A Complete Guide to Sales Productivity Tools

So your reps aren't performing as you'd hoped.

Surprise surprise.

Maybe your expectations were set too high, or your sales reps aren't as productive as they should be.

Sales productivity tools can help you out here, so your reps can sell more in the same amount of time.

Sound good? Great, because that's exactly what we're going to explore today.

What Are Sales Productivity Tools?

A sales productivity tool is any kind of software platform that helps sales reps become more productive. That might include automating manual aspects of the sales process like email sends, time tracking (so leaders can understand what tasks are bogging reps down), or a calendar booking tool that shows prospects when you're available to talk.

Why Do You Need Sales Tools for Sales Reps?

These kinds of sales tools offer a number of benefits. Five, if we're getting specific:

1. Productivity
2. Consistency
3. Accountability
4. Automation
5. Access to data, reporting, and analytics

1. Productivity

Wait, sales productivity tools enhance productivity for sales reps? Who would have thought?

Yes, it's a little bit obvious, but this really is the main benefit of such sales tools.

Automated email sequences reduce manual work, time tracking helps reps find the tasks that are taking up the most time, and consistency helps with managing performance (so reps can work smarter, not harder).

2. Consistency

One of the best features of sales productivity tools is the ability to pre-craft messaging for things like emails.

You write a series of emails in advance and then automate them to go out based on a cadence you prescribe.

This obviously has a speed benefit, but it also improves consistency in customer experience. It means that all prospects see the same messaging, so sales leaders can A/B test different options and have the whole team run with the best-performing copy.

3. Accountability

Productivity tools offer features like time tracking and communications logs. This allows sales managers to hold reps accountable for daily goals.

For instance, your reps might have a daily outbound call goal of 100 dials. Your sales productivity tool will give you insight into whether they're hitting that target or not, so you can provide additional training to those who aren't.

4. Automation

Automation means reps don't need to worry about those menial, recurring, manual tasks.

We're talking about stuff like:

• Moving deals from one pipeline stage to another
• Sending follow-up emails
• Pulling together weekly sales reports

And with all of that manual work taken care of, your team can spend more of their time on the activities that move the revenue needle.

5. Access to data, reporting, and analytics

Most sales tools will offer some kind of reporting and analytics suite, allowing you to dive deep into performance in specific segments.

For example, you can look at open rates for each of those automated emails and compare, then work on your subject line copy to lift performance.

Which Types of Sales Rep Tools Do You Need?

Okay, so we know why sales rep tools that improve productivity are beneficial. But do you need all of them?

It depends a little on your organization, but in general, there are eight kinds of sales rep tools you should implement:

1. CRM
2. Communication
3. Collaboration
4. Training
5. Sales enablement and efficiency
6. Lead generation
7. Scheduling
8. Project management

1. CRM

The CRM (customer relationship management) platform is the hub of your sales tech stack.

It's where all of your customer data is stored, including:

• Contact details
• Communication records
• Notes on the customer's needs and desires

Most CRMs go a little further than that, too, including features like local caller ID, task automation, and reporting and analytics suites.

Every other sales tool you employ should connect with the CRM, making it the nucleus of your software collection.

2. Communication

Communication tools for sales reps include things like:

• Phone calling solutions (whether regular or VoIP)
• Video conferencing tools
• SMS messaging software
• Social media communication solutions
• Email software

Sales is literally all about communication. If you're not communicating with anyone, you're not selling, so it's safe to say that this category of tools is pretty important.

3. Collaboration

Sales tools for collaboration are a pretty broad category, spanning a bunch of different solutions like:

• Documentation hubs
• Electronic signature collection
• Internal communications tools like Slack

Some of these tools enable collaboration within your team; others are more focused on collaboration with clients.

Either way, they're pretty helpful.

4. Training

Every sales rep needs some kind of training.

New hires will need onboarding training as they become familiar with your product, clients, and sales processes. Even your experienced reps will need ongoing training to stay fresh and keep improving their sales skills.

Sales tools for training tend to be centered around information and documentation storage.

Trainual, for instance, allows leaders to create self-service training modules using text and video, so new hires can basically train themselves!

5. Sales enablement and efficiency

Sales enablement and efficiency tools are all about working faster and working smarter.

Some platforms look more at efficiency, using automation and time tracking to speed up the sales cycle and reduce the amount of manual work sales reps need to do.

Others are more interested in the enablement side of things, providing reps with sales collateral, objection-handling prompts, and programmable cadences to help them follow your sales process to the T.

6. Lead generation

Every high-performing sales team needs a steady influx of leads, right?

Lead generation tools do, well, what they say on the box: they help you generate leads.

That might involve social media marketing automation (to generate leads through LinkedIn InMail, for instance) or prospecting assistance like Leadfeeder offers.

7. Scheduling

Scheduling tools like Calendly help sales agents book appointments with clients.

In most cases, you'll throw a client a link to your calendar tool, and they'll be able to book themselves into a slot that suits them (based on the times and dates you've allowed).

This also makes life easy if you're running an SDR/AE split, where Sales Development Reps are prospecting and booking meetings for Account Executives.

No more “Hey, are you available at 2 pm tomorrow?” Slack messages.

8. Project management

Project management tools aren't used by all sales teams, but they can be helpful in certain instances.

For example, let's say you're launching a new account-based marketing and sales initiative.

Prepping the process for this initiative could be considered a project in and of itself, meaning certain responsibilities need to be assigned to certain sales team members.

This kind of task would be a great candidate for a project management tool.

6 Best Tools for Sales Reps

So, now's the time to actually buy some tools for sales reps?

You're probably feeling a little overwhelmed: there is a ton out there.

Let's make life easy for you and cut that number down to six excellent tools you can't do without:

1. Ringy
2. Demodesk
3. Trainual
4. Outreach
5. Leadfeeder
6. Calendly

1. Ringy

What? You thought we were going to give you the rundown on the best tools for sales reps and not put ourselves on that list?

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Remember how we said the CRM is the nucleus of your sales tech stack?

Well, you've got to start with a CRM, and what better option than Ringy?

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Ringy is one of the most powerful customer relationship management platforms around, offering the most important features for sales reps determined to hit their quotas.

We're talking stuff like:

• Local caller ID
• Drip campaigns and email automation
• Reporting and analytics tools
• Cloud VOIP softphone
• A mobile app to keep you selling on the go
• Way more

You'll pay just $109 a month for all of that! So, go and check it out!

*Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

2. Demodesk

Demodesk is a solid tool for running your sales demonstrations.

Throw away Zoom, Hangouts, or whatever general-purpose video conferencing tool you're using right now, and level up your presentations using Demodesk.

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With Demodesk, your reps can:

• Build a branded virtual showroom
• Make their sales demos much more interactive
• Eliminate the risk of notifications popping up on screen during meetings
• Improve video conferencing
• Design tailored playbooks and pull up custom battle cards for objection handling

It even has some really powerful tools for sales managers, allowing them to listen in on sales calls, provide advice in real-time, and support new and experienced salespeople with sales conversations.

Demodesk plans start at $35 a month and scale up from there, depending on your needs.

Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

3. Trainual

Trainual is basically like your digital training manual.

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It gets you out of complex folder structures, Google Docs, and video recordings spread everywhere and puts all of your training documentation in a centralized location.

You can add video or text training modules and build interactive tests to ensure new sales reps meet a certain knowledge requirement before moving on to more difficult tasks.

Plus, your sales reps can go back and refresh their knowledge at any time, making coaching easy (Hey, go to module three, your answer is there!)

Trainual costs between $49 and $199 a month, depending on how many users you have and the depth of features you require.

Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

4. Outreach

Outreach is one of the most commonly used sales productivity tools around.

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They brand themselves as a sales execution platform, but if we're going to put them in a category that actually exists, they're a sales enablement tool.

That means Outreach offers features like:

• Prospecting and intelligence insights
• Streamlined workflow automation
• AI-powered action recommendations for sales reps
• Revenue cycle visibility and reporting
• Sentiment analysis to increase email reply rates

Outreach pricing is pretty complex, as they offer a bunch of different products.

As such, they don't advertise their pricing; you'll have to discuss that with them directly.

Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

5. Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder is a powerful B2B lead generation platform.

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Leadfeeder tracks who is visiting your website and provides you with data insights so you can reach out and close a deal.

It even tells you what they're viewing on your website. For instance, this can allow you to reach out only if they've viewed a specific product page and ensure your communication is super contextual.

This allows you to get in front of competitors (who are waiting for inbound leads), and get that sale before they're even aware of the prospect.

Leadfeeder offers a free version, but paid plans start from $79 a month.

Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

6. Calendly

Calendly is a meeting scheduling tool making it easy for your customers to book time with you.

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Life is easy with Calendly.

Just throw your customer a link, and let them book a slot for a time that suits them and you!

One of the best things about Calendly is that it's free! Well, it can be free. You'll need to pay if you want access to some of the more sophisticated features (such as multiple calendar connections, meeting reminders and follow-ups, and automated workflows).

There are 4 pricing plans:

1. Essentials - $8 per user per month
2. Professional - $12 per user per month
3. Teams - $16 per user per month
4. Enterprise - customer pricing

Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

Sales rep tools summary

Note: Pricing is accurate as of 30 August 2022.

Conclusion

Ready to boost productivity and enable your sales team to hit monthly quotas?

Building a productivity tech stack starts with a CRM, so get to it right now:

Book a demo with the Ringy team and discover how we can help you reach your sales goals.

And once that's done, you can move on to sorting your other five sales productivity tools.