Tools Every Sales Team Needs to Succeed


Growth is the most important factor driving nearly every business. To achieve growth, you need an effective sales team. There are so many components contributing to the success Opens in a new tab.of your team that it may start to feel beyond your control, but it isn’t. You just need the right tools. With the right tools in place, your sales teamOpens in a new tab. becomes a manageable force to be reckoned with.

Here are tools your company needs to ensure it has an effective sales team utilizing the right strategies.

Territory Mapping

While most of your focus will be on turning leads into sales, it’s also important that you track potential areas for growth and opportunity. With sales territory mappingOpens in a new tab. software, you can assign each of your sales representatives to a specific area. The goal is to help you reach the right customers to help you build your revenue and growth.

Territory mapping allows several sales representatives to work in the same area but to focus on specific customers based on their needs. As you create your map, it’ll be important to define your goals and which representatives have the right expertise for each area you target.

CRM 

Your customer relationship management tool is the heart of your sales process. It’s role is to help you organize and access your customer data. This helps you better engage and build your relationship with your customer. It allows your sales team to stay connected and organized.

There are multiple CRM solutions, and choosing the right one could depend on its cost and features. You’ll want to find the product that offers ease of use as well as its ability to integrate with your other programs.

Your CRM will offer you marketing tools and the ability to automate many of your tasks. The right platform will offer you a variety of reporting tools to assist you in tracking the effectiveness of your sales force as well as your marketing campaigns.

The CRM is the must have tool for any sales team that values the ability to track their progress with potential clients.

Lead Handling

While CRM software is great for the sales manager, it can be too much for the rest of the sales team. Maybe they simply need a program to assist them with lead management.

It’s important to the growth of your business that you are able to quickly identify leads and start working toward making them a sale. Lead handling software can help you accomplish this goal without having to enter tons of data along the way.

Lead handling software helps you determine the next step of action and when you progress through converting a lead into a sale. It also allows managers to view and track the progress of their sales representatives.

Part of the team’s lead strategy could be to engage your visitors as soon as they arrive at your website. Lead management software can accomplish this by scheduling a call or scheduling a meeting while you have their attention on the web page.

You can also use your lead handling software to route your lead to the right salesperson. Also, gather their information and email, including those that don’t come in through the web site, so you can follow-up.

Performance Management

Sales performance managementOpens in a new tab. actually increases the probability that members of your sales team will reach their annual quota. Companies utilizing it also experience higher and faster growth. In sales performance management, you want to observe and train your sales team to become better and more effective at achieving results.

The great thing about incorporating performance management software into your sales management practices is it can analyze the performance of your team at each stage of development. It also allows you to more accurately forecast your potential revenue and make needed adjustments before you hit a slump.

More benefits of making sales performance management a part of your business’s overall strategy:

• Better sales performance
• More sales opportunities
• Better forecasting of sales growth
• Greater profit margins

Knowing you need to adjust a sales activity or develop new business skills can keep your company at the top of its game. It also allows you to develop a high-performance pool of sales professionals.

Sales Engagement

New sales engagement software has the ability to sync all your email data, schedules and follow-ups so you don’t need to enter information manually later on This allows your team to be more productive. Many other software packages have offerings such as:

• The ability to send cold calls via email

• Engage with prospects on social media

• Send automatic follow-ups 

• Create multi-touch and multi-channel communication campaigns

• Analytics into your overall performance

Sales engagement software has become increasingly sophisticated and there are many options to choose from. Many offer capabilities on the smart phone as well as the desktop, which is important to your productivity when you’re on the go.

Video Conferencing

As businesses become more global-minded, it’s not always feasible to meet face to face. However, meeting so that you can see the person you’re working with is the next best thing. Video conferencing helps keep the communication clear between your sales team and their leads.

Many video conferencing tools also offer file sharing and white-board so you can effectively demonstrate ideas. They even have call recording tools so you can go back and revisit the meeting if later you need to clarify some information. These are things you aren’t able to do when you meet face to face.

There are numerous video conferencing applications on the market today. Problems associated with conferencing software in the past, such as subpar audio and video connections, have now been resolved. Many applications come with free trials so be sure to try out several so you can find the best fit for your team.

Customer Service Software

Customer service softwareOpens in a new tab. helps you streamline all your customer service communications, making you more effective at providing service and resolving issues. Your software package should include a help desk, live chat and complaint management. With these tools you’ll be able to track your customer needs and see how effective your response times are.

Newer software comes with the ability to create chat bots to help you find new prospects and set up meetings on your teams calendars. The bots learn as they go, so each day they become more effective at assisting your team.

Because customer service software is becoming more affordable, more smaller companies are hopping and board to employ it for their sales teams. There are numerous software solutions in this category based in size, industry and features. Take time to find the right solution for your sales team.

Utilizing tools to aid in your customer development and retention are a valuable component of your sales strategy. Without the right tools, your company’s goals may not be trackable and guess work comes into play in the strategies you develop. It’s impossible to form effective strategies if you don’t understand where your team’s weaknesses and strengths may be. Without this information your company could be flying blindly into a storm. Flying blind isn’t an option for a business that relies on success in order to continue into the future.

Steve Todd

Steve Todd, founder of Open Sourced Workplace and is a recognized thought leader in workplace strategy and the future of work. With a passion for work from anywhere, Steve has successfully implemented transformative strategies that enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Through Open Sourced Workplace, he fosters collaboration among HR, facilities management, technology, and real estate professionals, providing valuable insights and resources. As a speaker and contributor to various publications, Steve remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of workplace innovation, helping organizations thrive in today's dynamic work environment.

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