Sales force automation sounds like a fancy term, but it simply refers to the practice of using software to automate sales-related tasks such as order processing, inventory monitoring, contact management, order tracking, forecast analyzing, and more.

Sales force automation software has been around for a long time now, and these are not new by any means. That said, the technologies behind these software have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years.

Take the activity of qualifying and scoring leads, for example. In the past, sales automation relied on hard-coded rules and took into consideration limited factors when qualifying and scoring leads. Today’s sales automation solutions, on the other hand, are using more sophisticated technology (and even artificial intelligence) to fine-tune the lead qualifying process. This allows companies to improve upon the accuracy of their lead qualifying, and in turn, increase the effectiveness of their lead nurturing efforts.