A customer relationship management system tracks and organizes all of the processes and tasks that are needed to be done during the sales process. The collecting and automating of all of these tasks is also called sales force automation. A sales force automation system (SFA) is most effective when it is able to integrate the many different departments needed to complete a complex sale from beginning to end. Many telephone software solutions have been developed to support an SFA.

The most basic functions of a sales force automation system are calendaring and scheduling. SFAs are able to keep track of appointments and tasks on both an individual level and for entire groups. This ensures that all follow-up and call-back appointments are kept by sales and support representatives. This simple function is very important to sales force automation, but the other innovative tools used alongside an SFA are what separate it from a simple calendaring application.

Power dialer is a perfect example. A dialer’s purpose is to automatically call through a list of contacts and prospects for a sales agent. This saves a large amount of time for the sales agent who would normally have to look up and dial each number manually. What separates a power dialer from other kinds of telephone dialers is the fact it only calls one number at a time. This straightforward way of placing calls ensures that every answered call will have a sales agent to speak to immediately, and that no call placed by the power dialer is ever dropped.

Faxing, emailing, and voice messaging are three additional tools that support sales force automation. These messages, regardless of the media, can be prerecorded and saved within the SFA. Any sales agent can send messages with just a click of the mouse and at anytime during a call. This allows him or her to not only give the contact additional information that a sales rep may promise to send, but also leave the best impression possible by using carefully thought out and executed messages.

The true strength of an SFA is enrollment campaigns. This feature is sometimes referred to as ELF for Electronic Labor Force. If a lead or contact fits a predetermined demographic or type of prospect then it can be assigned to a specific campaign. Once enrolled the SFA does all of the work. Previously specified emails, faxes, and voice messages will be sent to the enrolled lead at specified intervals. Additionally tasks will be created for sales agents to call that lead, too. This enrollment program ensures that the lead will receive all of the attention it needs to convert, and sales force automation takes the work out of it for the sales representatives.