Results of successful SFA implementations are great, IMS concludes. Yet seeing these results is not simply a matter of approving an SFA project. Lack of Senior Executive Attention. Projects of this magnitude inevitably cross functional business areas within a company. Executive sponsorship is required to resolve internal conflicts quickly to keep politics, resistance to change and inertia from bogging down progress.
Dramatic improvements require an enterprise-wide understanding of how things really work.
Taking a microscopic view of one sub-process after another usually generates no improvement at all, but complicates other aspects of the current sales process. Asking IS to code a few screens in their spare time, or sales to take a few hours to assess where their sales cycle is failing, or marketing to give a little thought to what kind of feedback they need from the field to design a more effective lead program are all prone to fail. A sales automation initiative is a major undertaking, requiring the full-time assignment of people for the duration of the project. Click and ask a question about this topic. Inc. All Rights Reserved.