Sales Force Automation Software Market 2020 and Forecast 2021-2027

                                          
Report Overview: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market


The global sales force automation software market size was valued at USD 6.18 billion in 2020 and looks set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% from 2021 to 2027. The growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of cloud sales force automation (SFA) software. Increasing demand for sales forecasting applications in the banking, retail, and IT and telecom sectors is anticipated to foster growth. Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deployment of cloud technology are the factors anticipated to foster growth. The market has been subject to several new developments in recent years. Technology, such as artificial intelligence is gaining tremendous traction and is projected to drive transformation across the sales automation process. For instance, AI is building practical value for sales management by automating, expanding, and supercharging the way deals are conducted.


The most important use cases of AI in SFA software are predictive lead scoring, which offers each sale lead a score demonstrating the probability of it converting into an opportunity, forecasting, and smart recommendations for all the product or service categories for all the business sectors. These features are enhancing the capabilities of the software and are projected to boost the demand over the forecast period 2021-2027.

Sales force automation is a technique used in business where specialized software is used to automate the tasks that are done by humans. Moreover, SFA software is similar to customer relations management (CRM) software. However, SFA is more specialized than CRM which is designed specifically for the process of direct sales to companies. The advantages SFA have over CRM is that it includes special features such as processing of orders, information sharing among sales personnel, managing client contact information, control and reordering, inventory monitoring, sales projections, tracking of orders, and employee evaluations.

SFA software collects a large amount of data from multiple customer touch points and this data is accessible via several devices in a cloud deployment. Thus, data security and piracy is a concern hampering the growth of the sales force automation software market. Moreover, governments are implementing rules and regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to strengthen the regulatory framework. This, coupled with the launch of updated automation solutions from the key players, which include two factor authentication and other security checks, are projected to resolve data security concerns, propelling the market growth during the forecast period.
The spread of COVID-19 disease has affected almost all the countries. The travel bans, shutdown, and quarantine measures declared by the countries has adversely impacted the economies and industries across all sectors. Owing to this impact, temporary repercussions on the sales and supply chain is likely to be witnessed in the coming year. However, with the relaxation of restrictions, the revival in the utility of SFA solutions is anticipated to witness a positive growth post-2022.
 Deployment Insights

The cloud segment lead the market with a share of over 60% in 2019. The utility of cloud has helped enterprises in bringing together all the customer information on an integrated platform incorporating lead generation, marketing, sales, customer service, and business analytics. Moreover, the flexibility, scalability, and security aspects of cloud technology have also helped in promoting the growth of cloud technology. In addition, large businesses are investing heavily in setting up their cloud-based automation solutions, which is too driving the growth of the market.
Furthermore, with the availability of pay per use, pay as you go, and subscription-based pricing model for cloud deployment, the demand from small scale organizations is on a rise. Cloud computing is aiding businesses to be more effective and the consolidation of both clouds and analytics is helping enterprises to process, store, and interpret their data to better meet their customer’s needs. Cloud computing and analytics has the exceptional potential to derive insights with respect to productivity, customer behavior, and customer experience over the forecast period.

Enterprise Size Insights: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market

Large enterprise accounted for the major market share with over 60% in 2019 and is projected to continue their dominance during the forecast period. The increasing spending to automate and streamline the sales process among the large organizations in Europe and North America is driving the market growth. Furthermore, the growing complexity of the business environment coupled with a rising need to make the sales process more customer-centric by getting close to the customer through various marketing channels is stimulating the demand for the software. Moreover, owing to the increasing use of data analytics in SFA, sales leaders in large enterprises are able to make better decisions, unfold insights into deal opportunities, and enhance their growth strategies.

The growing number of small and medium scale enterprises and their inclination towards adopting sales force automation for optimization of lead management and sales forecasting is propelling the market growth. Furthermore, the availability of various pricing options is driving software demand. However, the top priorities for the enterprises adopting the software are managing and optimizing costs, eliminating the overheads, and offering personalized services to their customers. Owing to the increasing startup culture and digitalization of industries, SFA solutions are anticipated to cater to the organization’s needs to bring in efficiency and productivity and stay competitive in the market.

Application Insights: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market

Lead management segment accounted for the largest market share of over 25% in 2019. Based on application, the market has been segmented in lead management, sales forecasting, order and invoice management, opportunity management, and others. Lead management permits users to create, assign, and track leads end to end with an aim to convert into qualified opportunities. Lead management also allows repetitively optimizing campaigns across all the market channels such as email, SMS, social media, online, in-person mobile, and more on a single unified platform enabling to make quick and smart decisions. These capabilities are driving the demand for the application, boosting the market growth during the forecast period.

Sales forecasting is projected to exhibit the fastest CAGR over the next eight years. Sales forecasting offers a real-time view into data for past and current sales trends and gives the accurate forecasts that the user helps the organization to capitalize on the growth opportunities. With developments such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics, the capabilities of sales forecasting applications are expected to be enhanced. This shall boost the demand for the application. Key players in the market are announcing AI feature-based SFA solution, which is further accelerating the demand. For instance, in April 2017, Salesforce.com, Inc. announced the Einstein High-Velocity Sales Cloud. Einstein High-Velocity Sales Cloud gets together the sales productivity app and the newest advancements in AI to enable sales representatives to prosper in the digital era, enabling optimized sales forecasting.

End-use Insights: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market


The BFSI segment among end use lead the market with the share nearly 20% in 2019. Based on end use, the market has been segmented in banking and financial services, retail, healthcare, IT and telecom, manufacturing, and others. Sales force automation involves combining multiple activities such as opportunity management, lead management, customer relationship management, order and invoice management, and analytics into a single solution. This helped organizations in retail and baking services to improve business productivity, which is boosting the demand for solutions in the segment.

The solution offers retailers a customizable interface for better management of solutions, comprehensive report generation, reduce time complexity & overhead costs, complete set of graphical and visual tools, which help in expert data analysis, and centralization of essential information, among others. Thus, many retailers are increasingly opting for SFA, driving the growth of the market. In addition, the healthcare industry is becoming more sales-driven than before. The increase in the overall growth of investment in the healthcare industry worldwide is expected to drive the market demand in the forthcoming years.

Regional Insights: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market

North America accounted for the largest revenue share of over 50% in 2019. Increasing investments from large organizations for sales automation is primarily driving the growth of the regional market. Furthermore, the close affinity to the key players and easy access to artificial intelligence-based sales force automation solutions is driving the market growth in the region. The availability of cloud-based software, which offers more customizing options along with improved data security and privacy measures, is driving the demand in Europe.

The growing retail, banking and financial services, and IT and telecom sectors in Asia Pacific are offering new growth opportunities for the key players. With the availability of artificial intelligence backed sales force automation applications, large enterprises across industries in the region are aggressively investing in the software. The “Made in China 2025” initiative of China and India’s “Make in India” program is likely to bring in significant investments in IT, technology, and innovation. Furthermore, SMEs and startups are progressively investing in SFA to customize and combine customer communication from various channels into one single integrated solution.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market

Salesforce.com, Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; and Oracle Corporation are the top three players that captured a substantial market share in 2019. The players in the market are engaging in long term strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and collaboration with stakeholders across the value chain. For instance, in August 2019, Salesforce.com, Inc. announced the acquisition of Tableau Software, a company offering analytics platform. With this acquisition, the company is positioned to play a more significant role in boosting digital transformation, allowing businesses around the world to tap into data through their entire business and get deeper insights to make the right decisions, enhance customer experiences, and speed up innovation.

These players are also launching new products and services by integrating new technologies with SFA solutions. For instance, in March 2019, Oracle Corporation announced several AI and machine learning fueled features for its suite of sales tools. This was aimed at increasing efficiency in the marketing and sales process by means of artificial intelligence to speed up earlier manual workflows while taking benefit of all the data that is part of present sales and marketing. Some of the prominent players in the sales force automation software market include:

Key companies Profiled: Global Sales Force Automation Software Market Report

 	
Salesforce.com, Inc.
 	
Microsoft Corporation
 	
SAP SE
 	
Oracle Corporation

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2016 to 2027. For the purpose of this study, Trusted Business Insights has segmented the global sales force automation software market report based on deployment, enterprise size, application, end use, and region:

Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Cloud
 	
On-premise

Enterprise Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Large Enterprises
 	
Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
Lead Management
 	
Sales Forecasting
 	
Order & Invoices Management
 	
Opportunity Management
 	
Others

End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

 	
BFSI
 	
Retail
 	
Healthcare
 	
IT & Telecom
 	
Manufacturing
 	
Others