Finding the proper tools for sales teams might be difficult as many tech solutions promise to aid salesmen in closing more deals. But, in the end, if a tech tool doesn't help you close business, it's not an asset. It's a diversion. Managers and sales executives want to use technologies that will enable their teams better interact around offers or have rapid access to the materials they require without the platforms becoming a place where people waste time. Whether your team is remote first, hybrid, or entirely in the office, investing in solutions that will increase productivity is a good idea. So we've developed a list of our top ten greatest tools to help your team break down technological barriers so that team members can help each other get more deals completed.
Sales prospecting is the process of looking for or discovering potential customers (or clients) with the purpose of generating greater revenue for the organization. It is the first step in any sales process. Sales prospecting is locating and contacting a large number of people in order to determine which of them may be a future customers. This list is then saved in CRM (customer relationship management) software or kept in an excel spreadsheet for future reference and outreach. Prospecting's major goal is to build a reliable database of people who are interested in your product or services based on specific criteria. When the list is complete, salespeople contact them with the aim of convincing them and converting them from prospects to new clients.
Now that we've defined what sales prospecting is, let's look at some of the tools that will help you close more deals.
The tools you utilize on a daily basis have a direct impact on the deals you close. According to a LinkedIn survey, 73% of salespeople use technology to close more deals. Furthermore, 97% of salespeople claimed that technology is "critical" or "extremely important" to their sales process. Companies are increasingly relying on technology to increase sales efficiency and win more deals. According to a Miller Heiman Group survey, the average sales organization employs 10 tools and plans to add at least 4 more in the upcoming year.
Following, we have categorized the tools based on their needs:
At this point in the sales process, information is critical. So, how does your sales team obtain prospect information and produce new quality leads? According to a TOPO study, 89.9% of organizations use two or more sources of contact data to meet sales development goals. So, what are your best options for lead generation and sales prospecting?
Source: Hubspot Sales Hub
Hubspot’s sales hub serves as a one-stop-shop sales CRM solution that consolidates all necessary data and sales tools essential for managing daily sales operations. This centralized approach helps sales teams in enhancing customer relationships, closing more deals, and bossting overall management efficiency. It removes all redundant, time-consuming tasks and ensures that sales professionals can dedicate more time to lead generation, nurturing relationships, and ultimately sealing deals.
In the G2 2024 list of the best sales prodcuts, Hubspot sales hub secure the first spot, outperforming other esteemed sales tools like salesloft, Groove, and Zoho CRM.
Source: Linkedin Sales Navigator
This native LinkedIn product, arguably one of the most popular social prospecting tools accessible today, greatly boosts your LinkedIn selling approach. It all begins with an advanced lead and company search: Using particular criteria, you may narrow down your search results to candidates who are the best fit for your company. Once you begin adding prospects to your lists, LinkedIn will automatically add lead recommendations, assisting you in discovering fresh leads. When you buy the Sales Navigator, you'll also get an enhanced list of who has visited your profile, In Mail communications, and real-time updates on your prospects in your notifications feed.
Source: 6sense
6sense is designed to assist sales teams in identifying demand and buying intent signals, allowing them to target the relevant accounts and prioritize lead nurturing actions. The solution employs artificial intelligence to illuminate the whole client journey across all channels and provide agents with a clearer insight into the best moment to reach out. You'll never miss a beat with triggers and automated campaigns.
Sales intelligence tools for lead nurturing
Lead nurturing tools are all about tracking how leads progress through the buyer's journey and assisting you in determining which prospects are most likely to convert.
Source: Yesware
Do you ever wonder if your prospects read your emails? All of that guesswork is no longer necessary with Yesware. With this game-changing technological innovation, you can track every email you send. Yesware makes it simple to see whether or not your emails have been opened – and how many times they have been opened. This software's premium edition also allows salespeople to combine Salesforce data with a Google or Outlook calendar and email.
Source: rapportive
When attempting to contact CEOs of Fortune 500 businesses, email addresses are rarely available on the website's contact page. Instead, you must normally test out various email address variations before settling on the best one. It can be really inconvenient.
Rapportive is a Google Apps plugin that displays any related social networking accounts, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter when you hover over an email address. You'll never lose time sending emails to the wrong address again if you use the tool to test several email variations swiftly.
Communication tools for your sales team
Communication with your team is equally as vital (if not more so) than communication with prospects. It's become increasingly important since many teams have been forced to transition to remote sales.
So, what are the best choices?
Source: Slack
Slack is the ultimate work chat room, allowing you to have quick chats without having to go through countless email threads. Slack is the location where interactions happen quickly and delightfully, much like our favorite instant messenger from the 1990s. Separate messages by channel, create individual chats and interact with your favorite tools to ensure that you always know what's going on and that everyone is kept up to date.
Source: Zoom
It is essential to be able to speak with someone face to face in order to foster team culture and togetherness. However, when face-to-face communication is not possible, video calls are the next best thing. That's where Zoom comes in: this platform is ideal for assisting you in developing a positive culture in your remote sales team. Zoom is an essential piece of technology for any sales team, offering high-quality, secure video conferencing options.
Source: Loom
Asynchronous communication can become tedious for remote teams. Emotion and tone can get lost on the page while writing emails or text messages, and meanings can be readily misread. Loom addresses the issue of asynchronous communication for remote teams. This video chatting tool allows you to film your face while also sharing your screen. That means you can communicate ideas and express yourself in the same way you would face to face, even if that person is on the other side of the world and won't see your message until you're already asleep.
Automation tools for productivity
Sales automation tools automate several aspects of the sales process. They contribute to a company's bottom line by automating crucial sales tasks. Here’s our pick for the best automation tools:
Source: BigContacts
BIGContacts by ProProfs is a user-friendly CRM that focuses on simplicity. This simple CRM might assist you in automating your business procedures to increase efficiency. BIGContacts allows you to have total visibility into your sales possibilities and easily drive them toward conversion.
Source: Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a robust CRM system that allows for complete sales pipeline tracking and management. This program can be used to automate numerous processes in your sales process, resulting in greater results. Pipedrive provides intelligent advice to assist you in optimizing your sales process and moving more leads to the ultimate purchase decision. Furthermore, the tool may be coupled with a variety of business apps, allowing you to manage everything from a single platform.
Sales tools can do everything from recognizing email addresses to powering your complete sales process from start to finish. The ideal sales stack is determined by your specific requirements. With the correct stack in place for your team, you can spend less time researching and more time selling to and closing quality prospects.