Businesses that are able to secure enough sales will thrive in any economic climate, no matter how challenging. Closing deals is key to this, but how can you optimise this process? Sales force automation (SFA) may hold the answer.

We’re going to consider the benefits of implementing sales force automation, as well as the processes you can apply this tech to. Firstly, though, let’s start with a quick definition of SFA.

What is SFA (sales force automation)?

SFA is the use of technology to streamline your sales processes.

SFA systems typically use artificial intelligence to automate parts of the process reps would otherwise have to handle manually. This represents a smart application of AI in sales; turning menial tasks over to bots and leaving humans to complete jobs that software can’t.

Sales force automation Vs. CRM: Two related but different concepts

Before we explore the difference between sales force automation and CRM, it’s important to define the latter.

CRM, short for customer relationship management, is software created for the purpose of helping your business improve its relationships with customers. This might involve tracking interactions, collecting feedback, and so on.

CRM is different from an SFA system in several important ways. For one, not every CRM integration or tool is focused purely on automation. The two types of tech also have different goals.

Where CRM focuses on making your customers as happy as possible, SFA is about driving sales and closing deals. While the two often overlap, their primary purposes are distinct from one another.

Sales force automation benefits: Why do businesses do it?

There are several advantages to sales force automation that shouldn’t be overlooked. Here are some of the main ones:

Improved efficiency

A sales automation solution helps you get more done in less time. This enables you to reduce costs and streamline workflows simultaneously, representing a major advantage.

Removing the burden of repetitive tasks from the shoulders of your employees boosts morale, too. So, not only are you helping them get more done in an average workday, you’re keeping them happier, too.

Increased sales

You can also drive more sales by using an SFA solution. They streamline your internal processes, ensuring you’re able to move leads along your sales funnel more efficiently.

Additionally, your sales reps are better supported with an SFA tool (more on this below). This further empowers them to close more deals.

Better supported sales teams

One of the most important benefits of sales force automation is that it gives your representatives the tools they need to do the best work possible.

Automation can, for example, help you to keep track of your customer data. This helps sales professionals access the information they need at the precise moment when they need it, making things easier for them.

Another example of simple yet impactful automation comes in the shape of a voicemail drop feature. Dialpad Ai Sales Centre includes such a feature, which can be used on a sales call at the press of a button:

Instead of wasting precious time leaving messages for each prospect who misses their call, your agent simply “drops” a pre-recorded voicemail instead. It may only save a little time each call, but it soon adds up.

Easy upscaling

Many businesses wish to plan for future growth, even if they’re not yet ready to make the jump. The right sales force automation software can make it much simpler to upscale as and when necessary.

Upscaling, after all, relies on taking your current operations and expanding them to support more business. That’s much easier to do with automation handling all your repetitive work. AI and software can take on a great deal more work while needing very little additional time or effort.

Plus, with intelligently implemented SFA, your employees will have enough room in their schedules to respond to challenges as they arise during the upscaling process. This means issues are resolved straight away, saving time and resources down the line.

Sales force automation examples: Four areas of your sales process that are ripe for automating

Knowing the advantages of sales force automation is only half the battle; you’ve also got to understand how to best apply these tools to get the most out of them.

Here are four aspects of the sales process that are ripe for automation:

1. Prospecting

SFA and sales prospecting tools needn’t be separate; in fact, they work best when combined.

By automating parts of the prospecting process, you can help your team work through more leads in less time. This leaves your professionals free to dedicate themselves to converting prospects into leads and leads into customers.

2. Training

A robust sales force automation solution can help you automate huge chunks of the training process, too. This saves time and enables you to provide an equally high standard of training to every employee, giving them all the same valuable resources.

For example, you could use SFA to create automated training programmes. These can even be set up to answer basic questions, so your trainees can get all the information needed to become productive members of your sales team from one useful self-help resource.

With Dialpad Ai Sales Centre, you also have automated coaching features that can help in real-time on sales calls. Dialpad Ai, for example, can warn agents if they’re talking too fast:

What’s more, real-time sentiment analysis can help supervisors see how multiple calls are progressing at once and allow them to direct their attention where it’s really needed.

3. Data collection and processing

A sales force automation tool can also really shine when it comes to data. This is because they can be used to collect and process data without the need for human input, saving time and providing extra benefits along the way.

An SFA tool can, for example, be instructed to log all information on your customers and leads as soon as it becomes available. This creates an extensive and up-to-date file on every lead or customer, which your agents can use to inform their approach.

As for processing, you can use your SFA tool to generate reports and statistics that show where the strengths and weaknesses in your strategies lie. This will help your sales team refine their approach, so they become more effective over time.

4. Outreach

While the act of speaking to a prospect should be left to humans, there’s no reason some parts of text-based outreach efforts can’t be automated.

This helps you reach more people faster. If you can utilise your SFA solution to contact X number of leads on your list, the software can reach out to them for you in seconds with pre-written texts or emails.

This also helps you better cater to the needs of some leads and customers, who might prefer to communicate using text-based channels.

How the best sales force automation software can empower your team

Now that we've covered some of the top functions of sales force automation, it’s time to consider how using this kind of software can boost your team’s strengths and shore up any weaknesses.

A sales force automation application, when used correctly, should make it much easier for them to free up time in their schedules. That’s because the app takes over many of the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks in their workdays, leaving more room for them to focus on jobs that truly need their input.

When considering the importance of sales force automation, it’s also vital to consider the impact that built-in reporting can have. Instead of tasking your team with gathering and synthesising data, you can automatically generate data-based reports using SFA software.

Sales AI built into a sales engagement platform can also help to support your team. For instance, by automatically detecting keywords in conversations, and then bringing up useful tips and information for the salesperson to weave into their conversation.

SFA: Leveraging technology to get the most out of your sales team

A powerful sales force automation platform may be just what you need to support and empower your sales team while improving productivity.

However, you don’t necessarily need a separate tool purely for this purpose. Instead, an option like Dialpad Ai Sales Centre comes with built-in sales force automation features and can support your team even more flexibly.

In short, this ensures you have everything you need to help your team work as optimally as possible, while also providing them with our native Dialpad Ai, which is capable of supporting them across channels.