CRM software revolutionized the sales industry. For the first time, it put all of a sales representative’s data right at their fingertips, organized. No more leafing through stacks of documents, flipping through rolodexes, or struggling to remember where a lead was picked up.

But someone needed to input that data. And indeed, data entry has long been a weak spot for CRM. Many CRM workers spend a full day every week updating their CRM with new customer data and leads. Successful reps use a suite of various services, cloud-based or traditional, to keep track of things. Evernote, Dropbox, Google Drive—a normal sales representative has a tool for every task, and more often than not, these tools aren’t well integrated, resulting in yet more time-intensive data entry.

This is not news to the makers of CRM software. Salesforce has long provided the preeminent CRM system, and its acquisition of RelateIQ, a Big Data startup, shows that it’s serious about the long-term potential of data analysis in CRM. Indeed, your lead analysis is only as good as the data you put into it, and the more that can be automated, the more time sales reps can spend on their actual job: selling stuff to consumers who want it!

The problem of data entry has been long looking for a solution. And one appears to have been materialized: mobile computing and smart cloud networks can free the sales rep from the confines of the data-entry-day. Pretty much anything that can be done in the office can also be done on the road, making easier to do day-to-day tasks much more efficiently.

Many sales reps spend more than half their time working out of the office—imagine not needing to come back to the office to get more information. Imagine your entire CRM system, at your fingertips. It would be a repeat of the CRM revolution: mobile CRM allows sales reps to take advantage of all the benefits of a CRM tool from anywhere.

Happier teams

Mobile CRM promises to streamline the sales process by consolidating customer data, phone calls, messaging, and more, all into one easy platform. With less frustration and confusion, everyone is happier and free to devote more time to the aspects of their job that make them the happiest.

Improved data management

CRM revolutionized the sales industry by making data easily available. Not only does mobile CRM promise to make that data even more available, but it also promises to provide new tools for analysis, leading to a better understanding of what customers want and need.

Sales reps can use the device they’re most familiar with

With mobile CRM’s cross-platform compatibility, no one is forced to use an unfamiliar system again. Research has shown that everyone is more efficient when using their own phone or hardware that they’re used to. Indeed, this approach has been given the nickname “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device), perhaps for the hangover-like headache it has caused IT professionals. No more. With mobile CRM, BYOD is not only possible, it’s recommended!

Mobile CRM = Boosted efficiency

All of these small gains add up: mobile CRM promises to ramp up the efficiency of every sales rep so that these reps can spend less time working with each customer or client and more time investigating and nurturing new leads. In the fast-paced world of sales, any tools that increases its efficiency is worth its weight in gold. Mobile CRM will ensure that employees have access to the right data on the right device at the right time.

Russel Cooke is a business consultant and journalist who recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA.