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Hiring the right talent with the necessary skills is the first step to running a successful outbound call center. In order to help that team reach their full potential and take the business to the next level, you need to provide them with the right technological tools and support. A strong sales tech stack is key to ensuring that your whole team is as productive and efficient as possible.
What is a Sales Tech Stack?
A collection of software applications and technologies used by sales teams to streamline their operations and improve their sales processes is known as a sales tech stack. It typically includes a variety of tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, marketing automation platforms, sales productivity tools, and analytics and reporting tools.
How Many Sales Tech Stacks Should Your Team Use?
The quantity of sales technology stack software that is required will depend on the size of your organization, the product offering, and the duration of the sales cycle. According to estimates, 68% of companies are using between four and ten sales tech stack tools.
What Tools Should be in Your Perfect Sales Tech Stack?
As contacts move through the sales pipeline, the associated tasks change throughout the journey from prospecting to sales and finally processing and delivering the purchased product. Sales tech tools focusing specifically on these areas will ensure a seamless process:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Prospecting and Lead Generation Tools
- Communication and Scheduling Tool
- Performance Management
- Reporting and Analytics
- Closing Sales Tools
Choosing the Right CRM
If relationships are the basis of sales transactions, the CRM tools are the basis for keeping track of those relationships and all associated interactions with each prospect.
This is the place in which sales teams store every piece of information about prospects, from the initial contact through to when they (hopefully) become a paying customer and beyond. The more details you include and the more carefully you track each interaction, the easier it will be to have meaningful communication cycles leading to more sales and increased retention. Good notes in the CRM can also prevent wasted time on unqualified contacts as well as help identify opportunities for upselling.
It is crucial that the CRM integrates easily with the rest of your sales technology stack components, especially call center software that will be used for prospecting, communication, performance management, and, of course, closing those deals. Fortunately, as the global customer relationship management market is projected to grow from $63.9 billion in 2022 to $145.8 billion by 2029, there are (and will likely be even more) CRM options to choose from.
4 Top current leading CRM providers:
- Salesforce – this cloud-based CRM is a popular tool that provides team members with a shared view of each contact. This means that the sales team has access to customer data from any source and is able to provide streamlined personalized support via phone, email, social, or chat.
- Hubspot – another cloud-based product, Hubspot is the choice of many small businesses that want to use one tool to manage their sales pipeline and provide customer support.
- ZOHO – for the budget-conscious small business, ZOHO is an easy-to-use and easy-to-scale CRM known for its capabilities in automated outreach, sales tracking, and customer engagement.
- Monday.com – while mostly well-known for its project management features, Monday.com also offers CRM functionality for businesses that are interested in a visualization combining their CRM and project management data.
Prospecting and Lead Generation Tools
Making sure that you have a good storage solution for your contacts is just the first step. In most companies, the data that is added to the CRM comes from multiple sources. Much of this data is simple “intelligence” and may include information that has come from inbound prospects who filled out web forms as well as lists and other information purchased from third-party providers to reach outbound prospects.
The problem is that this data is likely to include inaccuracies, and it needs to be filtered and “cleaned” so that the sales team can use it to identify relevant contacts and not waste time reaching out to people who will never turn into customers.
A prospecting tool serves to “orchestrate” the data – sifting through all of the data sources, removing duplicates, and ultimately providing a data set that is continuously being updated and gives sales teams the most useful information. The tool should be able to use this data to compile a list of scored leads and verified numbers for the sales agents to contact.
Octopus CRM — powerful lead generation software that can streamline the process of prospecting and lead generation. The tool can extract information from LinkedIn and automate outreach efforts, ensuring that the sales team is constantly connected with potential leads.
Communication and Scheduling Tools
Next up – effective communication. Many sales reps lose valuable time that could be spent talking to prospects simply waiting for their calls to be answered.
Autodialer – The more potential leads that a sales agent speaks to in a given day, the higher the number of deals they will close. Software that can check the quality of phone numbers and the likelihood of the prospect answering can save huge amounts of time and help prioritize which numbers agents should be calling. Features such as an Autodialer and dynamic caller-ID will save agents even more precious time otherwise wasted on manually dialing and waiting for answers and will mitigate the risk of being flagged as spam.
Contact center software – Not all prospects want to be reached on the phone. In many cases, speaking to a prospect via SMS, social media or another platform may make them more comfortable and amenable to a sale. Omnichannel contact center software will ensure that customers can be reached on the platform of their choice, also increasing the likelihood of making the connection and having a conversation that results in a sale.
Dripify — sales automation tool can improve communication by enabling sales reps to send targeted and personalized messages to prospects via LinkedIn and email. This helps ensure that prospects are engaged and receive the right message at the right time. Dripify helps save time and increase productivity by eliminating the need for daily manual scheduling.
Performance Management
Most outbound sales do not happen in the first call, but rather are the result of an ongoing conversation. Performance monitoring during the sales process means being able to identify and then address potential pitfalls in real time. An essential component of the sales tech stack is a monitoring tool that listens in on calls and raises alerts when specific words are said or terms are omitted. These types of tools can also provide emotional monitoring and give sales reps insight in real-time into the lead’s frame of mind. When the circumstances demand it, sales managers are able to whisper comments to the agent during calls or even break in and take over.
Reporting and analytics
Another important part of the tech stack is a sales reporting tools and analytics tool that can be used to evaluate the overall performance of the call center as a whole as well as specific agents. Some of the key parameters to measure include the:
- Number of active calls
- Number of effective calls
- Number of abandoned calls
- Number of total calls
- Average waiting time
- Call duration per agent
VoiceSpin software will be able to track only effective calls, such as ones that last over 30 seconds, and automatically filter out ones that were wrong numbers or went to voicemail as those are less critical to evaluating an agent’s performance.
It’s Closing Time
The most important part of the sales team’s job is, of course, closing the deal. But the process does not end there – once the customer agrees to the sale, the information must be shared internally with the finance, product, and account management teams. A smooth process from the close of the sale to the final delivery of the product is key to customer satisfaction and retention, and this part, too, can be made easier with the help of technology. The better the tools the agent has at his/her disposal, the more organized and efficient s/he can be, ensuring a smooth process for the customer.
The tech tool needed at this stage is one that allows the entire closing process to be managed in one place. As soon as the sales rep clicks to indicate that a sale has been made, it should trigger an automatic process that includes letting all relevant internal parties know so that they can get involved. Communication with the customer to finalize the contract and product delivery should also be as automated (yet personalized) as possible. If the closing process does not run smoothly, the customer could still back out so this is a crucial step.
VoiceSpin Brings it All Together
When setting up your sales tech stack, the most important thing is to make sure that all platforms can integrate smoothly together as well as with any other existing tools that you have. The sales process is made up of a number of steps, but you and your sales team need to move seamlessly from one to the next. The sales tools need to facilitate that or it isn’t doing their job.
Improve Your Sales Team with a Comprehensive Sales Tech Stack
Each business is unique and needs to find the tools that work best. VoiceSpin provides tailor-made systems built independently for each client. The modular solution can scale as your business scales, making sure that your tech stack perfectly matches up to your sales process every step of the way. For more information, reach out to one of our sales reps here.
