10 Sales Tools for Boosting Results, Efficiency, and More
Without customers, you wouldn’t have much of a company.
For this reason, spending time and money on sales and marketing-related tasks is never time wasted.
In this post, I’m going to examine some of the top sales tools for boosting results, improving efficiency and organization and helping you generate more revenue.
Let’s get started!
1. HubSpot
Are you seeking a sales platform to handle all the needs of your sales process?
If so, HubSpot fits the bill. When it comes to sales and marketing tools, HubSpot is considered the cream of the crop.
From a sales perspective, there are three distinct solutions:
HubSpot Sales FreeHubSpot CRMHubSpot Sales ProfessionalHubSpot Sales Hub Enterprise
With the free solution, which is a great place for everyone to start, you gain access to tools that boost every aspect of your inbound sales strategy.
For example, there are a variety of email tools, such as access to email templates and sales content.
For those who want to learn more about their prospects, locate the decision-maker, HubSpot once again has you covered.
You can collect data related to visitors, broken down by company, as well as the pages that they are viewing. This gives you a better idea of who’s interested in your product or service, thus allowing you to target the right type of prospects who are the decision-maker in the sales process.
HubSpot has a tool for every type of sales team, sales managers and sales professionals. With the ability to poke around for free, there’s no reason to put off dabbling with this tool.
2. LinkedIn Sales Solutions
Did you know that LinkedIn has more than 450 million registered users, scattered all over the world?
As the largest professional network, by far, it only makes sense that it’d be full of sales opportunities in digital marketing.
While you can mine for prospects on your own, you’re better off considering the many sales professional tools provided by LinkedIn Sales Solutions.
Comparing available products will open your eyes to which approach is best for you in social media and digital marketing.
For example, Sales Navigator is a popular choice. With this tool, LinkedIn hopes to make sales prospecting easier than ever before and that’s exactly what you’re looking for.
This tool helps in many ways, including:
Receive custom lead recommendations.Access to an advanced search to find the right leads for your business.The use of InMail to contact any LinkedIn member.A dashboard for measuring and tracking your social selling results.Real-time sales updates for customers and prospects.
With a free trial, you should give the Professional Edition of Sales Navigator a try. Even if you’ve never used LinkedIn for a sales process in the past, this could be the push that you need to take full advantage in the future.
3. InsideSales.com
When it comes to sales lead management, there aren’t many companies that do it better than InsideSales.
There’s more to this company than meets the eye, thanks to its large list of features within its Playbooks offering.
The product manages leads, automates admin tasks, and uses data from 27 billion sales interactions to predict who, when, and how to engage with prospective customers to get the best outcome.
If you’re anything like me, you dig through mounds of data, in an attempt to learn more about your prospects. With this tool, you can better understand how leads are interacting with your business and empower your sales team to say the right thing at the right time.
4. Marketo Sales Connect
Are you interested in turning more sales prospects into customers?
Of course, you are. With the help of Marketo Sales Connect, you can equip yourself with the sales tools that you need to reach all of your sales team goals.
One of my favorite features is the ability to create a “pipeline playbook,” complete with all of the data that you and your team need to stay in touch with a contact throughout the sales process.
This feature provides several ways to improve your pipeline, such as:
Integrated email and phone activities. With email and phone system integrations, it’s easier than ever for sales professionals to schedule meetings and communicate with other team members.Sales campaigns. Do you have trouble remaining consistent with your approach to prospecting? Marketo allows you to stay in touch with sales campaigns that include email, social media and phone, ensuring that everything and everybody are on the same page.
Also, Marketo offers email, website and document tracking tools. This allows you to track engagement, based on every type of communication including social media platforms.
Not only is this done in real-time, but it provides you with actionable data that will help you make more informed sales decisions.
Last, but certainly not least, this is one of the top tools for sales team collaboration. If you have more than one person working on sales and marketing, you need a tool that keeps everyone on the same page. Marketo makes it simple to share updates with others in real-time.
At first, you may not use all of the tools provided by Marketo. However, as it becomes a bigger part of your sales strategy, you and your sales reps will turn to it more often.
5. Yesware
Have you set the goal of selling smarter? Do you even know what this means?
There are tools that are meant to save you time and money. Yesware is one of them.
There are several reasons why I recommend Yesware to entrepreneurs who want to sell smarter, but it all begins with its analytics tools.
You probably have what it takes to collect data, in regards to your prospects, the decision-maker and the sales cycle, but, do you know what to do next?
This is where Yesware steps in, to make your life easier.
With access to high-level, actionable insights, you’ll never again wonder what you’re supposed to do with the data that you’ve collected. Instead, you can share it with the appropriate team members, to ensure that everyone’s making the right moves.
The only downside of Yesware is that it can be difficult to fully understand its power and functionality until you have first-hand experience. Fortunately, once you get started, there’s no looking back with this sales process tool.
6. Calendly
What process are you using to schedule meetings with prospects?
In the past, the preferred option was email or a phone call. While there are still times when this works, you don’t want to overlook the power of an appointment scheduling tool, such as Calendly.
The nice thing about this tool is that it can be used to schedule anything and everything. From sales calls to sales meetings, from interviews to demos, it has all of the features that you require.
Calendly has several high-level competitors, but this solution remains my favorite, because of its ease of use for a variety of sales reps.
It all starts with setting your availability preferences. This shows others when you’re available to meet.
From there, all that you have to do is to share your personal link with your contacts or the prospective decision-maker.
For example, if you want to give somebody a sales demo, you can send them your link and ask that they select a time that works for them. This goes a long way in avoiding the traditional “back and forth,” often associated with scheduling a meeting.
One last thing worth noting is the team scheduling feature. With this, your team’s availability can be viewed from one page.
In addition to a free 14-day trial, there is a no-cost package that provides basic features.
With no money out of your pocket and a variety of high-level features, you should look into using Calendly. It will save you and your sales reps time in the sales process.
7. Zoom
Do you remember the days of meeting with prospects in person to conduct demos?
If you want to leave this experience in the past, at least to a certain degree, you should become familiar with Zoom.
There are many video and web conferencing services to compare, but through my experience Zoom is one of the best in digital marketing sales tools.
With more than 461,000+ customers, you know you’ll be in good hands if you rely on Zoom for your remote conferencing needs.
If that’s not enough to convince you, let’s examine some of its many features:
Ability to host a meeting with or without video, or with screen share only.Mobile screen sharing for iPhone and iPad, making it easy to conduct meetings on the go.Webinar capabilities.Easy to share a meeting with one or more contact.Group collaboration.
On this page, Zoom lays out its many cloud video conferencing features, all of which you’ll enjoy. Some of my favorites include:
HD video and voicedynamic voice detectionfull screen and gallery view
Another key feature is the ease with which the other party can join a meeting. Once you create a meeting, it’s as simple as inviting the other person. He or she can then access the event by entering the Meeting ID or Personal Link Name.
The process is simple and the technology is advanced. That’s what makes Zoom a top dog in the video and web conferencing space.
8. ClinchPad
Do you find yourself struggling to use your CRM software? Have you turned to a more simplified solution, such as a spreadsheet?
When the sales process is on your mind, the last thing that you need is trouble with your CRM solution.
ClinchPad is an online CRM, built for small teams that crave big results.
Not only is it easier to use than a traditional CRM, but it’s more advanced than a spreadsheet. Lying somewhere in between, many sales professionals find that it has all of the features they need, without overdoing it.
It’s hard to pinpoint one feature as being my favorite, but the Sales Dashboard is on par with the best that the CRM industry has to offer for sales professionals.
With all of the necessary data in one place, you’ll find that the Sales Dashboard feature saves you tons of time, while also helping you to stay up to speed with the sales cycle.
From prospects at the beginning of the cycle to deals that are about to close, everything that you need is right in front of you. And, best yet, you don’t have to jump from screen to screen to stay informed.
You can create a free account to get started. From there, if you like what you see, paid accounts start at $9/month.
9. Proposify
What is your current process for creating sales proposals?
Believe it or not, many companies are still using Microsoft Word, or a similar solution, to create proposals.
Even if this has worked for you in the past, you should consider a change. A switch to Proposify, or a similar solution, could do wonders for your close rate.
With this software, you can share beautifully created proposals with prospects in the cloud. In turn, you hope to close more deals in a more time-efficient manner.
Here are some of the many features that I like:
Access to a variety of professionally designed templates.Drag and drop library for ease of management.Access to an online preview tool.Use of electronic signatures.The ability to track everything, knowing exactly where things stand in the sales pipeline.
The last feature is one of my favorites, as I always like to know what’s going on with a proposal.
You’ll gain access to metrics, such as how many proposals you’ve created, how many you’ve closed and your overall close rate.
If the lack of proposal software is holding your business back, let Proposify step in and be your guide. With a free trial and pricing starting at $25/month, it’s an affordable solution that can help boost your bottom line.
10. SalesLoft
Much the same as HubSpot, SalesLoft offers many tools to sales professionals and business owners.
In an overall sense, this tool is built to help you “increase qualified demos & appointments.”
While this sounds good, you need to learn more about its many options, to see what best fits your business.
Some of the features include:
sales conversationsdeal forecastinganalytics and reportingdialer and messengercadence and automation
Thanks to a large selection of features, SalesLoft is one of the more advanced tools for a sales team on this list. However, even if you’re only going to use one of its products, there’s a good chance that it can do wonders for your sales strategy.
Sales Tools FAQ
What sales platform is the best?
Some of the best sales software options are SalesForce, ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, and Monday.com. The best one for you depends on your budget, business structure, and goals.
What tools do successful salespeople need?
The sales tools you’ll need are a CRM system, lead generation tools, conferencing software, sales automation tools, performance management tools, and sales and market intelligence tools.
What is the most effective tools for increasing sales?
Yesware, Hubspot, Salesforce, and even Slack can help you sell more. It just depends on which tool works best for your business.
What are sales productivity tools?
Examples of sales productivity tools include lead generation, CRM, video conferencing, meeting scheduler, proposal creation and eSigning software.
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Conclusion
Just as there are many marketing tools that can help you reach your goals, the 10 sales solutions in this blog post will have you on a better path in the months to come.
As you know, the sales process is full of challenges. If you want to achieve more success than your competitors, take advantage of every tool and solution that is available to you.
Do you have experience with any of these sales tools? Would you add any others to the list?
Source: Kissmetrics