The tool coordinates sales cycle among a variety of departments, including financial and legal. But SBI didn't choose an SFA product from a CRM vendor. Two years ago, SBI implemented SalesLogix, a standalone SFA solution, and Barney is happy with its opportunity-management features. However, he acknowledges that many companies need broader tools. Aberdeen Group's Pombriant says the threshold at which full-fledged CRM tools are helpful differs from company to company.
Analysts concur that it's important to pick a tool that can change with a company's changing needs.
According to Gartner Group's DeSisto, companies rarely implement an SFA solution from a CRM vendor right out of the box. Customization is nearly always required. Siebel's customization tools were key to the implementation's success, he says, but he used the tools to simplify the user interface, not to add more features. Even things that looked like they were nice to have, like automating processes, we didn't do. Partnerships also will be on the rise.