What is Sales Automation? Tips and Examples

Sales automation is a popular functionality offered by the top CRM software. It can be found throughout the average sales process, from lead generating and scoring to meeting scheduling and forecasting.

Automating any and all of these workflows frees up time for sales reps so they can spend more of it actually engaging with customers and closing deals. Below, I explain sales automation, its business benefits, how to start implementing it, and examples of successful automation in sales.

What is sales automation?

Sales automation is programmed technology that automates manual tasks in any sales process. This feature can directly impact deal-closing rates and customer experiences by freeing up sales reps’ time to focus on lead nurturing and immediate problem-solving.

Sales automation can be applied to the lead generation process, the nurturing stage, and the post-sales stage. Because of this, CRM tools with advanced automation functionality are understandably sought after for how efficiently they can streamline workflows that previously took longer to complete.

Sales automation can work within a CRM, from data capturing to email drip campaigns, lead scoring, and even forecasting. Some notable benefits include increased visibility, reduced manual task workloads, more personalized customer service, and more.

What are the benefits of sales automation?

The main goal of sales automation is to improve efficiency. When the software is doing the heavy lifting of completing automation tasks and triggers, the business benefits—making choosing a CRM a favorable option.

Here are five immediate benefits of sales automation:

Streamline data collection and segmentation within a CRM.
Increase visibility for reps, managers, owners, and admins.
Minimize manual task workloads for users.
More personalized customer experience.
Reduce human error.

Ultimately, all of these benefits improve the customer experience with your business and increase the morale of sales reps and admins who can trust the software to accomplish these mundane tasks. Time is money in sales, and automation helps free up valuable time for more pressing tasks.

How to automate sales

The exact steps to automate your sales process within a CRM tool depend on the tool itself. However, there are still actionable steps that will get you closer to having a fully automated sales process.

Before implementing any tool, it’s important to have a defined sales process that you can build into your CRM with stages, pipelines, and dashboard. You should also consider which other tools in your tech stack might need to be synced for automation workflows, such as email or web forms.

The next steps depend on which processes you’re automating, so you should take advantage of features like templates to customize the automation flows. Most importantly, continue testing and gathering feedback throughout implementation, so that you know the automations are benefitting your business.

Here’s a snapshot of 5 steps to automate sales:

Start with a CRM and a defined sales process.
Integrate other software and tools.
Customize your automation flows.
Combine manual and automated processes.
A/B test campaigns.

SEE: Head over to our guide on how to use a CRM for step-by-step instructions.

More about CRM

Sales automation examples

Data capturing

Automating lead and data capturing can step up a business’s selling strategy. These sales automation tools will collect and store customer information such as contact information, history with your brand, and firmographics. This information will then be accessible through the CRM. This automation helps provide valuable insights into the lead and their qualification as a potential customer without any manual data entry.

Email drip campaign automation

Automated, personalized, and engagement emails can help sales reps nurture leads with little effort. These emails can be individual or part of a bigger drip campaign. These automated emails can be triggered if they interact a certain way on your website, sign up for a demo, webinar, or any past behavior or purchase history with your business. These emails make the customer more aware of your product or service and at a cadence that feels natural.

Lead scoring and segmenting automation

Receive leads that have already been scored against custom criteria you set for your ideal customer profile. These can include demographics, contact details, and behavioral data of the lead. A lead that is considered a high-quality lead means there is a high likelihood of converting them into a customer. Once leads are scored, they can be automatically segmented and assigned to the sales team or specific rep to begin nurturing strategies immediately.

Sales task automation

Sales task automation includes all miscellaneous tasks that can be managed and performed by CRM users. Tasks can be automatically created, assigned, and prioritized for reps to accomplish daily, monthly, or quarterly. Reps can be notified when a new task is assigned to them and then reminded when deadlines are approaching. This way, responsibilities can be distributed and managed with little oversight.

Scheduling automation

With the help of an online and automated scheduling system, leads or customers can schedule meetings with your reps quickly through your website. The branded form will show all available time slots, which are controlled by the reps who will join the meeting. Once the customer clicks to schedule an appointment, they can receive an automated email that confirms the details. And then right before the meeting, there can be a reminder email sent. All of this can be done in the back end of the CRM tool, so the rep can focus on actually prepping for the appointment.

Tips for sales automation

Most CRM providers don’t require technical knowledge to build automation workflows and formulas. Even though the implementation process to deploy automations is often quite intuitive, I recommend keeping it simple to start and monitor campaigns for tangible results.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when building sales automation:

Keep in mind your customer journey: Sales automation is meant to move leads through the sales process quickly and efficiently. Because of this, it’s critical to place yourself in their shoes to better understand what messages and cadence are appropriate.
Prioritize intuitive lead segmentation: When leads are intentionally segmented based on their information and engagement with your brand, they can be sent more specific content and more effective follow-up emails.
Analyze results regularly: Continuously check and monitor engagement metrics, such as click-through rates and emails opened vs. responded. Consider running split testing to identify successful campaigns and automation.

Sales automation tools

Sales automation tools are found in most of the best CRM solutions in different marketing, sales, or support functionalities. Some automation tools are still considered advanced and might be behind paywalls. But for basic automation that helps establish workflows, generalized CRM providers can get your business automated quickly.

Here are three CRM solutions that offer advanced automation tools:

HubSpot: Scale your prospecting efforts with personalized email sequences that then rotate leads and create new deals in the CRM without lifting a finger. Free starting price.
Pipedrive: Schedule automation steps that are triggered after a deal is moved to a specific stage in your unique sales pipeline. $14 per user, per month.
ActiveCampaign: Use their AI-powered automation builder with split and conditional actions, allowing A/B testing to pick the most profitable marketing automation. $19 per user, per month.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is an automated sales process?

An automated sales process is when several tasks are automated, meaning they are triggered and accomplished according to the programmed software and not manually completed. Lead scoring and segmenting to the right rep in the lead generation process is common automation, and email campaigns and chatbots are common in the lead nurturing process. These automations can be found throughout a sales process to ultimately shorten the sales cycle.

What is an example of process automation?

A basic process automation you’d find in a CRM is email automation. For example, if a lead or prospect makes an appointment with a sales representative, an email automation can be triggered to send the lead a confirmation email. And then, 24 hours before the meeting, the lead can receive one more confirmation email with all the details needed. All of this can happen without the sales representative having to write and send the email themselves.

What is the difference between CRM and sales automation?

CRM solutions are different from sales automation. A CRM is a customer relationship management software, and sales automation is the technology that runs in the CRM to automate routine sales tasks. This means sales automation is a feature offered by CRM providers at different levels depending on the technical advancements of the software and the paid tier you’re subscribed to.