Sales is one of the most important things for any business, and a good sale can be achieved only with a killing strategy.
Simply hiring a sales team is not sufficient to meet the bottom line.
Why?
Because the bad news is that Hubspot research shows that only 3% of buyers trust sales reps. But there is a silver lining. The good news is that there are plenty of tools available to salespeople to help boost their performance.
Here is a list.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
A CRM tool can act as a backbone to manage all the interactions between sales reps, existing, and potential customers. Whether a customer emails a company or makes a call, or reaches out to the company in any other way, a CRM software ensures all of these interactions are documented.
There are various CRM platforms available to help businesses build strong relationships with their customers, improve conversations, and boost sales and revenue based on customer data coming from multiple avenues. CRM platforms are arguably the most effective and widely used sales tool.
A CRM magazine study showed that 91% of companies with over 10 employees are using CRM software because it has a high return on investment (ROI).
According to a research report, with a CRM tool in place, the average ROI on each dollar spent is $8.71. So, the numbers really speak for themselves, making CRM platforms the best smart tool for salespeople to boost their performance.
CRM platforms are arguably the most effective and widely used sales tool. You can take it even further by integrating Salesforce CRM with other platforms to make it even more comprehensive
Sales Acceleration Software:
Prospecting is among the biggest challenges in sales and the use of a sales acceleration software allows sales reps to sift through prospects at an expedited rate.
The fundamental grounds of this software is that it can automate initial sales contact such as voicemails and emails with prospects.
Then the software streamlines interested prospects for salespeople to target their efforts. Along with automating the sales process, this boosts performance through a higher conversion rate.
The best part is that this tool provides real-time support, ensuring salespeople are always informed about company updates and efforts.
There are a few astounding statistics to keep in mind. The average sales conversion rate is around 1 in every 25 calls and 44% of sales reps quit after the first no. A lower conversion rate of prospects and lower retention rate of sales reps results in increased company expenses.
As a result, sales acceleration software helps maximize sales revenue and reduce overall company expenses.
Contact Management Software (CMS):
An effective CMS helps convert leads into contacts. Yes, a lead and contact are different. A lead can be categorized as a contact only if they express an interest in your business, if they have conducted business with you in the past or if they have the ability to influence other leads. In case a lead does not become a contact, it results in a lead leakage.
A CMS helps businesses avoid lead leakage by maintaining an organized list of lead conversations. Smart contact management goes beyond tasks done by a simple spreadsheet by reducing the hassle of manual conversation entries.
The difference between a CMS and a CRM software is that one manages contacts while the other manages interactions. Consequently, they are complementary but not interchangeable.
Research shows that 75% of customers increase interactions with businesses based on positive impressions from conversations and keeping close tabs on these contacts will help companies build a healthy database of interested contacts. So, a smart CMS will ensure companies are in sync with their clients.
Sales Intelligence Software:
This software is designed with data integration and analytics abilities that help salespeople manage and monitor prospect interactions.
Sales intelligence software makes prospecting easier by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data from innumerable data sources. This is a predictive software that provides insights on prospect preferences, helps close in quality leads and improve conversion rates.
Sales intelligence software also has sales forecasting abilities, making it different from other sales tools. While there are certain overlaps with CRM, CMS, Sales Acceleration Software, and Sales Intelligence Software, it is important to note that all these services are complementary and not always interchangeable.
According to research, 1 in 3 sales intelligence users has 3 to 5 hours of engagement per week on sales intelligence prospecting tools, providing ample time to understand the preferences of prospects. As a result, sales intelligence capabilities are vital in setting realistic sales goals.
Business Email Signatures:
Though an unconventional entry in this list, a business email signature has the ability to boost the performance of salespeople and improve the bottom line of companies. Personalizing an email interaction helps prospects connect with the salespeople and makes them more than an automated message.
Through the use of a photo and links to social media accounts, businesses can communicate with leads more. With 86% of people choosing to use email for professional communications, based on research, anything that is included in the message can help build consumer interest.
A business email signature is a great way to educate, inform, and convert prospects. Plus, it is simple software and can be easily integrated by all businesses and is a cost-effective addition to boost the performance of salespeople.
Account-Based Marketing Software (ABM):
The defining aspect of ABM is that it targets sales efforts towards a specific group of people instead of a generic one. Despite being an early invention in sales, it did not catch on due to the lack of advanced technical support it required.
Now the sophistication of automation technology and the ability to segregate customers based on accounts allows the marketing team to kickstart the job of salespeople. For example, ABM uses categories to classify customers based on buying patterns to help determine if a company’s marketing efforts should be targeted towards them or not.
As a result, this ensures a company’s effort starting from the initial marketing contact is targeted.
Studies show that up to 97% of marketers believe ABM has a higher ROI than any other marketing activity and 91% of companies with ABM software have closely aligned marketing and sales activities. The fact that an ABM maximizes the efforts of the marketing team and eliminates the overlap with sales reps makes an ABM software a valued addition to boosting sales performance.
Productivity Softwares:
As all the software falls under the productivity category, this section is a mention to collaborative tools. In addition to having a killing software to manage customer and sales interactions, there needs to be a collaborative environment in any company to ensure the sales team is updated with all company related information.
Along with fostering a friendly environment, this instills productivity through collaboration.
There are various company collaboration software options available that help people manage things based on projects, prospects, or any custom built manner. By fostering a sharing environment, companies can enjoy a boost in performance.
Studies show that an astounding 75% of people in the American workforce believe that they do not have access to emerging productivity software and chances are this is not being communicated in the workplace.
Subscribing to a productivity software will help all workers share their concerns and improve overall productivity.
These are some smart tools a business can integrate to boost sales performance.
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— Will Corry (@slievemore) May 3, 2019