CRO at OPTIZMO Technologies, LLC, overseeing the company's global sales and strategic partnership initiatives.
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It's no secret that technology directly fuels growth and revenue. It's crucial for sales teams to keep up with the latest technology tools available, or they'll quickly fall behind. The right tech stack can help streamline processes, increase efficiency and ultimately lead to higher sales and revenue—and, likely, a happier sales team.
Let's explore six steps you can take to uncover where your teams' needs may lie and the types of tools that warrant consideration when looking to bolster an enterprise-level sales team's arsenal.
While it may seem strange given its prevalence in the headlines today, I'm not going to include AI-related tools here, as they are largely still in their infancy, and licensing options for full organizations are nearly nonexistent. AI is undoubtedly going to fit into an individual sales persons day-to-day in a variety of ways as the tech evolves, and we better learn how to deploy it. But for today, I want to focus more on team-wide implementation strategy.
1. Identify the pain points and needs of your sales team.
Talk to your people and ask them what challenges they face in their day-to-day work. Is there a particular area where they're struggling, such as lead generation, or actually closing deals? Once you have a clear understanding of their pain points, begin evaluating the available solutions that can address their specific needs.
2. Choose tools that integrate with your existing systems.
When selecting new tools for your tech stack, it's essential to consider how they will integrate with your existing systems. Your sales team likely already uses a CRM, email and IM-based communication platforms.
Choose new tools that seamlessly integrate with existing ones to avoid disruptions to your workflow and ensure that your team can easily adopt and use them.
For example, we use an IM-based communication platform that is woven into the fabric of our entire organization, from incoming sales requests on our website to support ticket handling to notifications that our sign-up form has been viewed. For any new tool we look to onboard, we would very likely require integration with this platform to be available.
3. If you don't already have one, invest in a CRM system.
A customer relationship management (CRM) system is a vital tool for any sales team. They manage leads, track customer interactions and monitor sales activity. A good CRM system can help streamline processes and give your team the insights they need to close more deals. Look for a CRM system that is customizable and can be tailored to your team's specific needs.
We have used a number of these over the years and have ourselves chosen a robust yet easy-to-use system to fit our medium-sized B2B software companies' needs.
4. Identify sales enablement software to fill gaps.
Sales enablement software is a term that encompasses a set of powerful tools that can help your sales team create and deliver engaging content, track customer engagement and analyze data to optimize their sales processes. They can also help your team streamline collaboration and communication across departments, enabling them to work more efficiently and close more deals.
Various Business Intelligence (BI) software, marketing automation toolsand internal communications systems all fit within this genre of offerings. Where to begin your journey will depend on what needs have been identified.
5. Consider exploring sales intelligence tools.
Sales intelligence tools can provide your sales team with valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, helping them to target their efforts more effectively. These tools can help your team identify potential customers, understand their needs and track their interactions with your business. Look for sales intelligence tools that integrate easily with your CRM and other sales tools to provide a complete view of your customers' behavior and preferences.
6. Provide training and support.
Upgrading your sales team's tech stack will only be effective if employees know how to use the tools you give them. Provide comprehensive training and support to ensure that your team can effectively adopt and use any system you choose to implement. Use vendor-provided webinars, online tutorials or one-on-one coaching. You're already investing significant money into the subscription—go the extra mile and ensure your team has the support available to maximize the ROI your organization will derive from their new toys.
Is your organization seeking to upgrade its sales enablement tech stack?
Continuously evaluating and updating the set of tools you make available to your sales team is such a huge piece of an effective business development strategy and critical to the success and happiness of your team. I hope this article provides some helpful strategies for leaders seeking ways to upgrade their own tech stacks.
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