The Benefits of Sales Force Automation: A Customer’s Perspective

This paper examines the benefits of sales force automation from the customer’s perspective within a framework based on theories from the sales and information systems literature relating to the benefits of the implementation of information technology. An in-depth study using qualitative research tools is conducted among managers occupying “buyer/logistic” positions within customer organizations to identify perceived benefits of the use of sales force automation (SFA) systems by their vendors. Three content analytical techniques (thematic, lexical, and cognitive mapping) are used to uncover the benefits most valued by management in customer organizations. Results demonstrate that customers perceive benefits on four main dimensions of their interaction with salespersons—salespeople’s professionalism, customer interaction frequency, salesperson responsiveness, and salesperson–customer relationship quality. This study is the first to examine aspects of SFA from the customer perspective.