Answer
Sales force automation is the use of computers to automate sales recording and reporting by sales people as well as communications and sales support. It improves productivity by saving time otherwise spent on manual creation of records, reports, and presentations; it improves communications and accessibility to information to support sales activities; and it may help in planning sales tactics.
Increasingly, computers and networks are providing the basis for sales force automation. In many companies, the sales force is being outfitted with notebook computers that connect them to Web browsers, and sales contact management software that connect them to marketing websites on the Internet, extranets, and their company intranets. Sales force automation has resulted in increasing the personal productivity of salespeople, dramatically speed up the capture and analysis of sales data from the field to marketing managers at company headquarters, allows marketing and sales management to improve the delivery of information and the support they provide to their salespeople. Many companies view sales force automation as a way to gain a strategic advantage in sales productivity and marketing responsiveness.