Sales force automation expectations, practices and outcomes in the specialty chemical industry: A survey analysis

The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand the study by Erffmeyer and Johnson (2001) where the expectations, practices and outcomes of companies involved in the process of automating the sales process were investigated. In the current study a national sample consisting of subjects from the specialty chemical industry were surveyed concerning the goals and objectives of implementing sales force automation (SFA) in their organization, the factors which lead to a successful implementation and the outcomes resulting from implementing SFA in their organization. The current study failed to find a positive correlation between successful SFA implementation and pre-project communication between IT and the salesforce or between senior management's involvement in the implementation process and a successful implementation outcome. Additionally a positive correlation was not found between automating the sales process and improved access to information or that high costs would be perceived as a negative outcome automating the sales force. The results of this study differ considerably from previous research done in this area and suggest that additional future research in this area needs to be conducted.