Every sales team is under immense pressure to deliver on company goals and milestones. As is usually the case, salespeople are usually on the lookout for any leg up they can get in terms of making their jobs at least a little bit easier. Luckily, sales tools are plentiful in number. If anything, picking one that best suits you and your sales team is the real challenge due to the abundance of options available. Having a wide variety of choices at hand can be used to your advantage as you compare and contrast the different tools out there. Here are just five such tools that are widely used among many sales teams today. Take a look and see how well they may work with your team and what you want to get done.
1. OnePageCRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools seem to be everywhere these days, and while many of them are now used by businesses in general as a way to organize customer information, they originally started out as sales tools. OnePageCRM is only one such CRM, but it’s considered by many to be one of the top ones you can get. The main aim of OnePageCRM is to improve productivity and make the work more efficient by streamlining management options. One way it does this is by turning the pipeline into more of a to-do list, making sure there’s always something being worked on related to client interactions. Added insight can also be gained by the information analyzed by different sales activities.
2. Salesforce Sales Cloud
Working more quickly and with more efficiency is usually the idea for sales teams, and one CRM has been considered the king of the mountain for some time now: Salesforce. Specifically, the Sales Cloud is where Salesforce made its name and for good reason. While the platform provides many desired benefits, one of its strengths lies in the way it helps sales team members collaborate with each other. Salesforce allows salespeople to easily see what progress is being made on each account, with tasks and responsibilities quickly distributed to the right people. It also helps managers measure individual sales performances to make sure everything is on the right track.
3. EDGAR
A somewhat overlooked item, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system is a tool most sales team should always have on hand. EDGAR comes from the SEC, and it helps sales teams search an enormous database that gives them valuable information about companies whenever they file with the SEC. Those filings include data and statistics that can prove to be crucial in sales pursuits. The database is easy to query, giving sales teams access to information that some companies might not be upfront in disclosing. Don’t ignore EDGAR as it can provide a clearer picture on other organizations.
4. Datanyze
Just as important as knowing your current and prospective clients is knowing about your competitors. Datanyze helps in that effort by tracking the companies that are currently using your rivals. It can also tell you when companies end their contact with the competition, giving you valuable insight in when to make contact yourself. Datanyze can also help your sales team by connecting you with them through LinkedIn, while also indicating which companies might be open to working with you. It’s not quite like a data as a service platform, but it still gives vital information that can be extremely useful.
5. TinderBox
Most sales tools focus on eventually making the deal, but TinderBox is a useful tool to use after you’ve already closed. TinderBox makes work much easier by auto-generating important sales documents, enabling electronic signatures, and tracking how far along your clients are with those documents. It basically automates much of the post-sale process, which saves sales teams on a lot of busy work. All of its work also goes directly into whatever CRM you happen to be using.
Much like flash storage and analytics, these sales tools can provide a big boost for your sales team. It will be up to you to find the best ones that work well with your team, but once that is decided upon, you’ll quickly see how much easier it is to concentrate on closing the big sales and landing the biggest prospects.
About the Author:
This article was written by Rick Delgado, technology commentator and freelance writer.
