The fundamental purpose of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is to drive sales performance and foster profitable customer relationships. The Sales Force has long been known to be the key to the success of a company. However, sales people need to know how to be productive by optimizing the interactions they have with prospective customers. This includes the small things like a reminder to e-mail a customer to answer a question as well as the big things like getting a proposal in on time.

What was once called sales force automation has evolved into sales enablement. This name better reflects how customer relationship management (CRM) works in the sales community. Sales force automation was focused primarily on giving managers a window into what the sales force was doing and managing the pipeline. It was a tool for setting goals and measuring success against sales targets. It helped to make sales people more efficient in the use of their time, but it did little to improve their relationships with customers and prospective customers. Sales people never embraced sales automation as enthusiastically as their managers.

Sales enablement, on the other hand, is focused on helping the sales person enhance the relationship with the customer. In order to help with that relationship, the sales person has to want to use the system. Some of the features that are making sales enablement software easy and desirable to use include:
• An interface that is easy-to-use and navigate
• Account management tools that allow ease of use and flexibility
• Smooth integration with desktop applications
• Seamless integration with back office activities
• Business process capabilities that fit with the way the company functions
• Tools that quickly and easily enhance interactions with the customer
• Configuration that is customizable

Any CRM initiative must include enabling the sales force. If the sales people accept and use the system, their productivity increases and customer satisfaction improves. When their productivity increases, overall sales performance improves. When customers are satisfied, they become repeat customers and they recommend the company, thus further improving sales. When sales increase, the company thrives.