Tiếng Việt
Français
中文 (中国)
한국어
SFA and CRM that people involved in web marketing hear every day.
Since they are similar and different, some people may find it vague that they can understand the differences and feel that they are the same.
In this article, Chiasenow has summarized the differences and commonalities between SFA and CRM, as well as points to keep in mind when applying them to your company.
Chiasenow has also created a function comparison table that allows you to easily compare each function, so feel free to use it for your work.
Article table of contents
Feature difference between SFA and CRM
First, lets look at the differences and features between SFA and CRM.
1. What is the difference in meaning of SFA and CRM?
Both SFA and CRM are said to have originated in the United States in the 1990s, but their meanings are very different.
SFA is an acronym for Sales Force Automation, which translates to Sales Force Automation.
It is a tool that provides detailed sales support, such as notification of actions to be taken next by sales staff operating on a daily basis, and it is expected to improve sales efficiency and productivity. row …
On the other hand, CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management, which means Customer Relationship Management
Originally, this name referred to a method, but today it is often referred to as an IT tool used to perform customer management.
CRM as a tool for managing, accumulating and analyzing customer information such as name, attributes, purchase/request history and by using that information can provide products and services that customers want as well as good relationship with customers.
As you can see, SFA and CRM have different purposes and uses. Next, lets examine in detail the difference between the platform and functionality of SFA and CRM!
SFA – Sales Force Automation – Sales Force Automation
1. Background of the birth of SFA
There are various theories behind the birth of SFA, but at many sales sites prior to the advent of SFA, sales practice was developed based on each salespersons personal experience and knowledge. .
Meanwhile, in Europe and the United States, the problem is that customer information is personalized by sales staff. Therefore, what is required is to compile the information that each salesperson has.
In addition, instead of sales activities depending on the capabilities of specific salespeople, the idea of using data to streamline sales and execute smarter operations has also emerged. presently.
This has led to the birth of the SFA tool that allows all salespeople to manage and share information.
2. Information managed by SFA
In the above context, SFA has the characteristic of managing and sharing customer information and sales know-how owned by sales staff.
Therefore, SFA manages basic information of customers such as customer name, job title, company name, contact information, department name to which the customer belongs, as well as detailed negotiation information. such as case details, client issues/concerns/interests and negotiation information.
These accumulated and managed data can be used to forecast sales.
3. Benefits of SFA
The first commendable point of SFA is that it can visualize sales activities and know-how.
In previous sales operations, each salesperson managed the customers information and know-how by himself, so it was difficult for the necessary information to be shared as a whole and it tended to become a black box.
However, when SFA is introduced and customer information and know-how are centrally managed, customer interactions and the progress of projects can be visualized, and information accumulated and analyzed can be achieved. can be used to forecast sales.
This is very useful for improving and enhancing the work efficiency of the sales department.
By accumulating and analyzing top selling know-how, even if a talented employee leaves the company due to job change or retirement, they can still use it to develop human resources later.
In addition, SFA can handle tasks that tend to be time-consuming and labor-intensive, such as generating daily business reports, negotiating lists and quotes, freeing salespeople from other tasks. details.
This is also a reliable point for improvement. As a result, salespeople can focus more on their own activities, which can be expected to improve sales efficiency and increase sales.
CRM – Customer Relationship Management – Customer Relationship Management
1. Background of the birth of CRM
Like SFA, the foundation for the birth of CRM is influenced by time.
The reason was that the impact of mass marketing, which had spread around the world until then, could no longer be expected.
Therefore, instead of the traditional approach of applying the same approach to many customers, attention has increased to 1-to-1 transactional marketing with each customer, leading to the development of tools. CRM.
See more:
2. Information managed by CRM
In the above context, CRM manages information to realize marketing tailored to each customer.
In addition to basic information such as customer name, gender, company name, contact information, and department name, information that represents each customers preferences, interests, and intentions, such as a customers history. questionnaires and inquiries as well as the purchase and use history of products and services.
By using this information, we will take an approach that precisely matches the customer and leads to increased customer satisfaction.
3. Benefits of CRM
As with SFA, the advantage of CRM is that information can be visualized.
When CRM was developed, customer information (not only basic information, but also purchase orientation and achievement, potential purchase information from next time onward) that was previously in charge of each person, department , departments, etc. will be centrally managed. managed and analyzed.
By capturing customer information quickly and multi-faceted, a more precise approach tailored to each customer can be realized, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
If you can capture the needs of your customers well, you can expect to have upsells and crosssells.
Disadvantages of SFA and CRM
Although SFA and CRM have their own advantages, they also have the disadvantage that it is difficult to measure their effectiveness after introduction.
In addition, SFA and CRM can cause the following problems if it is introduced without a clear definition of what type of information is needed or if the purpose of the referral is unclear.
The poor usability of the tool, which takes a lot of time and effort, leads to many information shortcomings, such as thin content, low accuracy of input information, tools to use are not established, etc
This situation can lead to the problem that the information is not up to date and no one wants to use the tool, which can lead to disappointing results because using it has not worked.
As Chiasenow will cover later in the chapter summarizing points and considerations when choosing a tool, attention should be paid to whether it is an easy-to-use tool when introducing it. More fundamentally, what is needed is introduce it on purpose.
| Information to manage | Effective score | Effective hip point | |
| SFA | How is customer and sales information held by sales staff? Basic customer information and detailed negotiation information | Visualize sales activities and know-how Centralized management of information enables improved business operations and sales efficiency | The fact that it is difficult to measure results in the level of effectiveness after the introduction of poor tools, time spent working and time to fill in information is missing. Large information data, low accuracy of the information entered makes the use of the tool not established. |
| CRM | Information to make marketing tailored to each customer Basic customer information and information such as preferences, interests, and intentions | Information is displayed visually Information managed by each department or person in charge is uniform A highly precise approach can be taken for each client |
What is the difference between SFA and CRM?
The difference between SFA and CRM can be better understood by focusing on the difference in their functions.
The functions of the SFA are roughly divided into problem management and sales performance.
With the case management function, you can manage the negotiation progress, such as which product/service is recommended to whom and how much it costs, contracted case reports and audits. Check the target achievement rate of the entire sales department.
From that information, it is possible to predict how much sales can be achieved. In addition, with the sales enhancement function, you can use functions that support daily business operations such as generating daily business reports and quotes.
On the other hand, CRM functions can be divided into customer data management functions, promotion functions and customer support functions.
The customer data management function can manage and analyze the customers attributes and behavioral history, and the promotion function can be used to reach customers such as sales promotion campaigns and email distribution.
The customer support function can be used for various activities related to organizing customer surveys and organizing seminars and events.
The detailed differences and common points of the functions are summarized in the table below, so compare them carefully and see the difference.
| Parameters | SFA | CRM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared | Customer management | ◎ | ◎ |
| Manage requests | ◎ | ◎ | |
| Create a mail form | 〇 | 〇 | |
| Send all emails | ◎ | ◎ | |
| To-Do Management | 〇 | 〇 | |
| Generate report | ◎ | ◎ | |
| External data collection | ◎ | ◎ | |
| Sales support system | Manage records (discussion) | ◎ | × |
| Forecast management | ◎ | × | |
| Manage schedule | ◎ | △ | |
| Manage daily business reports | ◎ | × | |
| Analysis of sales information | ◎ | × | |
| Business card management | ◎ | × | |
| Customer Development Department | Promotional email | △ | ◎ |
| Call center management | △ | 〇 | |
| Analyze customer information | × | 〇 | |
| Manage order information | × | 〇 |
Annotation of symbols
- ◎ Most are available on tools
- 〇 Is a function that has been implemented Normal Tool
- basically not implemented
- × Not supported
Different in CRM and SFA. In many cases, the SFA provides the results of the analysis of sales information and the CRM provides the results of the customer information analysis in the form of reports.
See more:
What SFA and CRM have in common: Customer information is the main focus.
Above Chiasenow introduced the difference between SFA and CRM, but there are some common points between SFA and CRM.
First, it is based on the management and analysis of customer data. Using customer information acquired from various angles, SFA aims to improve sales efficiency and CRM aims to improve customer satisfaction.
The point of using customer data is the same and the purpose of using it is a huge difference between SFA and CRM.
It also has the common feature of being able to act as a liaison between the sales and marketing departments.
Both SFA and CRM are required to centralize and share all customer information held by sales and marketing departments, rather than managing them separately.
Depending on the culture of the company, there may be situations where the marketing department collects leads and the sales department for the purpose of taking orders from the leads does not interact well.
But by sharing customer information with SFA and CRM, it can also be understood that sales and marketing departments will be incentivized to create a system that allows them to collaborate more with each other.
Choose the right tool to solve your problem
Once you understand the differences and similarities between SFA and CRM, the question arises, Which one should I choose then?
When considering whether to choose an SFA or a CRM, its important to consider how your customer data is managed and analyzed, the problems you want to solve, and what you want to achieve.
Once the purpose is clear, you will know which tools your company should adopt.
However, some people may say, Its hard to decide when to choose SFA or CRM.
Here are some examples of templates where you can enjoy the benefits of introducing SFA and CRM, so check them out for your reference.
1. Example where it is better to choose SFA
A good example of looking at the birth of an SFA is the location where sales operations already operate.
When multiple sales reps engage with many clients at the same time and information such as customers and business negotiations cannot be shared well among sales representatives, the movement of the entire sales department can be visualized using SFA.
This prevents possible problems with sales, such as communication errors. Additionally, streamlining operations through SFA will allow salespeople to focus more on their own operations, leading to improved performance.
2. Example where you should choose CRM
A good example of a CRM consideration is a website that already has a large customer base and wants to increase its reach with them.
If you want to build relationships through measures such as campaigns for existing customers or distribution of e-mail newsletters and connect them for repeat purchases, it is better to use the CRM function.
When implementing these marketing measures, a company with a well-established system such as a customer relations department will be able to use CRM more favorably.
3. Be careful not to compare only by function
Here, Chiasenow wants to tell you how to choose what you should avoid when comparing SFA and CRM. Its a feature-based comparison.
SFA and CRM have similar functions at first glance, such as customer information management and sending email. However, if the purpose of the tool is different, the detailed specifications such as item types, screen layout, and what can be done through the function can vary greatly.
In that case, you might end up in the I tried to learn it, but I cant use it as I imagined situation.
Always keep in mind that you should choose the right tool to achieve your goal, not assume that it looks useful because it has many functions.
4. Products that integrate SFA and CRM are also appearing
By the way, recently, tools with both SFA and CRM functions, such as CRM with SFA and SFA with CRM functionality, have appeared.
At this point, Chiasenow has introduced that SFA and CRM are different tools that handle the same customer information but have different purposes and uses, but in fact their integration is progressing.
Perhaps the boundary will disappear and the day will come when SFA and CRM will be combined into one tool.
Perspective is important when learning SFA and CRM tools
When it comes to really combining SFA and CRM, what Chiasenow wants you to keep in mind is listen to the experts of the field.
If the selection and referral were made without considering the actual work situation of the people using the tool, those in the field would not be able to use the tool and the system would not be set up, or other work will take precedence over updating information. It caused the problem that the required data was not imported.
Customer information is the foundation of SFA and CRM, so if this were to happen, this tool would be ineffective and it would not make sense to recommend it.
To avoid such a situation, when choosing and learning about a tool, its important to listen to people in the field who actually use the tool in their day-to-day work. It is advisable to conduct a selection and find out while discussing whether you can master the tool and how to create a system to set up the tool.
Among them, measures to establish data entry are particularly important. Choosing a tool that doesnt put a lot of emphasis on entering and managing information.
Create an environment in which you can feel the benefits of data entry work, such as creating a mechanism to evaluate data entry work It can be said that different considerations from the perspective of the user of the data entry work. Tools are shortcuts to maximize the impact of SFA and CRM.
See more:
Effective combination of MA with SFA and CRM
If you want to get the most out of your customer connections, you should consider learning the combination of marketing automation (MA) SFA and CRM.
Marketing automation is a tool that automates customer communication, such as new customer development and existing customer development.
It is positioned as an earlier stage of SFA and CRM using customer information. Multiple MAs can be linked to SFA and CRM and will be able to create a system where marketing and sales can collaborate more.
By using data that is centrally managed across departments, we can interact with existing customers to react to changes in the status of existing customers, such as unpurchased. or viewed new project.
You can change direction flexibly. Such cooperation will lead to further improvement of sales efficiency and building of relationships with more customers.
Since marketing automation has different functions and characteristics depending on the vendor, you should choose the right tool to solve your companys problems.
If you want to learn more about SFA and CRM you can read more related wikipedia articles here
Thank you for viewing the article at Chiasenow. Dont forget to leave your comment to let Chiasenow know what you think!
You can read other articles on the same topic here:
