How to Know the Pro's and Con's of Sales Force Automation By Hani A Masgidi In every business transaction, there are sales involved. Sales are so important for the company to realize profits along with graduating and developing its targets. During sales issues, there are many elements, which must be considered. Knowledge of basis of sales management is one of them. Yet, there is another new tendency, the sales force automation, the main point of this article. Sales management is realized when the sales management could check the customer file, to be confirmed if it is digital, hybrid, or hard copy. Thus, the successful sales manager can gather suitable information about his customer, such as his history, requirements, chances, and decision makers, to be able to proceed accordingly. Consequently, the force of sales, which is understood management focusing on the customer basis will be successful and well arranged. The management of the customer will be his responsibility, which may arise from the sales management. In sales force automation, the issue is so different. Sales force automation, (SFA) is defined with the meaning of automating portions of processes, which obligate the regime during dealing with information and transactions. This tendency offers a set of technologically based tools, which must coordinate with the firm principles for its clients. It focuses on that time of the customers' requirements to extend the ability to become more competitively. Consequently, it can be viewed at the light of other strategic elements with targets of powering competitiveness, such as TQM. It can add to the relationship of value/cost. As a basic fact, in management and business topics, Pro's of an issue is meant to give positive tendency towards a topic, to promote it. Mentioning the product's excellent characters, their usage and benefits, advertising the services, and encouraging customers to purchase them is the main target of Pro's. On the other hand, there is the negative side of any issue. Hence, the Con's is contradicted with Pro's completely. It provided the negative facts about the product or the services, such as its expensive price, bad usage, time consumed, and harms caused by the product or the service. Sales force automation like any other method of sales promotion has its positive and negative issues, or as they are called Pros and Cons. Following paragraph will discuss separately each of them. There are many positive tendencies about sales force automations, such as the account information of the customer to be able to proceed accordingly, information about products and services of the company, which facilitate the management and selling processes. It has the capability to generate a price list,
a quote and inputs of the order perfectly. It involves inventory management, which is translated into the capacity to investigate the levels of the products to decrease obstacles of shipments. It provides up to date information on regular basis. It gives more chances to track chances via the cycle of sales. At last, it is a great issue to assist in alerts, focusing on business status. As to the negative issue, or Cons, the sales force automation does not correspond with the term "automate", thus, it gave some confusion while defining it. This method in fact focuses on limited scope of cost of opportunity to be able to invest the resources perfectly. It concentrates on the productivity, while the customers are in a necessity to remain demonstrated widely. The lack of competition ability will lead to negative issues. Sales force automation is considered a contact management functionality, from the perspective of customer to putting order, facilities, quote, and investigation. It is so different from sales management. Yet, despite its benefits, it has its negative issues as well. The keen deal through this method will accompanied with great business success. Recently, this method is used in the globalization as an incredible way to push management towards fulfilling its targets.