lead Segmentation & Prioritization

You get leads from several sources, such as email marketing campaigns, social media posts, referrals, and other marketing efforts. After receiving the leads, they must be segmented and prioritized based on the potential buyers' preferences, purchase history, age, demographic location, and many other factors. The sales force software you select should be able to rate and rank every lead by giving a lead score. That would make the lead segmentation and prioritization process easy for you and help you apply a customized sales approach to every potential buyer.

Scheduling

Whether it is about scheduling emails to be sent to your customers or scheduling appointments for meetings, the sales force automation software should allow you to automate that to reduce human errors and improve efficiency in your sales process. Scheduling would eliminate missed sales opportunities, as the software would send reminders to your sales team about the follow-up calls they are supposed to make to their customers. It also automates sending follow-up emails to customers to ensure all leads are regularly and equally attended to. Regarding internal sales meetings, the smart scheduling system in your sales force software would avoid conflicting appointments and help managers control the team members' attendance in the meetings.

Customer Information Management

Managing the complete information about each customer is a critical task if done manually. The sales force automation solution should help you do that. Customers' details differ regarding their demographics, geographical location, age, preferences, and many other parameters. Moreover, these customers are on various levels of the buyers' journey. Having easy access to in-depth information about the customer is very important to approach them with a sensible and relevant sales pitch. That can only help accelerate the sales and profitability of the business.  

Sales Team Management

The sales force automation software reporting module helps the managers ensure that their respective sales teams follow the right processes and do the right thing at the right time. The sales manager can easily assign tasks and goals to their sales team members using sales force management software rather than discussing the sales targets individually. Thus, you need to ensure that the sales force software you choose has features like team reporting and task management, as that would make your sales managers and sales teams work with proper collaboration and deliver the expected results.

Real-Time Insights & Analytical Reports

The sales force automation software should be able to collect data from various sources and represent it in reports showing real-time figures, helping you analyze the current situation and drive informed decision-making. These real-time insights and analytical reports generated by the sales force software should highlight activity metrics like the value of possible conversions so that future sales figures can be estimated.

To ensure that your sales force automation software follows a futuristic approach, you need to consider these disruptive current trends impacting the sales processes in a highly competitive manner.

Customizable Dashboards

Every sales force automation software comes with a dashboard representing the data in graphical form. The default dashboards can suffice, but a customizable dashboard can give you information about the dimensions and metrics that are highly significant for your business. You need to select sales force software that allows you to create dashboards and add widgets according to your business logic.

Artificial Intelligence

Sales force automation software powered by AI technology can deliver data-driven predictions, insights, and smart recommendations that can help you make better decisions impacting team performance and sales pipeline management. Artificial intelligence leverages the benefits of improved data analytics and also helps enhance the user experience using chatbots and voice assistants.

Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Although AI and data-driven reporting are striking trends, they all lead to improving customer experience and satisfaction. Despite so much technological advancement, customer satisfaction is the #1 sales metric that can drive your business organization to success. Measuring customer satisfaction has become significant to ensure that you follow the right strategies and deliver the right products/services. You must ensure that the sales force automation software you select can accurately measure customer satisfaction.

Blockchain

Salesforce Blockchain was launched in May 2019. This technology-enabled software is considered a low-code platform enabling organizations to share data across a network of third-party applications in a highly secure environment. Precisely, blockchain-enabled sales force automation software allows businesses to create a trustworthy work culture, cut down on unnecessary costs, and achieve high-level sales processes and operations. Blockchain technology is an emerging trend at present but will be commonly adopted by most sales force automation software with advanced features.

Mobility

Mobility has opened a new horizon of possibilities for companies in terms of enhancing the productivity of their sales force. As the trends of BYOD (Bring Your Device) and Work-from-Home are highly prevailing in organizations, mobility in sales force automation software has become a requirement. Salespersons can report to their managers from any remote location using their mobile devices. Moreover, sales managers can use mobile-based sales force automation systems to track their sales team members.

Industry-Specific Solutions

Salesforce Blockchain was launched in May 2019. This technology-enabled software is considered a low-code platform enabling organizations to share data across a network of third-party applications in a highly secure environment. Blockchain-enabled sales force automation software allows businesses to create a trustworthy work culture, cut unnecessary costs, and achieve high-level sales processes and operations. Blockchain technology is an emerging trend at present but will be commonly adopted by most sales force automation software with advanced features. 

Before you make a purchase decision regarding your sales force automation software, it becomes necessary to pay attention to the below-mentioned factors -

Analyzing Business Requirements

Do a thorough analysis of the tasks you need to automate with your sales force automation software besides the basic ones like contact management, scheduling emails & appointments, sales team reporting, and sales forecasting. If your business runs a specific sales process that needs to be automated, the software you select should help.

Testing Before Buying

Buying sales force automation software is a considerable investment. What if you realize that it doesn't suit your business requirements after purchasing a particular Salesforce CRM system? Many solutions come with a free trial period. It would be better to take advantage of this facility and test the sales force automation software before purchasing it.

Number of Users

Sales force automation may differ depending on the number of users it allows. If you own a large enterprise, ensure that your sales force automation software enables enough users to accommodate your team. If your requirement about the number of users is low right now, it can grow in the future. So, in that case, you need to select the sales force automation software with an upgraded plan, allowing you to accommodate more users in the future.

Check Reviews

It is always better to learn from others' experiences when it comes to investing in new software. Check the reviews posted by users about the sales force automation software you are planning to buy and make sure that those reviews are authentic.

Deployment, Training & Support

Before buying sales force automation software, consider the deployment, training, and support services the vendor offers. Make sure that the sales force automation software provider helps you set up the system, integrate your existing apps and data, and provide prompt and quality support. The vendor should also be able to ensure that your team members receive training on how to use the software.

User-Friendliness

Ease of use is highly significant when adopting a new system. Having too many features in sales force automation software that you are not going to use makes the software ambiguous. To keep that simple, select sales force automation software that includes a dashboard with all the essential information just a click away. It should enable you to access frequently performed operations at your fingertips.

Security

There is a lot of critical information involved with sales force automation software. The software should provide role-based access to users and store passwords with proper encryption methods to ensure secure access and avoid malware activities.  

Price

Last but most important is the price of the sales force automation software. The price should be within your budget. Simultaneously, you need to ensure you are not letting go of the functionality vital to your business, as that can be more expensive for you in the long run. You need to select a sales force automation software that simultaneously includes all the features you require but is not out of your budget limit.

Further, finding the answers to the below-mentioned questions can ease your sales force automation software selection -

1. What are your expectations from your sales force automation software?
2. Do you have the infrastructure and technical expertise to deploy a particular SFA?
3. Will your team be comfortable with your chosen sales force automation software?
4. Where should you contact for technical support after purchasing sales force automation software?
5. How quickly does the SFA software vendor provide support?

After investing in software, if your sales team is not using it, your business can be financially liable. You cannot just rely on the software provider for the successful implementation of your sales force automation system in your organization. You need to motivate your team to adopt the new system so that they can improve their productivity and performance by following the steps below.

Step 1: Ensure proper training has been provided to the software users within your organization. Explain to them the benefits of adopting a new way of working. The emphasis should be on improving their performance and incentives instead of just business profitability.

Step 2: Involve the sales teams in your decision-making. Show them the success stories of the companies that adopted the sales force automation system to win their confidence. Make them understand that this system is not being implemented for micromanagement. On the contrary, it is being implemented for sales growth, and that is ultimately going to impact the personal growth of each individual in the organization.

Step 3: Reward the users of the new system with incentives. Don't force the users who are not adopting the new system by punishing them. Users not ready to change their old systems will eventually understand the benefits of using the latest systems when their fellow members are rewarded for their efforts.

Step 4: Make the transition process simple by introducing the new system gradually. Introduce the different modules of the system one by one. For example, if today you have explained to your team how to feed their contacts in the system, scheduling emails and appointments can be taught after some days to help them grasp the system easily.

Step 5: Make the new system indispensable. For example, people get emotional value when they use apps like Facebook, Instagram, etc. Business applications like sales force automation software may seem boring to users and may result in dropouts. If a rule is set that the sales team will be rewarded incentives based on the sales performance notified by the new Salesforce CRM system, the sales team will be mandated to use that system only.

Software development companies quote different prices for their services, depending on the modules you require in your custom sales force automation system.

But, if you are planning to buy readymade sales force automation software, there are many available at monthly/yearly/one-time subscription charges The price of the subscription-based sales force automation software can start from $4.99/month to $30000 one-time charges. For example, the pricing package offered by sales force automation software like TrackerPal ranges from $4.99/month to $9.99/month. Whereas, the pricing package of enterprise-level sales force automation software like Microsoft Dynamics ranges from $95/month to $1500/month.

If you are not comfortable with monthly subscription charges, you can go for sales force automation software like Bitrix24 that is available at only $35 per year. Moreover, you can also consider Sofon Guided Solutions that is available at $30000 one-time charges.

You can also go through the details of YetiForce and Talisma CRM if you need a customized pricing package to ensure that you are paying for only those features that you need.

If investing in a new system is not on your list right now, you can use free, open-source sales force automation software that you can customize and use according to your business needs.

For sales force automation software comparison, and more information on the software pricing packages in this category, just go through the complete list of sales force automation here.

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Every business owner wants to reach the top level and get ahead of the competition, regardless of their business size. Sales force automation software can improve the sales team's productivity and the bottom line of the entire business organization.

We hope this buyers' guide has helped you select the best sales force automation software for your business. For further information on sales force automation software or other tools used in different business sectors, you can get in touch with the Goodfirms team. We would be happy to assist you with the exact details you require.