Sales Force Automation helps you win a project
Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta, zatni@cbn.net.id
Imagine running a contracting company that specializes in installing central air conditioning (AC) systems in new buildings.
Clearly, this business is different in nature from a Padang restaurant, for example. People do not install a new central AC system every day in the same building. On the contrary, a Padang restaurant does basically the same thing every day, because people get hungry every day and they eat lunch every day. The very nature of the AC company, in other words, is that it must works on different, consecutive projects.
Because a project has a beginning and an end, to stay in business new projects must be on the agenda at all times. Employees can hardly sit, idly waiting for new work to come along.
Of course there are those customers -- people who are happy with the company -- and call to install a new central AC system each time they build a new building. But generally speaking, sales people must seek new projects even while the technical division is still busy on the current one.
A lot of other businesses work in a similar way. Moving companies, suppliers, architects, graphic designers... all constantly looking for new projects. And all can benefit from a more specific application known as the Sales Force Automation, or SFA.
SFA
The Sales Force Automation application is not new, but it can effectively boost business productivity.
We return to the concept of a series of projects -- fueled by ever-resourceful sales staff, who must go out into the field to keep the ball rolling.
Ideally managers must keep track of the activities of individual sales staff, as well as their progress -- if only to jump in and save them (if they experience problems). So, an SFA will typically start with the facilities for sales staff to file reports about their activities or prospective projects.
Another important feature in an SFA application is the account management module. An SFA should contain the specific data of all potential clients -- in the AC business, for example, those in building or construction etc. It should also maintain the detailed data of the contact person in each company -- primary, secondary and so on.
Sales personnel may have kept this data in their Personal Digital Assistant's (PDA's) personal information manager (PIM), but that is a bit risky. Just imagine what would happen if a staff member left the company and the links to the companies he was handling were lost.
That is why it is much better and safer for sales teams to maintain this data in SFA applications. Of course, the names, phone numbers and e-mail address of the contact persons should be current.
As staff may be pursuing potential projects simultaneously, they may need a tool, to help them assess which of the projects should be concentrated on. This is determined based on the estimated value of the project and, most importantly, the probability that a deal will be closed.
So, for example, if their are two projects on the agenda -- Project A and Project B -- sales staff must choose which one to focus both energy and time on. No one can be a super salesman -- that can tackle all projects with the same amount of energy and intensity.
So, let us suppose that Project A is worth Rp 1.2 billion (US$1.4 million) and Project B worth only Rp 400 million, the sales person may have to devote more of his time to Project B if the probability of winning Project A is only five percent while the probability that he will close the deal for Project B is as high as 90 percent. An SFA application will not be complete without this tool.
Mini Knowledge Management
In any job, some succeed and some fail. Likewise, in pursuing a project a sales person may succeed oneday and fail the next. A good SFA application ensures that this -- most pertinent data -- is accessible.
So, for instance, if a company did not succeed, for example, in the bid to install a central AC system in a new hospital in Bandung, as long as the records of the bid are kept, all is not in vain. Should there be a similar project in another hospital the reference and thus, the leg-work, is already half-way done.
Records should clearly and succinctly show why the bid failed, so that the same mistakes not repeated .
Even winning the project, the records are still important. They show the reasons for success and if another potential project -- with similar requirements -- comes along, the outline is there and can be followed to achieve similar results.
These are just some of the features that an SFA application is likely to offer. Like other business applications -- such as channel management, distribution management and workflow automation -- application developers around the world have come with their own versions of SFA.
Some of these products are more sophisticated than others and can provide a lot of tools to boost the efficiency of sales people -- including sales performance analysis and the integration of handheld devices for the field force.
However, like any other business application, during selection you must really consider the match between the application and the type of your business.