InformationWeek

Previously, reps could view their own sales information using personal-information management software, but no one else's. With better access and integration, Dreyfus says, it has improved customer service and retention, which should lead to increased sales.

Dreyfus is one of many companies that has bought into a new breed of sales-force automation (SFA) suites, betting on the ultimate prize: customer loyalty and long-term retention.

If those goals sound familiar, it's because the new generation of SFA products do some of the same things as customer-relationship management software. For the past 15 years, SFA has typically concentrated on contact management or scheduling software that provided salespeople with a computerized support tool.

CRM has focused on the bigger picture: the integration of front- and back-office applications, including selling and service channels, and analytical environment such as data warehouse, data mart, and analytical applications. In the past few years, SFA has become a key component of an enterprisewide customer-management approach, and some vendors offer both types of products. The new generation of so-called hybrid selling suites aims to integrate marketing, sales, and service functions, and it can be the start of a larger CRM implementation.

SFA vendors such as FirePond, Onyx Software, Pivotal, SalesLogix, and Siebel Systems rolled out suites this year, including FirePond Application Suite, Onyx Front Office 2000, Pivotal's eSelling 2000, SalesLogix2000, and Siebel's eBusiness 2000. Most tie together direct sales, online sales, customer-service activities, and channel management on a single platform.

For example, using FirePond, a customer might request product information on an E-commerce site that triggers distribution of the lead to the Sales Manager component of the suite. That lead includes customer-demand and preference information and the likelihood of the sale being made. A much more knowledgeable sales representative would then follow up the lead.

FirePond Commerce, FirePond Sales, and FirePond Sales Manager are all based on the same application-server platform and data model, so that common customer and product information is available for every sales channel. In the case of Interact Commerce Corp., client-server and Web-browser views can be customized to provide the sales user, marketing user, partner user, or support user with relevant customer data.

The most important benefit is ubiquitous data access for all of Dreyfus' sales reps, says Brad Orben, national sales manager. Dreyfus, in Uniondale, N.Y., manages investment products offered through banks, broker-dealers, and insurance companies.

Using Onyx, Dreyfus manages the sales process for more than 20,000 institutional sales reps across its national direct and indirect sales channels. Direct salespeople handle cash management, money market, and institutional sales, while the indirect sales staff covers wholesale distributors, broker-dealers, independent financial advisers, and banks. "Onyx solved the problem of information 'silos.' Because we sell through lots of cross channels, all salespeople need to see the same sales information and client history in order to sell effectively," Orben says.