Sales Tools: 10 Types of Tools for Sales Teams

Sales tools are digital interfaces that assist sales professionals by making their jobs easier in a litany of different ways. Sales and marketing tools integrate reams of data, collate important information about customers, automate processes like email campaigns and scheduling, and more. These tools are essential to succeed in the contemporary world of sales.

There are seemingly endless options when it comes to choosing specific sales software. Consider these four traits to inform how you look for the best sales tools for you and your company:

1. 1. Sales tools improve workflows. Sales tools should help everyone spend less time doing things than before. Providing email templates, automated chatbots, and the like are all examples of how sales tools improve workflows.
2. 2. Sales tools increase sales productivity. These tools should streamline the sales process in a way that boosts productivity. Rather than introducing decision-makers at every step along the sales funnel, sales tools automate and expedite low-level tasks to free you and your team members up for the more essential parts of your jobs.
3. 3. Sales tools integrate well. Your various sales tools should all integrate seamlessly with one another. For instance, you want important pricing data to transfer from one app to another. Scheduling, data, intelligence, and social selling tools should all be able to pull from each other’s resources. Integration of information is key to sales success.
4. 4. Sales tools prioritize the customer experience. Your tools should ensure sales engagement with customers is as streamlined as possible. Their functionality should lead to a positive outlook on doing business with you and your company. Intelligent sales tools should help put you in touch with customers who want to talk to you about your product, whether through automated email marketing campaigns, qualified lead generation, or something else entirely.

Many different types of software can help you with sales execution and management, including:

1. 1. Administrative tools: Any given sales force has its fair amount of administrative work to complete. These digital tools help schedule meetings, automate the e-signature process, file contact information, perform necessary document tracking and email tracking, and more.
2. 2. CRM tools: A customer relationship management or CRM system manages customer interactions in an all-in-one space. This management tool is the customer experience hub for your company throughout the sales cycle. You can buy plenty of CRM software and apps through SaaS (software-as-a-service) subscriptions.
3. 3. Data integration tools: Sales and marketing teams need the ability to integrate data from different programs and spreadsheets. Sales CRM integration programs help bring everything into one place or at least be easily accessible from different locations.
4. 4. Sales acceleration tools: For expedited sales outreach, sales acceleration tools are fundamental. This kind of software helps sales reps automate every element of their process, from bringing in leads to closing deals.
5. 5. Sales analytics tools: For both B2C and B2B sales, analytics tools help manage customer data, assist in sales forecasting, and give you plenty of metrics to plan your overall sales strategy. The better you can analyze and visualize data, the easier sales pipeline management becomes.
6. 6. Sales automation tools: You can relegate some elements of customer support to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and marketing automation. Using sales automation tools to send notifications or act as a phone number dialer cuts you slack as a salesperson. This greater sense of freedom and efficiency helps you do what’s most important: meeting the customer’s needs on a higher, human level.
7. 7. Sales enablement tools: Sales professionals can use these powerful tools to procure and follow up on valuable leads. They ensure both the salesperson and the customer have everything they need to reach an advantageous deal.
8. 8. Sales intelligence tools: Gaining sales and market intelligence gives you a huge leg up. These sales prospecting tools make sure your qualified lead scoring and inbound lead generation come with plenty of additional data about who your potential clients are and how you should connect with them.
9. 9. Training tools: Sales managers can use automated onboarding tools to give new hires the playbook to their overall selling strategy, from generating new leads to closing deals. This is just one instance of how sales tools can help a sales team on an internal level, too.
10. 10. Video conferencing tools: Real-time sales calls can now happen anywhere around the world at any time by video. These tools help you see all potential clients face to face, no matter where you are.

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