How To Buy Sales Technology That Works For You

Sales teams are always looking for ways to streamline their sales process, master CRM solutions, improve their lead generation, and ultimately drive revenue. At least, they should be. But the truth is, many sales leaders simply stick to what they know, leading to outdated sales technology and fragmented sales teams lacking a unified methodology.

It's easy to understand why: with sales technology trends and capabilities constantly evolving - especially with the rise of AI - it can be hard to stay on top of the latest sales tools and effectively integrate them into your sales process.

But that's just one way of looking at it; the other is to see today's limitless innovation as an incredible opportunity to enhance every stage of your entire sales process, from customer data analysis and sales reporting software to sales intelligence and enrichment tools.

So Leadium has been joined by David Dulaney, Tenbound CEO/founder and sales technology expert, to discuss how your business should go about buying sales tech, the processes involved, and things you need to look out for. Sales reps and sales leaders looking to spend less time entering data and more time selling should stick around, because this post is for you.

What exactly is sales technology?

Let's get things started with a few definitions: 'sales technology' (often shortened to 'sales tech') refers to any technology, usually software, used by sales professionals to make aspects of their work easier. For example, sales and marketing teams may use email automation software to send promotional emails instantly, sales reps may use call tracking software to localize their messaging, and sales managers may use scheduling software to book appointments easily. There are many sales tools - millions, probably - designed to automate sales tasks like these and streamline overall business processes.

A 'sales tech stack', on the other hand, refers to the whole group of sales tools and technologies used by a sales team within a company. The two terms aren't the same and shouldn't be confused.

So how can sales tech enhance your sales process?

Well, it's pretty simple: sales technology has the power to make every aspect of your sales strategy/sales processes easier, not only eliminating tedious tasks but saving enormous amounts of time and even significantly improving parts of your sales performance (for example, in lead generation with prospecting tools). In fact, 82% of the best sales reps agree that their success is down to using the right sales tech.

• Automated processes
  
  • Most sales professionals spend less than one third of their time actually selling and the rest fulfilling other time-consuming tasks such as CRM data entry. By automating such tasks, reps gain a lot of extra time. Just imagine what your sales teams could do with it!
• Find better leads
  
  • Lead generation sales technology is making prospecting easier than ever before, with software being able to identify super high-quality leads in a fraction of the time it would take sales teams to do it manually. There are some great prospecting tools that can help you reach your sales goals today.
• Real-time sales analytics
  
  • Gain actionable insights with modern sales analytics software, which lets you track metrics such as buying patterns, customer data trends, and Key Performance Indicators - all of which will help you increase your sales productivity.

These are just some of the ways sales tech can give you a competitive advantage and help your sales team close more deals.

How to build a process for buying sales technology

Although sales technology is changing sales for the better, the sheer abundance of sales tech tools, cost of technology contracts, and fragmented sales and marketing teams makes actually acquiring sales tech complicated. It's easy to get caught out by bad contracts, or caught up in management procedures.

David walked us through some principles you should follow to buy sales tech optimally. Let's take a look:

Write a clear sales technology company policy

One of the biggest problems businesses - especially startups - face when trying and buying new additions to their sales tech stack is not having a clearly-defined policy.

David points out that executives, middle managers, and sales reps often approach sales tech from different angles: executives will evaluate several vendors and request demos, for instance, whereas middle managers will be hearing the needs of their team and have to pitch 'up' to the executives. Sales reps, on the other hand, are right in the thick of it, getting recommendations from peer groups and trying out new sales productivity tools off their own back.

This can lead to all kinds of problems, not least because you could end up with a situation where entire teams are using wildly varying tool to do the same job. You could also end up with security issues.

Without a defined company policy, fragmented attitudes toward sales tech could result in poor Customer Relationship Management, a longer sales cycle, and missed sales targets.

Find what works for you

Never buy sales technology off of its advertising alone. That's not to say there's anything inherently unreliable about the sales tech you're considering, but it could be the case that, having bought it, it doesn't integrate well with the rest of your sales tech stack (for example, your Customer Relationship Management software), or simply that your sales team doesn't like it.

David suggests running a pilot program to test two or three alternatives with your sales team before making a final choice. Say you're looking for great project management tools, for instance. It could be a good idea to schedule a free trial with the top three competitors (in this case, software like Monday.com, Wrike, and Quickbase) and run a survey to see which marketing and sales prefer.

Don't forget: when a company signs up to a sales technology software, they often have to sign year-long contracts or more, so making sure you've found what works for you is essential.

Be careful with contracts

The sad reality is that the sales industry often finds itself in quagmires caused by bad contracts with sales tech companies. If the tech company you're dealing with is worth its salt, you shouldn't have to worry about this, but you can never be too careful.

One of the common problems sales leaders face, for example, is poor contract-renewal notification from their partner. What this essentially means is that tech companies sometimes fail to notify their clients when a contract is due to end and automatically tie them in for another year.

While we stress that not all tech companies do this, it's something all sales organizations should be aware of.

And is it does happen, David recommends making your voice heard. After all, if a company pulls a trick like this, they're probably hoping you'll just put up with it. Well, don't put up with it!

Leverage community

Whatever sales technologies you're looking to add to your tech stack, whether it's for improving customer engagement, automating administrative tasks, or enhancing phone calls, your community will be your number one source of advice.

Reliable reviews are always worth more than advertising when it comes to purchasing sales technology. And create a dialogue with your sales team and their peers; find out what they really think - after all, they'll be the ones using it every day!

In fact, David put community and reviews at the heart of his company Tenbound; at Tenbound, B2B sales agents can find the best tools for their tech stack and, crucially, see what others are saying about them right then and there.

Use sales technology to enhance your B2B sales operations

Statistics show that the use of sales technology in B2B marketing and sales directly correlates to better output, faster deals, better customer experience, and more. And when it comes to integrating new and emerging technologies into your sales stack, there's no end of options.

But overhauling your process with new technology trends can be risky. In order to avoid fragmented teams, disjointed operations, and bad contracts, it's important to follow a few guidelines: firstly, make sure your company has a written policy regarding sales technology. Secondly, conduct trials to find what works best for your team. Thirdly, be careful when signing contracts that tie you in for long periods. And finally, use peer reviews and community conversations to make your final decision on new tech.

For more valuable information on sales technology and sales development, check out David Dulaney on LinkedIn or at Tenbound. And, as always, to see how B2B lead generation and sales development companies like Leadium are using state-of-the-art tech to fill pipelines and close more deals today, reach out for a consultation.