The market has a wide spectrum of sales tools with different functionalities; you need to choose the most necessary ones. It is important to understand your needs, what tools your competitors use, and what the trends are in sales tools.
To make it easier for you, we have compiled a list of the 10 best sales tools so your sales team can improve the effectiveness and productivity of your work.
1. CRM Software
CRM is the first and essential investment a company makes for its sales team. According to LinkedIn's State of Sales 2018, CRM adoption by companies has grown 113% since 2016, and in 2018, 64% of sales professionals used CRM applications.
Customer relationship management is simple to use. Additionally, you can integrate your website, social media, phone calls, chat, emails, and various marketing materials into the CRM. Due to its versatility, CRM can benefit any business, from a startup to a large enterprise.
Choosing the right CRM is a difficult task for companies. You need to choose one that offers the most simplistic yet effective user experience.
There are two of the most popular and reliable CRMs for B2B companies: HubSpot and Salesforce. Both CRMs have a ton of features that make it easy for sales reps to track the status of leads.
Here is a list of the 10 best CRM software:
- HubSpot CRM
- Salesforce CRM
- Zoho CRM
- Freshsales
- Netsuite CRM
- Pipedrive
- monday.com CRM
- CRM Creatio
- vCita
- Pipeliner
2. Marketing Automation Software
Marketing automation software helps companies streamline the marketing process and refine their marketing strategy based on data and performance. It automates daily tasks such as emails, social media posts, and B2B lead generation activities.
Although marketers are regular users of marketing automation tools, they are also important for the sales team. It helps sales reps automate the sales process, especially when the buying process is long.
Here is a list of marketing automation tools that will help you generate leads, close deals, and manage your sales pipeline on autopilot.
- Marketo
- HubSpot Marketing
- Ontraport
- SendinBlue
- ActiveCampaign
- Prospect.io
- InfusionSoft
- Autopilot
- GetResponse
- Drip
3. Sales Intelligence and Prospecting
Sales intelligence consists of a broad spectrum of technologies that provide contact information, as well as additional information about potential customers. It also helps sales professionals monitor and track information about prospects' businesses.
Prospecting tools are becoming an integral part of the sales process, as more than 40% of salespeople say prospecting is the hardest part of the sales process.
Sales prospecting software allows sales reps to perform targeted prospect searches using a specific set of real-time data points. These data include company data, technographic data, direct dials, etc.
Sales intelligence helps sales reps know exactly who they should talk to, what they should talk about, and when they should reach out. All relevant information should be in front of them when they have that conversation.
In summary, sales prospecting tools help sales reps save time and replace the previous manual process of locating the relevant information needed with automation. You can rely on the accuracy of these tools. They will give you a complete view of every prospect.
This is a list of the most commonly used sales intelligence and prospecting tools:
- SalesIntel
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- NinjaOutreach
- Mattermark
- CrunchBase
- Prospect.io
- Zoominfo
- D&B Hoovers
- Datanyze Insider
- RevDriver
- BuiltWith
4. Sales Acceleration Software
Sales acceleration helps speed up the sales process by automating repetitive and administrative tasks.
Sales acceleration software aims to speed up sales by automating administrative tasks and streamlining sales processes.
Sales acceleration tools include email tracking software, analytics tools, outbound sales dialers, sales coaching tools, etc.
People consider sales acceleration as a broader term for all tools that help B2B sales reps spend more time pursuing and nurturing qualified leads. As a result, it is difficult to identify the one that best fits your needs.
Since capturing leads through traditional methods is not yielding results, companies are willing to invest in sales acceleration tools.
- SalesLoft
- Outreach
- Spotio
- Mailshake
5. Sales Analytics Software
Sales analytics software is useful for effectively tracking, evaluating, and improving sales productivity and performance. The tools are useful for forecasting sales based on the ongoing performance graph and outlook.
Especially in this era when data is considered the main ingredient for creating a marketing and sales strategy. It has helped avoid human errors when collecting data manually and entering it into spreadsheets.
Sales analytics software gives you a systematic and customized representation of reports that you can access in one place. In the era of big data, sales analytics has become an important part of all sales reporting.
These are the 10 best analytics and reporting tools that allow you to monitor and analyze your key sales metrics based on your preferences.
- Tableau
- Heap Analytics
- Alteryx
- Google Analytics
- MixPanel
- Amplitude
- Zoho
- Solver
- Dataiku DSS
- KNIME
6. Sales Gamification
Sales gamification has been trending for a couple of years. It allows sales managers to choose performance metrics for their reps. The tool ranks employees by evaluating parameters based on the metrics set by managers.
Some tools display real-time employee scores based on CRM data to keep the competition interesting and healthy.
Some tools also allow more complex team games and individual challenges for individual skills and performance goals.
- Ambition
- Influitive
- Badgeville
- Hoopla
- GetBadges
- Freshdesk Arcade
- Playlyfe
- LevelUp
- LevelEleven
- Catalyst
7. Video Conferencing Software
As companies manage expenses in the pre-sales method, one of the main contributors to expenses is on-site meetings and demos at the client's location. Therefore, companies prefer video conferencing to hold online meetings and give demos or share their offerings.
In addition to reducing costs, video conferencing helps reduce communication issues with remote teams, clients, and other stakeholders.
- GoToMeeting
- CyberLink U Meeting
- Zoom Meetings
- BlueJeans
- Lifesize
- Google Hangouts Meet
- WebEx
- Skype
- Microsoft Teams
- Zoho Meeting
8. Account-Based Marketing Software
Account-based marketing (ABM) has helped B2B companies adopt an account-specific approach and create scalable and personalized marketing campaigns. Additionally, it also measures results based on a set of key performance indicators.
To succeed with an account-based marketing strategy, you need to support your marketing strategy with a prospecting tool that will provide you with accurate data. With a clearly defined target audience and data, marketing departments can better categorize and evaluate leads and move them through the sales process.
- SalesIntel
- Marketo
- LeanData
- Act-On
- ON24
- Sendoso
- Terminus ABM Platform
- Engagio ABM Platform
- Triblio
- Bizible
9. Electronic Signature and Document Tracking
For those unfamiliar with this type of tool, electronic signature and document tracking tools are replacing the method of putting pen to paper.
The tool helps users securely collect signatures on sales contracts, project letters, and proposals.
- PandaDoc
- SignRequest
- Zoho Sign
- SignNow
- DocuSign
- e-SignLive
- Qwilr
- eSign
- RightSignature
- Sertifi
- Signable
10. Customer Service Software
Customer service tools ensure smooth inbound and outbound communication through multiple channels and resolve issues.
Help desk tools, live chat, social customer service, and ticket management fall under this software category.
To improve the customer experience, most providers include features such as call routing, self-service, and case management.
Chatbots are the most popular today, as their goal is to qualify new leads and book new meetings for salespeople's calendars.
- Nextiva
- FreshDesk
- Zendesk Support
- Kayako
- Salesforce
- ZohoDesk
- HubSpot CRM
- LiveAgent
- HelpSpot
- AzureDesk
