Eight Recommended SFA Tools: Features by Purpose and How to Choose

Our sales work has become inefficient
Deal status and know-how are not shared, and everything depends on the individual
It is hard to see how individual reps or the organisation as a whole are performing

If your company feels problems like these, it may be time to consider rolling out an SFA (sales force automation) system.

An SFA turns every piece of information about sales activity into visible data, strongly supporting the sales strength of the whole organisation and revenue growth. Choosing the one that genuinely fits you from among many products is not easy, though.

This article goes right through the specific problems an SFA can solve, eight recommended SFA tools by purpose, how to choose without going wrong, and the steps that make a rollout succeed.

▼Who this is for
・Anyone considering rolling out an SFA
・Anyone considering replacing an existing SFA
・Anyone unsure which SFA suits them

1. Eight recommended SFA tools

SFA tools differ greatly from product to product in features and strengths.
Here is a selection of recommended tools used widely from small firms to large enterprises, grouped by what they are good at.

If you want to know about SFA in detail, the article below covers it fully, so do have a look at that as well.

Related article:
What is SFA? A full look at how it works, the advantages of rolling it out and recommended tools

1.1 HubSpot [HubSpot Japan K.K.]

HubSpot’s product for sales support (SFA) is「Sales Hub」
Sales Hub is loaded with a range of support features aimed at maximising sales reps’ productivity and accelerating revenue growth。

and at the same time a simple, highly usable interface is well regarded.
Building a pipeline is straightforward, and progress on each deal can be managed by drag and drop in a kanban view, which makes it very easy to use.

HubSpot products also have the Breeze AI feature built in, which is another strength for making sales work more efficient. Smart properties and the deal-creation agent (AI) in particular handle company research and forecasting of sales approaches automatically across large numbers of prospects.

Sales Hub is also strong in that it is not only an SFA: it can be used as an all-in-one tool in which CRM (customer relationship management), MA (marketing automation), CMS (content management system), CS (customer service support) and other functions are integrated into a single platform

The plans on offer also suit those who want to start on the free plan and see how it goes, or to expand the tool as the business grows.

It suits companies that want closer co-operation between departments, companies that want to manage everything in one place without adding a tool per function, and companies that want to try an SFA free first.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Free plan (no time limit) 　¥0 per month ・Starter plan 　From ¥2,400 per month ・Professional plan 　From ¥12,000 per month ・Enterprise plan 　From ¥18,000 per month
Main features	・Customer management ・Deal management (pipeline) ・Sales activity management ・Report and dashboard creation and analysis ・Automation through workflows ・External integrations ・Surveys, and more
Strengths	・All the software, meaning marketing (Marketing Hub), sales (Sales Hub), customer service (Service Hub), content management (Content Hub) and revenue management (Revenue Hub), comes together on an AI-equipped CRM platform, so data is managed in one place ・That means you do not need several tools, one per function ・Breeze AI is built in, so data summarising, research and workflows can be made more efficient with AI ・Integrates with more than 2,000 apps ・A wide range of plans, from free to Enterprise, to match the stage your business is at ・Strong support in Japanese (phone, email, chat, AI bot and so on)
Weaknesses	・Limited support for daily report formats (it does not handle the one-day-at-a-glance daily report format particular to Japan, so you have to adapt the features it does have)
CRM integration	〇 (integrates smoothly with HubSpot CRM)

Sales Hub, the SFA tool from HubSpot, and the Breeze AI features are also covered in more detail in the articles below.
Do have a look at those as well.

Related article:
What is HubSpot Sales Hub? A full look at its features, characteristics, pricing plans and the results of rolling it out
An introduction to the features and uses of HubSpot’s Breeze AI

1.2 e-Sales Manager [Softbrain Co., Ltd.]

e-Sales Manager is a Japanese-made CRM/SFA developed on the concept of an SFA for Japanese selling, with features that fit Japanese business customs and sales styles.
More than 5,500 companies in Japan use it. It pursues ease of use for the people in the field relentlessly, and boasts a light data-entry burden and high adoption.
It suits companies that expect resistance in the field to an SFA rollout, companies that put ease of use above all, and companies looking for a tool that fits Japanese business customs.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Basic: ¥3,500 per user ・Enterprise: ¥12,500 per user
Main features	・Customer management ・Sales management ・Customer and sales progress information in one place ・Real-time information sharing, and more ※ 30-day free trial available
Strengths	・A Japanese-made SFA built for the Japanese sales floor ・Pursues single input (one entry updates several records automatically), cutting the administrative work around selling ・Its AI solution supports the automation of clerical work ・Strong support, including a support desk
Weaknesses	・Less global-scale extensibility than HubSpot or Salesforce offer, such as thousands of app integrations or language and time zone support ・Content management and commerce features require a separate tool
CRM integration	〇

1.3 Salesforce Sales Cloud [Salesforce Japan Co., Ltd.]

Sales Cloud is one of the most widely used CRM/SFA platforms in the world, with overwhelming functionality and high customisability and extensibility.

The system can be changed flexibly as a company grows and changes, and integration with other systems is straightforward.

It suits companies with large sales organisations, companies with complex sales processes, and companies that value future extensibility.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Starter Suite: ¥3,000 per user ・Pro Suite: ¥12,000 per user ・Enterprise: ¥21,000 per user ・Unlimited: ¥42,000 per user ・Agentforce 1 Sales: ¥66,000 per user ※ All plans come with a 30-day free trial
Main features	・Customer (lead) management ・Account management ・Deal management ・Email integration ・Revenue forecasting ・Pipeline management ・Reports and dashboards　 ・Workflow and process automation, and more
Strengths	・Very high functionality and extensibility alike ・Related products such as Agentforce bring AI intelligence built into the CRM to support selling
Weaknesses	・Most of the plans sit at the higher end of the price range, so it does not suit a low-cost rollout or a small start
CRM integration	〇

1.4 Sansan [Sansan, Inc.]

Sansan is a tool that evolved into sales support from the distinctive starting point of business card management.

Its strength is building an organisation-wide database of contacts and customers from the information on business cards; it specialises in recording who met which customer and when, and putting those contacts to work in selling.

It suits companies that want to turn contact information into an organisational asset and that value data quality and consolidation.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Set-up cost: quotation required ・Monthly plans: 　Lite: quotation required 　Standard: quotation required 　Enterprise: quotation required
Main features	・Business cards, company information and sales history managed in one place ・and shared across the company ・Sales list creation　 ・Data integration with other tools, and more
Strengths	・Company information and sales history can be managed together with business cards ・Uses data quality management to keep account data current and accurate
Weaknesses	・Because its main purpose is managing and sharing business cards and company information, it lacks features for carrying out and managing sales activity ・It does not include the core features other SFAs have for executing a sales process, such as pipeline management, deal progress tracking and transaction automation
CRM integration	△ (possible with an external CRM through its integration features)

1.5 InfAjast [ASP Com Co., Ltd.]

InfAjast is a CRM/SFA whose appeal lies in simple, intuitive operation and an affordable price.

The price suits small and medium-sized firms and small businesses, yet it covers the sales support features you need. Even a company rolling out an SFA for the first time can expect it to bed in quickly.

It suits companies that want to roll out an SFA at low cost and companies for which simple features are enough.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Standard Cloud 　Set-up cost: ¥0 　Monthly cost: from ¥550 ・Premier Cloud 　Set-up cost: ¥0 　Monthly cost: from ¥770 ・On-premises 　Set-up cost: quoted separately 　Monthly cost: from ¥6,600 ・Options available ※ 30-day free trial available
Main features	・Customer management ・Company management ・Deal management ・Workflow ・Reports ・AI business card capture ・Apex.ai use of (generative AI) ・Text generation by voice, and more
Strengths	・It comes with a generative AI hybrid API tool product, Apex.ai, built in ・It focuses on AI-embedded development, with a track record of the latest AI features such as text generation by voice ・It is active in AI and technical development, including being exhibited at IBM’s Innovation Studio
Weaknesses	・It comes with a generative AI hybrid API tool product, Apex.ai, built in ・It focuses on AI-embedded development, with a track record of the latest AI features such as text generation by voice ・It is active in AI and technical development, including being exhibited at IBM’s Innovation Studio ・It puts strong focus on embedding AI technology and integrating with the generative AI tool (Apex.ai), but it does not offer marketing, service, commerce and other functions comprehensively the way HubSpot or Sales Cloud do
CRM integration	〇

1.6 JUST.DB [JustSystems Corporation]

JUST.DB is characterised by no-code development: you can build your own databases and business applications by mouse or by voice, with no programming knowledge.

Because it can flexibly systematise idiosyncratic sales management rules and business processes that are complex and tend to depend on individuals, it is especially suited to companies in niche industries or with unusual selling models that a general-purpose SFA cannot cover.

It suits companies that want to systematise their own complex sales management arrangements and companies that value customisation to fit their operations.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	Quotation required ※ 14-day free trial available
Main features	・Deal management ・Enquiry management ・Schedule management ・Issue management ・Form and report management ・Customer management ・Product management ・External integrations ・Approval workflows ・Surveys
Strengths	・Fully no-code development lets you build any business system without programming knowledge ・Highly customisable, running even complex processing automatically without coding (no RPA needed)
Weaknesses	・It does not include the features other products offer to support activity before and after selling, such as lead acquisition and nurturing (MA) or streamlining customer support (CS)
CRM integration	〇 (these have to be built in the database)

1.7 Sales Force Assistant [NI Consulting Co., Ltd.]

Sales Force Assistant is a CRM/SFA whose strength is an AI-powered secretary feature that assists sales reps in their work, with more than 16,000 companies using it and the know-how that comes with that.

The AI secretary analyses daily activity reports automatically and suggests the action to take next and what to propose.
It suits companies that want to build a system in which sales reps can act independently, and companies hoping for efficiency gains from AI.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Set-up cost: ¥50,000 ・Monthly fee: The following costs apply for each feature you want to use (a selection). NI Collabo 360: ¥328 per person Sales Force Assistant Customer Creation: ¥4,000 per person Sales Force Assistant Customer Creation R: ¥4,000 per user  Sales Force Assistant Customer Development: ¥3,500 per user Sales Force Assistant Development and Creation: ¥4,500 per user Sales Force Assistant Customer Development R: ¥4,500 per user Sales Force Assistant Customer Development AO: ¥3,500 per user Sales Force Assistant ABM: ¥2,000 per user, and more ※ 30-day free trial available
Main features	・Customer management ・Deal management ・Deal management ・Complaint management ・Visit planning ・Sales support from an AI assistant ・Strategic daily monitoring in a one-day-at-a-glance report format, and more
Strengths	・Includes the AI assistant “SAI”, which delivers personalised sales support ・Supports a one-day-at-a-glance daily report format ・Deal-based, route-based and repeat-cycle editions are available, and combining them covers almost every industry and business model
Weaknesses	・VMS integration connects it to other tools, but unlike HubSpot it does not carry MA, SFA, service and commerce features in one product
CRM integration	〇

1.8 SKYPCE [Sky Co., Ltd.]

SKYPCE is an SFA built around business card data, with a deliberately simple screen design and feel that anyone can pick up without hesitation.

It is designed so that even staff who are not confident with IT can use it intuitively; it is simple to operate and asks little of the person entering data, so it spreads smoothly through the sales team.

That makes it a good fit for companies whose teams vary widely in IT skill, and for companies that want ease of use to drive adoption.

Plans and pricing (monthly, excluding tax)	・Licence fee: quote on request ・Business card digitisation and additional users (optional): quote on request ・Other services (optional): quote on request
Main features	・Business card management ・Business card import ・Visibility of sales activity (activity is logged against business card data) ・Analysis, aggregation and dashboards ・Email sending ・External integration (with the cloud address book SKYCEB, kintone and customer management systems such as SFA and CRM) ・AI adviser
Strengths	・Business card data with 99.9% accuracy, delivered through AI-OCR plus checking and correction by operators in Japan ・Day-to-day sales progress and meeting history are logged against business card data and shared across the whole team, which makes activity visible ・Integrations with the company databases of Tokyo Shoko Research and Toyo Keizai supply reliable company information
Weaknesses	・It focuses mainly on business card management, data accuracy, security and company database integration; it can connect to an SFA or CRM, but the product itself does not include the core sales support features of deal stage management or automated meeting progress
CRM integration	△ (possible with an external CRM through its integration features)

2. The problems an SFA solves

So what organisational problems can an SFA actually solve?

Here are the common ones.

2.1 Sales work sits with individuals and cannot be seen

It is common for the know-how of each salesperson and the state of each deal to live on a personal computer or in someone’s head, where it is hard to share.
Tacit sales knowledge goes unshared, results depend on particular individuals, and a sudden resignation or transfer can destabilise revenue.

Introducing an SFA improves the following.

• The progress of every deal
• The history of contact with each customer
• What drove each win and loss, and more

All of this is made visible in one place, so cover is in place whenever someone is away, and the winning patterns that produce results can be shared across the organisation.

2.2 Admin work leaves no time for selling

Daily reports, quotes, updates to progress trackers: salespeople spend a great deal of time on admin rather than on proposals.

The problem is that they cannot give time to the activity that directly drives revenue, which is proposals, meetings and following up customers, and productivity falls.

An SFA improves this substantially, because it automates the writing of daily reports, carries customer information across automatically and takes over routine tasks.

Admin time drops sharply, and salespeople can concentrate on proposals to higher-value customers and on preparing for meetings.

2.3 No clarity on which leads and deals come first, so sales effort is spread thin

With a large volume of leads and deals, if it is not clear who to approach next and what to do, sales effort is spread thin and opportunities are lost.

Effort goes into low-probability deals, slow responses lose prospects, and mistakes in allocating resource make the team less efficient.

An SFA solves this. Working from deal probability and lead scoring (where an MA tool is connected), it identifies the highest-priority deals and customers automatically.

Salespeople can then concentrate on the targets that matter, and work efficiently and effectively.

2.4 The data is never used, so neither the sales process nor decisions improve

When sales data is scattered and inconsistently formatted, it becomes hard for leadership and managers to see the real position or to decide well.

Decisions end up resting on instinct and rules of thumb, bottlenecks in the sales process (a stage where many deals are lost, for example) cannot be identified objectively, and nothing improves.

Data gathered in an SFA is turned into charts and reports automatically, in real time.

That makes clear which process is the bottleneck and which area needs support, so decisions can be made quickly on evidence and the sales process can keep improving.

3. The main features of an SFA

The features common to SFA tools, all of which support sales work, are as follows.

Together they remove inefficiency from selling and raise the productivity of the organisation.

・Customer and deal management
One place for customer records, meeting history and contact details, plus stage management for each deal

・Activity management
A record of day-to-day sales activity: visits, calls, emails and so on

・Plan against actual, and analysis
Tracking against target, revenue forecasting, and analysis reports on the sales pipeline

・Task and schedule management
To-do lists for each salesperson, reminders and calendar integration

・Quotes and proposals
Quotes and proposals built from templates, with approval flows

There is a fuller explanation of SFAs in the article below, which is worth reading alongside this one.

Related article:
What is SFA? A full look at how it works, the advantages of rolling it out and recommended tools

4. What to compare when choosing an SFA

To pick the right one out of the many SFA tools available, compare them on these five points.

• Ease of use
• Price
• Support
• Security
• The features you need, and room to extend

Choose badly and the tool never takes hold with the team and never repays its cost, so put the work in before you decide.
There is more on how to choose in the article below.

Related article:
What is SFA? A full look at how it works, the advantages of rolling it out and recommended tools

5. Common failures, and what to do about them

Not every SFA implementation is a success story.
Here are the failures companies fall into most often, with concrete remedies.
Use them as points to watch as you go.

5.1 No clear purpose, so no result

This is the case where a company buys on vague grounds: other companies use it, it looks like it might make things more efficient.

The tool is a means, not an end; forget that, and the team never hears what the company is actually trying to achieve, so nothing comes of it.

▼What to do
Agree a concrete goal between leadership and the sales team for what the SFA is meant to solve, and start with only the features that goal needs.
(For example) 1.5 times as many new customers won, and ten hours a month of admin cut

5.2 The team cannot make it work

This is the case where the SFA never takes hold: entry becomes sloppy, and in the end everyone goes back to the old way of working.

This is the most common failure, and it usually has the following causes.

▼Causes and remedies
・Every salesperson works to different rules
(Remedy) Write one set of entry rules and an operating manual, and make sure everyone uses the SFA the same way.

・The entry burden is heavy
(Remedy) Cut the fields to the minimum and use mobile support and automatic capture, such as email integration that logs records for you, so entry is easy while travelling or between meetings.

・It ends up running alongside other systems
(Remedy) List the systems it can connect to in advance, and strengthen those integrations so the SFA becomes the single hub for sales information.

5.3 The AI and automation go unused

This is the case where a company buys a feature-rich, expensive SFA and then cannot make use of the advanced AI, such as automatic recommendations for the next action, or the more complex automation, so the capability goes to waste.

▼What to do
・Start small
Do not try to use everything at once. Start small with the basics, such as deal management and activity logging.

・Take on the advanced features once the basics have stuck
Bring in AI and similar features step by step once the basics are embedded, with support from an implementation partner.

5.4 No working relationship with the vendor or partner

Hand the build, the customisation and the training entirely to an outside firm and no in-house knowledge or owner develops, so every setting change and minor problem goes back out to that firm. That pushes running costs up as well.
The root of it is a lack of joint working between the company and its vendor or partner.

▼What to do
・Build the ability to run it yourselves, together with the vendor
Ask an outside firm for help with implementation and adoption, but develop an internal owner for running the SFA.
If that person is closely involved from the implementation phase and absorbs the know-how while working with the vendor, you end up able to run it yourselves.

・Share your processes and build the system together
Share your sales process and commercial habits in detail at the start, and have them reflected in the configuration.
Rather than handing it all to the partner,“your understanding of your own work x the partner’s technical support”is the combination that works: build an SFA that fits your team together with them, and it succeeds.

6. The steps to a successful SFA implementation

To make an SFA implementation succeed and get the most from the money spent, you need a planned, staged approach. Take the steps below in order, so that installing the tool does not become the goal in itself.

Step 1. List the problems and set the purpose and goal
Step 2. Compare and choose an SFA tool
Step 3. Map and redesign your processes
Step 4. Pilot, then roll out fully

The article below explains in detail how to go about each step.

Related article:
What is SFA? A full look at how it works, the advantages of rolling it out and recommended tools

7. Frequently asked questions about SFAs

7.1 Q. What are the advantages and effects of bringing in an SFA?

A. The greatest advantage is that making sales work visible and more efficient strengthens the whole organisation’s selling and lifts revenue.
In concrete terms, you can expect the following.

・An end to work sitting with individuals
Know-how is shared, and a structure is built in which anyone can reach a reasonable standard of results.
・Higher productivity for salespeople
Admin is automated and reduced, so they can concentrate on proposals to customers.
・Accurate revenue forecasting
Forecasts become more precise, because they rest on real-time progress data.
・Process improvement
Analysis identifies bottlenecks in sales activity, and improvement proceeds across the organisation.

The advantages are covered in the article below as well.

Related article:
What is SFA? A full look at how it works, the advantages of rolling it out and recommended tools

7.2 Q. What steps and preparation does an SFA implementation need?

A. For the implementation itself, follow “5. The steps to implementing an SFA” in chapter 5 of the article above.

The most important preparation beforehand is to be clear about the problems in your current sales work, and to set a concrete goal for what the SFA is meant to achieve.

Mapping your current sales process as a flowchart, showing who does what by when, makes defining the requirements for the tool much easier.

7.3 Q. Can it be connected to other tools (CRM, MA, ERP)?

A. Yes. Most SFA tools are designed on the assumption that they will connect to other tools.

In particular, HubSpot and similar products, which offer SFA, CRM and MA on a single platform, connect seamlessly.

Other SFAs can also link data with a CRM (customer records), MA (nurturing prospects) and ERP (core systems) through an API or a connector, so choose the tool that matches your purpose and the features you need.

※The articles below explain in detail how CRM and MA work, what they do and how to bring them in. Do read them alongside this one.
Related article:
What is CRM? Features and points to watch when rolling it out
What is marketing automation (MA)? Its main features, and the advantages and disadvantages of adopting it

8. Choose the SFA that fits your company, and make your sales work more efficient

We hope that was useful.

An SFA solves the problems of a sales organisation and gives a company’s growth real momentum.

What matters is not choosing the tool with the most features, but choosing the one that addresses your problems directly, and getting your team to use it.

If

“we don’t know which SFA to choose”
“HubSpot interests us, but we are not sure we can make the implementation work”
“we want to drive a joined-up digital transformation of sales, CRM and MA included, but we have no specialist in-house”

sounds like you, do get in touch with NowVillage.

We have a strong record in HubSpot implementation, and we specialise in helping you get the most from a platform that brings CRM, MA and SFA together to optimise your sales and marketing.

Start with a free consultation and tell us what you are up against.