With an objective to assist enterprises to automate their business activities such as sales and order processing, contact management, lead management, customer interactions, sales forecasting and field force performance, an ideal Field Force Management Software is considered to the key to a happy field force and ample business growth. Organizations now find it inevitable to move on without these solutions as it is a mandatory need to monitor day to day activities of the sales force.
As important is Sales Force Automation system to the enterprise in terms of acquiring more productivity and profitability, equally challenging is the task of identifying the apt partner for the same. Sales Automation Software has been an indispensable ingredient in any organization’s business growth but a wrong choice and you land up with a sheer wastage of time, money and efforts. Not only that, there could be a degradation of the organizational performance in terms of business, sales, customer satisfaction and so on.
It is an obvious fact that each enterprise has its own set of criteria to choose the best SFA partner. There is a certain set of selection perspective that needs to be created and aligned with the organizational goals. These set of goals must be balanced between all involved departments – their requirements, inhibitions, awareness, risks, and timelines. Be it the sales teams, IT department, top management, customer – all involved stakeholders, the solution that you chose and the provider who is the backbone of the entire implementation must be a perfect mix of business requirements and technical expertise.
5 Key Pointers to Guide While Choosing the Sales Automation Software Partner
Flexible &Customizable Framework
“Customization is a powerful opportunity because it leads to higher levels of motivation. It also creates greater consumer confidence because consumers can select what they will use for years to come.” – Tim Hawkins
There are numerous solutions available globally, but not each one fits the enterprise to its best. What is good for one may not be viable for the other. What is important while choosing the SFA partner is the amount of flexibility and customization they are ready to undertake, keeping in mind the needs, business workflows and requirements that exactly fit the customer’s bill. Till that is not done, the solution will never be able to showcase the exactly working methodology of the organization and will be unable to achieve success.
Technical Experience and Expertise in the Software Industry
“The only source of the knowledge is the experience.” – Albert Einstein
It is highly significant to ensure that whosoever is your SFA vendor, possesses an ensured level of technical expertise and experience in the software world. Only having domain expertise doesn’t suffice when it comes to implementing the solution with challenges like multiple locations, mobile devices, cloud computing, data integration and many more. Choosing the most appropriate software development partner with an expertise in SFA would work out the best.
Thorough Understanding of Solution w.r.t Domain
“Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.” – Dale Carnegie
There are so many industry domains that are looking forward to implementing the solution but each one has their own processes in place. The way the sales force operates in each depends upon different criteria as set by the organization w.r.t to the industry they belong to. Hence, the solution provider ought to have a detailed understanding of the industry domains and how best would their solution fit those needs. The SFA partner must be capable enough to have a complete mapping of all the business processes and workflows in a particular industry viz a viz all the features/modules in the proposed solution.
Synergistic Integration with Other Systems
“Synergy is better than my way or your way. It’s our way” – Stephen Covey
With a lot of other systems – internal, 3rd party, legacy, ERP etc. around, it is a necessity that the solution provider is capable enough to understand, analyze and chart out a proper integration plan that smoothly, works out a proper flow of information within systems. Although domain knowledge may be there, vendors sometimes tend to lack the technical expertise to build these synergy bridges and hence becomes very risky to have a smooth implementation between systems.
24 x 7 Support & Maintenance
“Consistency doesn’t mean you never have a problem. It means your customers can count on you if there ever is a problem” – Shep Hyken
However good or stable or enriched the solution is, what is most important is the24 x 7 support and maintenance that you get from your SFA partner. Especially in cases where there is a widespread implementation spree with complexities and risks involved, there must be a relentless support team available to sort out any type of issue be it technical or business driven. The support team must be reachable through various medium of communication like phone calls, SMS, emails, social media, ensuring least downtime of the solution.
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