Sales Force Management System (SFMS)

The automation of routine sales operations is carried out by a class of systems, conditionally called SFA (Sales Force Automation System) or SFM (Sales Force Management System). In world practice, the SFA system is usually supplied as part of CRM.

Sales Force Automation

Sales Force Automation - sales automation system. It automatically registers all stages of the company's sales. The SFA includes a customer contact tracing system, a system for identifying potential customers. Its functions include the process of forecasting sales, order management, familiarization with products, and so on. Read the SFA article

LK Trade Sales Management System

Graphical table of data display of a typical Sales Force system

SFMS Opportunities for Sales Managers

SFMS provides information about all clients in the form of tables, diagrams, graphs. The manager will not have to waste time drafting them. When working with Sales Force Management System, the manager has complete information about orders, which gives him the opportunity to respond to changes in the situation in a timely manner, give the necessary recommendations to subordinates, check the stock of products and adjust the discount system. SFMS automatically analyzes information using complex statistical methods and presents the results in a user-friendly form. With this system, the Sales Manager can perform marketing studies that reflect demographics, customer behaviours, priority and low demand data, sales trends. In addition, SFMS is useful in conducting market research. The dynamics of the industry development, competition, the emergence of new products and advertising campaigns among competitors are monitored. SFMS allows you to scan the macro environment. The Sales Manager can identify the most profitable customers and problem customers. It is very convenient that Sales Force Management System coordinates the activities of various departments of the company: production, marketing and financial departments. SFMS provides the ability to track company performance. The following key figures that are calculated in the system are relevant for this purpose:

• Revenue from one sales agent
• income from a particular territory;
• Customer segment margins
• Customer-specific margin
• the number of calls per day;
• time spent on one contact;
• Revenue per call
• the cost of one call;
• the ratio of orders to the number of calls;
• income as a percentage of the sale of quotas;
• Number of new customers over a period
• Number of lost clients over a period
• Percentage of returned goods
• number of complaints from customers;
• The number of overdue invoices.

SFMS Opportunities for Marketing Managers

SFMS contributes to understanding the economic structure of the industry, defining the main market segments, determining the target market. With its help, you can identify the best customers. The system helps determine the competitiveness of an organization based on the knowledge of competitors and the products they provide. SFMS is widely used in the development of new products as well as marketing strategies for each product, through price changes, assortment changes, distribution systems and incentives. The process of creating the latest environmental scanning mechanisms, identifying opportunities and risks is equally important. With SFMS, managers assess the company's weaknesses and strengths. With the Sales Force Management System, it is easy to coordinate the company with structures engaged in advertising, product promotion, public relations. SFMS provides the opposite communication with customers, and this contributes to the development of the company as a whole.

Strategic advantages

When using SFMS:

• Increases labor productivity by reducing costs, increasing income and expanding the sales market;
• Employees' working time is used more efficiently and efficiently;
• The company has the opportunity to respond more quickly to customer requests, thereby developing a good opinion about the company and a desire for further cooperation;
• The company's offers not only meet the wishes of customers, but also exceed their expectations.

Shortcomings

At first glance, Sales Force Management System may seem difficult to use, since it requires time for data entry, constant service, updating and updating information. SFMS to some extent turns the personal process of purchasing goods into a public one. In addition, this system is expensive and difficult to integrate with other information systems.

Market estimates

2024: Global Funnel Management Systems Market Volume for the Year Grew 8.9% to $6 Billion

At the end of 2024, the costs in the global software market for managing the sales funnel reached $5.97 billion. For comparison, a year earlier, expenses in this sector were estimated at $5.48 billion. Thus, growth was recorded at 8.9%. Industry trends are addressed in the Market Research Future survey, which TAdviser reviewed in early October 2025.

A sales funnel refers to a marketing model that visualizes a customer's journey from first getting to know a product to buying it. The funnel is depicted as an inverted cone, where the wide upper part symbolizes a large number of potential customers, and the narrow lower section is associated with those who actually made the purchase. In this case, various intermediate stages can be considered, such as "interest" (active manifestation of interest in a group of goods or products), "desire" (the client has a conscious need for a product or service), etc. This model helps the business manage the sales process, identify weaknesses, assess the effectiveness of marketing channels and optimize customer interaction to increase conversion and profit.

The authors of the study highlight several key factors that contribute to market expansion. One is the growing demand for automation tools. Companies are increasingly aware of the need to optimize processes to improve efficiency and reduce human error. Automated sales funnel management enables you to track, manage, and accurately analyze your sales data.

Another driver is the desire of organizations to increase consumer satisfaction and engagement. Against this background, there is integration of sales funnel management software with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This approach ensures constant communication between sales and customer service departments, which improves the efficiency of business operations and improves the quality of customer service. The study authors also point to a marked shift toward data-driven decision-making. Companies use analytics to learn about customer behavior, sales trends, and more.

By deployment model, the market is segmented into local, cloud, and hybrid solutions. In 2024, the first type of products accounted for $1.79 billion. At the same time, cloud systems brought the largest revenue - $3.18 billion: the dominance of such platforms is explained by their flexibility and scalability. In addition, cloud services eliminate the need to invest heavily in deploying their own IT infrastructure. You can access cloud systems from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. Geographically, North America leads, followed by Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Globally, major industry players are:

• Keap;
• Freshworks;
• Oracle;
• Outreach;
• SalesLoft;
• Salesforce;
• Nutshell;
• SugarCRM;
• Close;
• Zoho;
• Pipedrive;
• SAP;
• Copper;
• HubSpot;
• Microsoft.

In 2025, the global market for funnel management systems is expected to reach $6.8 billion. Market Research Future analysts believe that in the future, the CAGR will be 7.52%. Thus, by 2035, costs may increase to $14.7 billion.^[1]

See also

• CRM
• Sales Force Automation
• Sales Performance Management
• Sales Force Management
• Sales & Operation Planning
• CPQ (Configure, Price and Quote) Sales Optimization Software

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