Working in sales without a decent tool backing you up is almost like beating your head against a wall and hoping for it to budge.
This is why we have a whole army of sales tools at our disposal. But with so many choices out there, how do you know you which one is the right tools for you and your team?
Let’s learn a bit more about sales tools before we dive into the specifics of choosing.
As technology progresses, sales tools have had to keep up with the high demands. Which is why they have been in constant transformation.
Sales tools have become an integral part of many businesses, providing a wide range of benefits, such as improved customer service, increased sales, and streamlined operations.
The evolution of sales tools has been shaped by technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, and shifts in business landscapes.
But how have they developed over the years?
Additionaly, you no longer have to limit your sales efforts to your office and computer. The advancement in sales tools allows you to carry all of your information and fix any issues in your mobile phone as well!
Sales tools are vital instruments that can propel an organization toward success.
But what exactly are these tools and how do they contribute to a company's performance?
At their core, sales software is designed to streamline and enhance the sales process.
They play a crucial role in managing customer relationships, tracking sales performance, and automating routine tasks, freeing up time for sales teams to focus on strategic activities.
With the right software, businesses can effectively manage their sales pipeline, gain valuable insights into customer behavior, and ultimately drive more sales.
Sales tools come packed with a multitude of features that provide a plethora of advantages.
These include contact and lead management, sales forecasting, reporting and analytics, and email tracking, among others.
These features not only help sales teams to stay organized but also provide them with actionable insights to make informed decisions.
Moreover, the automation capabilities of these tools reduce manual labor, thereby increasing efficiency and productivity.
More often than not, businesses will bump into complications regarding administration, training and lead management.
However, the right sales tools can significantly alleviate these strains, helping you enhance your productivity and improve customer engagement.
Administrative tasks can be time-consuming and often distract sales teams from their primary goal - selling.
Sales tools, particularly CRM systems, can automate many of these tasks.
From managing contacts and tracking customer interactions to scheduling follow-ups, these tools can drastically reduce the administrative burden, allowing sales and marketing teams to focus more on closing deals and less on paperwork.
Most sales tools will offer demos, tutorials or one-on-one onboarding.
For example, you could follow YouTube accounts that help you out with that.
This will ensure that your team knows how to effectively use the tool you’ve decided to invest in and will allow that you make the most of it.
The main reason to rely on a sales tools is to increase your customer engagement.
Sales tools can help you:
→ Reach more leads
→ Learn how to send emails that will get replies
→ Keep track of your KPIs and relevant metrics
→ Find the right leads
→ Personalize your messages to ensure you get the best reply rates
Lead management is another area where sales tools can make a significant difference.
Sales prospecting tools can help identify and qualify potential customers, while CRM systems can track and manage these leads throughout the sales cycle.
Such tools ensure a steady stream of leads and provide a clear view of the sales pipeline, enabling better decision-making and forecasting.
Creating a successful sales tool strategy involves understanding your business needs, aligning the right sales tools to meet these needs, and striking the right balance between quantity and quality of tools.
Here's how to go about it:
Every business is unique, and so are its needs.
Therefore, it's crucial to assess your business requirements before selecting any sales tools.
Understand your sales process, identify areas that need improvement, and align sales tools that can address these specific areas.
For instance, if your business struggles with customer retention, a CRM system with robust customer engagement features may be beneficial.
While it's tempting to adopt every new tool on the market, it's essential to prioritize quality over quantity. Too many softwares can overwhelm your sales team and complicate processes.
Consider factors such as:
→ ease of use
→ pricing
→ integration capabilities
→ cost-effectiveness
When assessing business needs, it's also vital to consider the scalability of the tools you're considering. Will they be able to adapt as your business grows?
For example, some CRM platforms are designed to scale with your business, allowing you to add features or modules based on evolving needs. These platforms often provide the flexibility to create custom solutions tailored to your specific requirements.
Another aspect to consider is how the tool can help you create a more streamlined process for engaging with prospects.
A platform that offers automation features can save time and effort in reaching out to prospects, allowing your sales team to focus more on closing deals.
It's important for businesses to continually reassess the effectiveness of their sales tools.
This involves not just looking at the immediate benefits but also considering the long-term impact on sales intelligence and decision-making.
By doing so, you ensure you are leveraging the best tools to drive your sales success.
However, if the tool is not working for your team or is not meeting expectations, it’s wise to find another one that will better fit all of your needs.
Choosing the right sales tools can be a daunting task, given the plethora of options available.
However, with careful consideration and strategic planning, sales professionals can select tools that align with their business needs and enhance their sales processes.
Some of the factors you should consider are:
The most effective sales tools are those that meet the needs of the entire sales team. Therefore, it's crucial to involve the team in the selection process.
By understanding their challenges and requirements, sales professionals can choose tools that will truly enhance their prospecting efforts.
When choosing a sales tool, it's important to ensure that the vendor is reliable and that the software is secure.
This means checking the vendor's track record, customer reviews, and security measures. Sales professionals should also consider the vendor's customer support and the software's scalability to ensure it can grow with the business.
You should also make sure that the tool you are going to pick is complient with all the current laws, such as GDPR.
Sales tools should align with the business's specific needs and priorities. Therefore, before selecting a tool, sales professionals should clearly define their goals, such as improving lead generation, streamlining sales processes, or enhancing customer engagement. This will help them select tools that directly support these objectives.
By carefully considering these factors, sales professionals can select the right sales tools that will truly enhance their sales processes.
However, it's important to remember that the effectiveness of these tools also depends on their proper implementation and usage. Therefore, after selecting a tool, businesses should invest in training their teams and regularly reassessing the tool's effectiveness to ensure it continues to meet their needs.
To make your decision that much easier, we’ve listed 30 of our favorite sales tools out there.
In the quest for business success, several sales tools have emerged as game-changers to help with customer management.
These tools are designed to streamline processes, enhance customer engagement, and ultimately drive sales.
Let's explore some of the best sales tools in the market:
Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are the backbone of any sales & marketing team.
They offer a comprehensive platform for managing customer interactions, tracking sales activities, and analyzing customer data.
Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive stand out as top-tier CRM systems, each offering a unique blend of features tailored to various business needs (revenue tracking, call monitoring, etc).
Whether you're looking for advanced analytics, seamless integrations, or user-friendly interfaces, these CRM systems can help you.
Clearbit, ZoomInfo
Sales intelligence platforms like Clearbit and ZoomInfo offer invaluable insights into potential leads.
These tools provide detailed information about prospects, including their business size, industry, and key decision-makers.
With such insights, sales teams can craft personalized pitches, improving their chances of closing deals and, therefore, revenue.
lemlist, DocuSign
lemlist offers outreach automation and sequencing (emails, LinkedIn, calls, and more), allowing sales reps to send personalized communication at scale to increase revenue.
Cold calling remains one of the best acquisition channels offering a high return on investment. With the help of a marketing team and prospect analysis, the power of a well-designed e-mail can be significant.
On the other hand, DocuSign streamlines the contract signing process, making it faster and more efficient.
If you want to learn more about how sales tools will improve your email strategies, read more about email marketing and cold emailing!
While the core function of sales tools is to streamline the sales process, their capabilities extend far beyond this.
Modern sales tools help with data analysis, automation, and real-time responses. Let's delve into these advanced features:
Tableau, Clari
In today's data-driven world, the ability to analyze and interpret data is crucial for sales success.
Tools like Tableau and Clari allow sales teams to visualize and analyze sales data, enabling them to make informed decisions. Tableau offers powerful data visualization features, while Clari provides predictive analytics to help forecast sales outcomes.
These tools can transform raw data into actionable insights, driving strategic decision-making and improving sales performance.
Segment, Zapier, Workato
Automation tools can significantly reduce the time and effort spent on repetitive tasks, allowing sales teams to focus on more strategic activities.
Segment offers automated data integration, enabling seamless data flow between different systems.
Zapier and Workato, on the other hand, allow for process automation, from lead nurturing to follow-ups, enhancing efficiency and productivity in the sales process.
Gong, Showpad
Real-time training and sales enablement are critical for enhancing the skills and effectiveness of sales teams.
Tools like Gong provide conversation analytics, offering insights into sales calls and meetings. The ones like Showpad are sales enablement platforms that provide training materials, content management, and guidance for sales reps, helping them engage with customers more effectively.
These tools offer the ability to analyze data, automate processes, and provide real-time training, all of which can significantly enhance sales performance. However, it's important to remember that the value of these tools lies in their proper implementation and usage. Therefore, businesses should ensure they have the necessary resources and expertise to fully utilize these tools for optimal results.
While sales tools can provide immense benefits and streamline the sales process, it's important to recognize that they also come with their own set of limitations and challenges.
Here are some key points to consider:
Implementing new sales tools can sometimes be a complex process, requiring time and effort.
Sales reps may face challenges in learning to use the tool effectively, which can lead to resistance or slow adoption rates.
It's crucial to provide adequate training and support to ensure a smooth transition and to maximize the benefits of the tool.
While sales tools can automate and simplify many tasks, they are not a substitute for the human touch in sales.
The best results are often achieved by balancing the use of sales tools with internal solutions, such as training, team collaboration, and personal customer engagement. This ensures that the tools are used to enhance the sales process, not replace it.
Addressing these challenges can help businesses get the most out of their sales tools.
It's important to remember that the effectiveness of these tools is not just about the technology itself, but also about how it's implemented and used.
By using a sales tools efficiently and effectively you can ensure to stay ahead of the curve from your competitors and achieve unprecedented results.
Sales tools can play a transformative role in boosting sales performance and driving business success.
By strategically selecting, implementing, and reassessing these tools, businesses can ensure they are getting the most out of their investment, thereby securing a competitive edge in the market.
If you want to try sales tools for yourself and see what we’re talking about, start you 14-day free trial with lemlist today!
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |