The beginning of the year is the perfect time to reevaluate your sales software stack and make sure it’s equipped with everything you’ll need as you prepare your company for 2022.
But what exactly does this imply, how do you go about doing it, and what applications should you add to your sales tech stack?
What is the definition of a sales stack?
Your company’s sales stack refers to the software and technology that your sales staff employs and needs in order to succeed.
Your sales team’s goal is to close as many high-quality deals as possible with the fewest resources feasible, including time and energy. With the correct sales stack in place, sales teams can engage with prospects more readily, improve communication, and move prospects through the sales pipeline more smoothly.
As a result, equipping your sales force with all of the specialized tools that will help them perform more efficiently is a worthwhile investment.
What tools should you include in your sales toolkit?
There will be no two organizations with the same sales stack. The tools you employ should address the difficulties that your sales staff is facing. Each company’s sales tech stack is unique, based on its goals, difficulties, and target clients.
So, where do you begin when putting together your sales tech stack? A sales engagement platform or similar outbound tool will be required, but what about the rest?
Here are some sales tools you should consider adding to your sales tech stack:
- CRM – A CRM software helps sales representatives track their leads, manage deals, and even automate repetitive tasks. What differentiates a CRM from a simple spreadsheet or database, however, is its ability to provide a holistic picture of your pipeline.
- Sales engagement platform – Sales engagement platforms allow sales reps to send emails, schedule demos and manage their outbound efforts from a single platform.
- Email automation software – Email campaign management tools allow sales reps to automate outreach, track emails, and gather valuable insight on their email campaigns.
- Data analytics tools – data analytics tools allow sales reps to track prospect behavior, from how they engage with your website to how they move through the sales funnel.
- Cold calling software – Automated cold calling software allows your sales team to dial prospects with a few clicks, and store their call history automatically.
Keep in mind that many sales stack tools can be used for several purposes. HubSpot, for example, is a popular CRM that also has real-time reporting capabilities.
The key considerations when building a sales tech stack
Before you start constructing your sales tech stack, ask yourself these four questions.
1. Which tools are you currently using?
Keep track of all of the software you’re using and paying for. Which ones are helpful and which ones aren’t? Which do your salespeople favor and employ, and which do they avoid? Do you have numerous programs running at the same time that provide the same services?
Just because a piece of software is cool and has a lot of features doesn’t imply your sales team enjoys using it, or that it’s the greatest tool for your company.
This is an excellent time to trim the fat and get rid of any software services that are no longer valuable to your company. This may make room for more modern and powerful tools.
2. What are your requirements and pain points?
Examine your sales process and pipeline. Where are your prospects stumbling? Where are your team members’ miscommunications occurring? Are there any present bottlenecks or delays that could be resolved with a software solution?
All sales software is designed to address certain pain spots in the selling process, so if your team is having trouble in one area, there’s a strong chance there is software that could help resolve the issue.
3. What tools can be used in conjunction with each other?
Consider which tools can be easily integrated with the current software you’re using.
Is your present software preventing you from merging with new items that would be extremely beneficial? What can you do right now to provide immediate and significant value to your company? Are there any browser extensions that you can quickly install that would provide you with useful information?
4. What tools will you need to take your company to the next level?
Don’t only consider your company’s existing requirements. Consider where you want to go and how you’ll get there as you look forward to the new year.
Consider the following questions: Can specific services help us expand faster? Is your current software appropriate for the size of business you intend to build? Should you pay extra for a more advanced version of our current software services?
Conclusion
When building your sales tech stack, it’s essential that you evaluate your team’s needs, goals, and pain points.
Only by asking yourself these key questions will you find the right tools for your company.
