Most salespeople hate Sales Force Automation (SFA) systems. After all, who wants to waste time entering data into an online system when you can be making calls and winning deals, right?
However, every once in a while, you come across a sales person that actually embraces SFA tools. These tools are their safety net, and in fact, are viewed as job security. After all, with all the client data, logged calls, and notes entered into the system, surely it demonstrates that they have been busy at work.
This is precisely the problem with traditional SFA systems – they are good at telling you what you’ve done, but not good at telling you what you need to do to close a deal. These “Feel Good” systems are great for the under-performing sales person. They hide inadequacy. They allow sales people to report each week – “Look at all the data I entered! I’ve been busy!”. But busy doing what? Not winning deals.
For example, look at Salesforce.com. Sure, its a professional looking online system with loads of functionality. But does it help you win deals? Does it improve your ability to win deals at a faster rate? No. It does, however, allow you to log a call, capture notes, and select your win probability. How many of you sales managers out there actually believe that number, anyway? Are you honestly going to run your sales projections against some random win % entered by a sales person?
These traditional SFA systems make it worse for everyone – the under-performing sales person continues to under perform. Sales managers continue to struggle with low close rates, stalled deals, and poor forecasting data.
Wouldn’t you rather have a sales automation system that told you what was required in order to close a deal? A system that outlined the precise steps you must take to ensure a high win probability? A system that focused on deal flow instead of data entry? As a sales manager, of course you would. As an under-performing sales person, it might be too much exposure.
