PLACE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OVER YOUR TEAM UNDER SALES FORCE - MANAGEr

What is SFM?

Sales force management system is an information system used mainly in the management of sales teams as well as the marketing agendas in the field. Often this system is used in combination with other marketing system, e.g. CRM marketing and management that help automate some sales and sales force management functions.

Sales force management system is essentially the same as sales force automation system (SFA).

A SFA, typically a part of a company’s customer relationship management system, is a system that automatically records all the stages in a sales process. SFA includes a contact management system which tracks all contacts that have been made with a given customer, the purpose of the contact, and any follow up that may be needed. Other elements of an SFA system can include sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge.

Identifiable sales force management processes:

Setting targets and objectives based on inputs

Assigning actors responsible for achieving objectives

Control processes for ensuring objectives are being achieved within:

• A given time frame
• A given constrained context System management to handle uncertain environments

The process usually starts from specific sales targets. The command center analyzes the inputs and outputs established from a modeled control process and the sales force. The control process enables the sales force to establish performance standards, measuring actual performance, comparing measured performance against established standards and taking corrective action. The sales managers adjust their actions based on the overall process.

Aside from the control process, the following metrics are implemented:

• Time management— Accurately measures the
• Call management - plán pro interakci se zákazníky, které jsou v souladu s procesem, monitoring úspěšných setkání.
• Opportunity management – pokud jsou procesy nastaveny správně, následující prodejní příležitost existuje.
• Vedení zákazníků – multiplikuje možnosti interakce se zákaznickým účtem. Měří se pomocí nástrojů, procesů a cílů.
• Territory management - pro monitorování klienta, území je měřeno počtem pracovníků field force a perspektivou ve srovnání s aktivními zákazníky.
• Sales force management – proces, zahrnující školení IT systémů, řízení, koučování. Je sdílen více lidmi a odděleními.

Mobile applications for sales automatization

A huge number of sales managers are always on the go. The growth of smartphones has reignited the creation of mobile sales force automation systems. Smartphones appeal to salespeople, a part of a company's department that is extremely resistant to new technologies. Smartphones are easy to carry and easy to use, great interface design, touchscreens and fast wireless network abilities like 4G and 3G phones. more than 55% of global 2000 organization will deploy mobile SFA project by 2011 and newer Smartphone platforms, such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android, point to a future of increasing diversity in device selecting and support for sales force.

Advantages to the marketing manager

• Identifying segments within a market
• Identifying a target market
• Identifying the best customers in place
• Doing marketing research to develop profiles (demographic, psychographic, and behavioral) of core customers
• Understanding competitors and their products
• Developing new products
• Establishing environmental scanning mechanisms to detect opportunities and threats
• Understanding one's company's strengths and weaknesses

Auditing customers' experience of a brand in:

• Developing marketing strategies for each of one's products using the marketing mix variables of price, product, distribution, and promotion
• Coordinating the sales function with other parts of the promotional mix, such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and publicity
• Creating a sustainable competitive advantage
• Understanding where brands should be in the future, and providing an empirical basis to write marketing plans regularly to help get there
• Providing input into feedback systems to help monitor and adjust the process

Strategic Advantages

Sales force automation systems can also create competitive advantage:

Productivity will increase. Sales staff can use their time more efficiently and effectively. The sales manager can become more efficient and effective. This increased productivity can create a competitive advantage in three ways:

• It can reduce costs,
• It can increase sales revenue, and it can,
• Increase market share.

These systems will increase customer satisfaction if they are used with wisdom. If the information obtained and analyzed with the system is used to create a product that matches or exceeds customer expectations, and the sales staff use the system to service customers more expertly and diligently, then