An integrated sales suite benefits your sales team in multiple ways. Sales tools come in many categories, including customer relationship management, sales intelligence, sales prospecting, sales promotion, sales analytics, and phone services.
Their task is to automate many repetitive tasks and help you generate, nurture, follow up your sales leads. Analytics tools will give you clear insights into your sales, help you understand your target customers, and predict future market trends.
Here are six essential sales tools to use.
1. CRM
CRM, or customer relationship management, systems are the nerve center of any business. CRM software integrates with a wide array of sales tools you use. It records customer contact data, such as their emails, phone numbers, social media profiles, websites, and keeps it in a central location.
That way, sales teams will have a 360-degree view of each customer and be able to better understand their relationships.
Some of the most reliable CRM systems are:
- Salesforce
- Airtable
- HubSpot CRM
- Salesflare
- Copper
- Pipedrive
- ReallySimpleSystems
2. VoIP
VoIP services are delivered over the internet, meaning you will not need to install any additional hardware. Once your team members install a VoIP app, they will be able to communicate with customers or coworkers from multiple locations and across multiple devices. VoIP tools also offer noise-canceling options that help your sales representatives minimize distractions and boost call quality.
A major benefit of VoIP lies in the fact that it is affordable. Online phone providers charge a monthly subscription fee instead of measuring the minutes you spend on your phone. That is particularly important to sales teams targeting international customers.
VoIP integrates with your CRM system, letting you centralize customer data. That way, your sales team will be able to see account history, notes, and contact information from a single screen. They will be able to nurture leads more successfully, boost customer satisfaction, and provide personalized purchasing experiences.
Some of the best-rated VoIP solutions for businesses are:
- Nextiva
- OnSip
- Jive
- Grasshopper
- DialPad
3. Sales Analytics
Sales analytics software integrates with your CRM and other sales tools. It will provide your sales team with important insights into sales activities, analyze the performance of your sales reps, detect the products that sell well, identify win-loss opportunities, and forecast the future performance of your sales team.
With the help of sales analytics software, you will create a data-backed sales model and be able to build a sales strategy that works. The software will also visualize your key data and show it in easy-to-understand and visually appealing sales reports and dashboards.
The list of sales analytics platforms is lengthy. Some of the top-rated options are:
- Clari
- InsideSales
- Einstein Analytics
- XANT Playbooks
- InsightSquared
- Zoho Analytics
4. Sales Prospecting
Prospecting is a fundamental sales process. It includes searching for potential customers for your products or services. Your goal is to identify relevant sales prospects and move them down the sales funnel until they decide to convert into paying customers.
While you can search for potential leads manually, automating the sales prospecting process may save you lots of time and help you find qualified leads faster. That is where sales prospecting tools step in. They will support you in every stage of the prospecting process, from building a prospect list to qualifying prospects and engaging them.
Below are some of the best sales prospecting tools:
- Clearout
- LeanData
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Leadfeeder
- Close.io
- Salesloft
- Bonjoro
- Wistia
5. Sales Intelligence
Sales intelligence software can map the entire buying cycle from beginning to end, identify devices and channels used by your prospects, estimate the reliability of the sales funnel, and forecast future trends.
These tools often provide valuable insights into CRM systems, allowing your sales team to make wiser decisions based on their data. For example, they will know when to reach out to a customer, which channel to use, how to define targeted messaging, etc.
With the help of sales and market intelligence tools, you will make each phase of the sales process more effective, from lead generation to better-targeted outreach. Some of them are:
- Clearbit
- HubSpotSales Hub
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Crunchbase
- Leadfeeder
- Close.io
6. Sales Promotion
To boost sales, you need to create strong offers and deals for your customers and market them. And, to enhance the effectiveness of your sales promotion strategy, you need to equip your team with the right sales promotion tools.
Now, there are different types of sales promotion, including coupons, samples, premium offers, “price off” deals, customer sweepstakes, etc. You can promote them via different channels, from email to social networks.
Based on the channels you use and the type of sales promotion, there are a few tools to pay attention to:
- Mailchimp (for targeted email promotions)
- Buffer (for social media promotions)
- Trade Promotion Master
- SAP Trade Promotion Management
- BluePlanner
How to Choose the Right Sales Tool?
When choosing sales software, always analyze your sales team’s performance to find processes that need more attention. Before contacting a vendor, make a list of your business needs. Above all, analyze the features of each tool and make sure it addresses your specific requirements.
When doing research, remember that most of these tools fall into multiple categories. Also, pay attention to the integrations each sales tool offers so you can build a fully-integrated and automated stack for your team.
The good thing is that most of these tools offer free trials. Sign up for trials and test each software solution before purchasing it. Measuring twice and cutting is the only way to invest in a reliable and helpful sales stack for your sales team.
Finally, keep in mind that you should never focus on the quantity of sales tools. The key is in its quality and relevance to your sales team.
Ready to Improve the Performance of your Sales Team?
Those are just some of the numerous great tools available. With their help, you will improve your sales team’s performance, automate many repetitive tasks, boost customer satisfaction, and maximize sales. Above all, you will grow and nurture stronger relationships with customers and retain them in the long-run.
What tools do you use to improve your sales team’s performance? We are listening!
Hazel Raoult is the Marketing Manager at PRmention, a digital PR agency for SaaS and Tech Businesses.