What is the number one tool a Sales Manager would want?

It’s 2019. We know that Sales Managers, and by extension their salespeople, need the right technology at their fingertips in order to do their job efficiently. The trick, however, is understanding exactly what those tools are. Simply search the Internet for five minutes and you’ll be able to find thousands of tools, all of which promise to improve revenue and provide a positive return on investment.

In order to truly understand which sales tools are worth the time, you need to know what’s important for a sales tool to include. Below, we put together the characteristics of the ultimate sales tool that would undoubtedly help any Sales Manager improve their team’s performance. As you look for your own perfect sales tool, make sure that it includes everything listed below.

Without further adieu, here are the seven things that any Sales Manager’s ultimate sales tool would absolutely need to do:

1. Include Multi-Channel Functionality

We know that it takes multiple touches to close a lead, more than ever before. Beyond that, it takes multiple touches at each point of the sales cycle, from pre-sales all the way to conversion and post-sales. What this means for Sales Managers is that they need to find ways to connect their team with customers in many different ways. Nobody wants to talk on the phone six or eight times. You need to factor in email automation and other sales engagement platforms, too. The ultimate sales tool would, therefore, be able to aggregate your communication channels and automate strategies that touch customers in a variety of ways.

2. Manage Your Sales Cadence

Just as important as knowing how to reach out to your customers is knowing when to reach out to them. Reaching out to a prospect several times in a single week could come off as too pushy and turn them off. On the other hand, reaching out only once per month could allow a competitor to come in and close the sale. The ultimate sales tool allows you to visualize and build out a structured sales cadence that optimizes the sales process along the way. Even more importantly, it will help automate the process, allowing your sales reps to spend more time selling and less time manually personalizing emails and dialing phone numbers.

3. Quick Access to Powerful Real-Time Data

Sales Managers thrive on data. You need to know which leads are the most valuable and when they’re likely to answer. You need to know how effective your sales team is at a glance. Sales tools worth investing in must make this process as intuitive as possible. You need real-time dashboards and reports that can be downloaded and customized with the click of a button. Most importantly, the ultimate sales tool should automate sales engagement by acting on this data in real-time, connecting you with the most valuable prospects when they’re most likely to answer.

4. Plenty of Personalization Options

There’s no question whether or not personalization encourages people to engage with a brand and ultimately convert. Epsilon found that consumers between the ages of 18 and 64 are 80% more likely to buy from a company that includes personalized engagement. In order for your sales prospecting efforts to drive conversions, you need to focus on personalization. Therefore, you need the power to build out a variety of customer personas and deliver highly relevant and personalized campaigns. Doing this manually would be cumbersome and time-consuming, so a sales tool that handles it is invaluable.

5. Local Caller ID

Unfortunately, people tend to not answer phone calls from salespeople. That’s why local caller IDs are one of the most effective sales enablement tools out there. A recent survey found that people are four times more likely to answer a phone call that comes from a local area code. It’s important to keep in mind that people were also quite likely to hang-up when they learned it’s a sales call. That’s another reason that it’s important to use multiple channels as you develop your sales cadence. Once prospects have a warmer relationship with you, a local caller ID means they’ll answer and stay connected.

6. Full Integration with Leading CRM Solutions

Truly exceptional sales tools will fully integrate with leading CRM platforms such as Oracle, Salesforce, and more. Without such integration, you’ll need to start over from scratch, which will greatly hinder your sales acceleration. Instead, by integrating with your existing CRM, you’ll be able to hit the ground running. Existing sales list, customer information, notes, and workflows will remain in-tact and work alongside your new ultimate sales tool. The only difference is that now you’ll have access to improved sales cadence, enhanced reporting, and features such as local caller ID.

7. Management Tools

Lastly, the ultimate sales tool needs to go beyond sales automation. It needs to help improve the sales management process, too. For example, Sales Managers need to be able to see exactly what their team is doing, and jump into an important call with the click of a button. To make training and quality control simpler, a Sales Manager needs to be able to listen to conversations at their convenience. Whisper options are critical as well, as they allow the Sales Manager to talk to their reps and pass along vital information without interrupting the rapport that the rep and prospect are building on their call.

If this sounds like the perfect sales engagement tool for you, make sure to reach out to us here at ConnectLeader. We provide a multi-channel sales engagement platform that integrates directly with your CRM to deliver results across your sales team. You’ll enjoy all of the benefits discussed above, including the ability to strategize your sales cadence, access to powerful real-time reports and dashboards, sales personalization, local caller ID, and much, much more. 

To get started with your own ultimate sales tool, simply click here or give us a call at 800-955-5040. We can schedule a quick discussion or a demo to figure out what you’re looking in a sales tool and how ConnectLeader can help grow revenue quicker than ever before.