A case study of technology adoption of Sales Force Automation / Mario A. Vallo, Jr.

Year : 2013

Number of Pages : 37 leaves

Adviser : Prof. Edison D. Cruz

Executive Summary

The study explores the possibility of technology adoption of Sales Force Automation by taking a closer look into the company and into its field sales force. The study determines the gaps between current and desired states of selling infrastructure. The study recommends that technology can fix these gaps and satisfy those needs. Through technology, the sales team can be more productive and effective. The adoption of SFA should be taken seriously by making it a part of company's business strategies and one of the department's priorities. SFA can be the next big project of the Sales and Operations Team. SFA supports current and future strategies of the company. There is no doubt that the field sales force will support this automation project. A gap assessment was conducted to describe policies, processes, resources, technologies and stakeholders. Company policies are very well communicated and codified. Policies are further ingrained to employees through regular online workshops. Processes are in place in each function but are not consistently followed. A major weakness of this aspect is the linkage between processes of other functions. A major gap was seen between sales and marketing planning processes. There are available resources in order to perform roles and responsibilities. Resources are adequate to address present time's challenges. However, there is no foresight of next resource requirement in the next 3 years of business operations. Technologies are widely available. There have been new communication technologies introduced in the company. These are in the forms of intranet, HR portal, and among others. However, there are not yet utilized in collaboration and knowledge generation. In terms of selling technologies, there are certain systems that are not fully maximized and explored. SAP, for instance, is not used in generating analytical reports. Sales reports are still processed by MS Excel. Last but not the least, stakeholders were assessed based on current responsibilities and desired responsibilities. The changing of roles of managers, field agents and sales support greatly depend on the ability of the company to connect previously mentioned aspects and to make them work together. The gap assessment provided specific needs that the sales force should attain and these can be attained by establishing sales force automation. The sales team needs to have the following improvements : increased productivity, detailed and accurate reports, empowered sales managers, improved collaboration, better-managed territories and strengthened field sales.

Another exercise conducted after establishing the needs is a sales team assessment survey that aimed at discovering sales force attitude towards themselves, their team and the company. This should be the major indicator of technology adoption. The survey questions are classified into seven kinds. They are organizational direction and change, leadership, immediate management, communication, collaboration, operating efficiency, performance management and engagement. The study showed high levels of engagement and low favorable responses to decision-making and communication. View of the employee towards the company was positive. Organizational direction and leadership showed that trust between company and employees was upheld. Answers regarding communication were all unfavorable. However, collaboration results were positive. It was implied that teamwork was present. Motivation to work was found to be high while performance management responses were in general positive. The survey showed that there were behavioral indicators of acceptance towards the company values and objectives. There were behaviors that would indicate cooperation within the sales force. The behavioral survey and gap assessment both showed that communication and decision-making were weak and needed to be addressed. Therefore, SFA is a great project that both field sales and sales managers would appreciate. SFA have features that address communication problems and strengthens decision-making. Making them participate in this project and allowing other departments to contribute would increase collaboration in the company. This endeavor is for sure in the interest of the management and company values.