What are some examples of SFA implementation failures? Seven key points to avoid implementation failures!

Voices of company representatives who failed to implement SFA

Here are some patterns of SFA implementation failure based on actual consultations with customers in the past.

Company A, Sales manager

The upper management says, " We want to manage our customers digitally with CRM, SFA, etc. Our competitors are making sales by doing so. Our competitors are making sales by doing so. The company was instructed to introduce SFA. When we finally implemented it, we found that only the system administrator and a few managers were using it, and the field staff were constantly complainingthat it was too much trouble and that they were fine with the previous system. Frankly speaking, it seems like they are monitoring us even if we force them to use the system, and I'm thinking of cancelling the contract."

Company B, Management

I've heard that visualizing data anddigital transformation I have heard that sales can be improved by visualizing data and making it more visible. We would like to utilize SFA to visualize our field activities, but we are having difficulty communicating our intentions to the field. We have added " whether or not data is entered into SFA " to the evaluation criteria and have been encouraging data entry, but recently we have heard rumors that managers and leaders are entering data for all employees at once.... This makes the data unreliable."

digital transformationBoth of these two companies have spent a lot of money to implement SFA but have not been able to successfully manage it after implementation.
In fact, there is an important point in implementing SFA, and it seems that both companies have lost sight of this point, which is the reason why their implementation has not been successful. Here are some of the key points.

Key points to avoid failure in SFA implementation

1. Clearly define the goals you want to achieve with SFA / CRM and set KPIs for each department

In the case of Company A mentioned earlier, "SFA implementation" became the goal in the mind of the person in charge, and there was no clear image of the effects that could be obtained through subsequent operation, only a vague vision of "it will somehow work.
However, SFA, which requires information collaboration across departmental boundaries, cannot be promoted without a clear vision andgoals. SFA/CRM is just a "box" to store information, so what kind of information to put in that box and what kind of effect to achieve depends on the goals each company wants to achieve.
In implementing SFA, it is important to clearly set the goals you want to achieve, and to determine how you will achieve them. It is desirable to set clear goals to be achieved, drill down how to achieve them, and set quantitative KPIs for each department.

Example: While setting thegoal to be achieved ( 0% increase in sales ) as the ultimate goal, the KPI to achieve it is to reduce theamount oftime spent outside of " customer touchpoint" such as emails, phone calls, and visits by 30%, and to quadruple theamount of sales activities. In addition, the time required for handover will be reduced by less than half, and the direct sales rate will be increased by 50%.

2. Communicate "the goals you want to achieve" and increase the number of people who understand the value.

The promotion of SFA cannot be done by a single person. Because SFA is a system in the broad sense of "sales activity support" that can be used for a variety of purposes, if each individual uses the system as they please, the system will literally become "chaotic," and data will not be standardized and cannot be used for analysis.
The purpose of SFA implementation from the management perspective is to standardize and quantify on-site activity data so that it can be analyzed. Therefore, it is necessary to have the sales field, where data is actually entered into SFA, share the same objective and understand the value of SFA.
It is important to clearly communicate "why this tool is being introduced " for the benefit of the entire organization, not just for the sole purpose of the promoter, and to increase the number of people who sympathize and promote thetooltogether with the promoter, as many as possible, and communicate this to the field.

3. Combining top-down x incentives x benefits

Even if you communicate the goals you want to achieve, a top-down message has propulsion but no sustainability. It does not lead to continuous data entry because the action stops there after the message is "good.
Therefore, the key to steady retention is to promote a combination of top-down messages and "incentives" for those who input data. The promoter communicates the purpose and vision of the introduction of SFA, and rewards those who use SFA to increase the volume of sales activities and achieve sales and profit margins.
SFA has many advantages from the management's perspective as well as from the inputters' perspective, such as "easier input," "easier sales activities by understanding past history," "winning patterns ," and so on. It also helps to identify winning patterns. However, it takes some period of time andtime to get used to the habit before the benefits can be enjoyed, so " top-down messages " and " incentives" will fill the gap.

4. Minimise the number of fields required for input and use simplicity

However, the incentive is only temporary and is intended to encourage the "introduction" of the system. To make the system "take root," it is necessary to take another step to devise a system from the viewpoint of the field.
What often happens when creating a template for activity items is to "include all the opinions and ideas" of people in various positions. Here, too, if the first "goal to be achieved" is not clear, you will not know what is necessary and what is not, and the process will become more and more complicated. In some cases, there have been cases in which people have tried to include more than 50 items, but they never stick....
In order to avoid such a situation, it is important to use the standard items originally provided in SFA and CRM as much as possible and limit the number of input items to about 5 from among them. Because the system is not an easy-to-understand system like an expense reimbursement system that reimburses you for money spent, it is necessary to reduce the amount of time and effort required for inputting information as much as possible.

5. Make field sales representativesfeel 'glad to be included'

Once incentives are provided and simple items are created for easy entry, the key is to create a system that will make the people in the field feel "glad" that they have entered their data. To this end, it is important for the manager to "correctly" evaluate the data entered by the sales representative and link it to encouragement and advice.
In the past, sales evaluation was based on "people," and if a member of the team did not produce results for a certain period of time, the manager would intuit that there was something wrong with the person's approach, find negative elements in his or her qualities, and tell the person to correct them. The manager would then find the negative elements in the person's qualities and tell him or her to correct the problem.
However, as sales field activities and the progress of negotiations become more visible, managers who also have experience as players can clearly see "what customers are looking for now" and "what issues need to be addressed in order to proceed with negotiations. By providing "correct" encouragement and advice based on actual sales activities, rather than on impressions orindividual basis, sales representatives can work more easily, and the meaning andbenefits ofSFA input can be seen.

6. Visualise the results of efficiency gains in numerical form

Now that we have reached this point, the road to the establishment of the system is quite bright. After receiving positive acceptance frompromoters, managers, and field personnel, it is now important to visualize the benefits as "results of SFA implementation.
If the benefits to individual positions can be aggregated and the overall benefits to the organization can be objectively quantified, you can invest in more advanced services and counter negative opinions.
For example, you can compareovertime hoursbefore and after the introduction of SFA, or measure the time spent on phone calls, emails, visits, etc. other than " customer touchpoint." By quantifying it again, you will know what next steps you need to take in order to achieve the goals you set in 1.

7. Choose an SFA that will help you to keep points 1 to 6 in mind

The last point is how to choose an SFA. There are many different types of SFA and CRM. However, the key points that must be emphasized in common for all tools are that they must be simple and easy to use in the field, and that they must be well accompanied by a customer success team.
SFA is a tool that can provide significant benefits if successfully implemented and established, but it is not a simple task to achieve that success. When choosing a vendor, you need to focus on whether or not it is easy to use and whether or not it provides solid support, and you need to make sure that you choose a vendor that is committed to establishing itself.
UPWARD Corporation, which boasts a contract renewal rate of98.8% while developing a SaaS business model that gives customers the right to cancel every year, offers a service that specializes in "last mile efficiency" among SFA.
UPWARD" can almost automaticallystandardize, formulate, and quantify salespeople's phone calls andfield activities to log. This SFA tool has been extremely well received by the approximately 300 companies that have introduced it, mainly major corporations, for its easy data entry and easy-to-understand reports.

Click here for UPWARD introductory material

Choose an SFA with a proven track record of successful implementation, such as UPWARD, to differentiate yourself from your competitors and improve the efficiency of your sales activities.

Conclusion

SFA is a useful tool that can lead to improved sales, but it is also something that is prone to implementation failure unless there is a proper "why" and "what benefits will it bring to the field"objective.
However, once the data is properly input and utilized, corporate value will increase and customer satisfaction will improve. It is also a great weapon that can increase your market advantage and give you a leg up on your competitors.

We encourage you to take this opportunity to consider implementing SFA while keeping in mind the key points of success.