Sales Stack 2019

Sales Stack 2019: The Tools

SALES STACK 2019

SALES TOOLS FOR PROFESSIONAL SALES

SALES STACK 2019: THE TOOLS

SALES STACK 2019: THE TOOLS

Want the 2023 list instead?Then click here!

It's 2019 and we're back at the sales tools workshop, working out the best sales tools for your sales process. It's going to be an exciting year. You'll get lots of content from us along with advice for your sales process. The focus for 2019 is going to follow this prioritized order:

  1. Which customer journey experience are you creating?
  2. Which sales process works best with your customer experience journey?
  3. Which sales tools best support your sales process?

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What do we mean with "best"?

When it comes to the "best" sales process, we're talking about sales process effectiveness: which sales process has highest conversion from any stage to the following stage?

When it comes to the sales tools that "best" support your sales process, we're aiming for efficiency: which sales tools will support the best sales process AND allow that process to happen at a maximum rate. This typically happens by following our mantra: "automate where you can, go manual when you must".

This content contributes to you staying ahead of your competitors. It's relevant for companies and individual Sales Professionals. As a company you really don't want to fall behind. Same goes for Sales Professionals. In both cases, not knowing what's possible leaves you behind in the global sales tools arms race.

The sales tool categories below aren't set in stone and will be updated from time to time.

As in previous years we're still sharing what we're using. During this year we'll also start sharing the country sales tools stacks series entitles "Sales Tools made In...".

Finally all that is being tied together in integrated tool stacks with some of our friends at the companies listed here.

Let's not wait any further. Sign up to updates using the box and let's dive into looking at the sales tools, which will take you to your next level of growth.

2019 Sales Stack Tools:
       Account Based Marketing
       Account Based Selling
       Analytics
       Buyer Enablement
       Collateral Tracking
       Conversation Intelligence
       CRM
       E-Signatures
       Email Outreach
       Field Sales Management
       Live Chat
       Marketing Enablement & Automation
       Performance Management
       Phone Systems/Solutions/Dialer
       Planning
       Prospecting Leadgen List Creation
       Sales Automation/Acceleration
       Sales Forecasting
       Sales/Marketing Alignment
       Sales Intelligence / LeadGen
       Sales Learning & Onboarding
       Sales Stack Integration
       Smart Scheduling
       Screenshare, Demoing, Conference Calls
       Social Selling
       Team Communication
       Video Sales Engagement
       Web Visitor ID/Tracking
       Sales Growth Hack Tools
 Sales Stack Graveyard

The 2019 Sales Stack Tools List

 

CRM

CRMs We Use

  • Salesflare – Simple yet powerful CRM for small businesses selling B2B 
    Our preferred CRM, Salesflare became one of the CRMs we tinker with back in 2017. It’s mainly very good at allowing sales professionals to not spend much time at all updating the CRM and maximize sales time. It'll track any Google-based Sales Professional's efforts across email, calendar, and phone, and share interaction clients have had with emails, websites, or when they've called back. Sales Pros are reminded to pay attention to opportunities before they grow stale. Also we're seeing early success with this non-suite player's ability to act as a suite as part of a workflow using Zapier.
    • Salesforce.com – The Customer Success Platform To Grow Your Business
      Obviously, Salesforce.com is the gorilla in the CRM-room, having been around since the beginning of SaaS. It's interesting - it's both the CRM everyone aspires to be like and be different than.

    Other CRMs

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    Conversation Intelligence

    What is Conversation Intelligence:
    In short Conversation Intelligence is the gathering and the analysis of conversations with the aim of saving time and improving outcomes structurally. Imagine if you could make qualify every single lead faster and more accurately and consistently convert the good leads faster at a higher rate. That's the promise of Conversation Intelligence.

    Why is Conversation Intelligence Important?:
    As with most other categories there are plenty of good reasons to get started with Conversation Intelligence tools. Here are a few:

    • sales managers don't really generally have the time, the skills nor the insight to provide accurate and impactful coaching based on listening in on live or recorded calls;
    • saves time by helping reps more efficiently (dis-)qualify leads;
    • helps sales leaders understand the answers to many of the questions they'll have about individual deals;
    • help sales reps get A LOT better through actually knowing what works and getting coached on implementing it;
    • increases the impact of those highly-paid sales reps and improves the conversion of those expensive leads.

    How is Conversation Intelligence Done?:
    In B2B sales we'll be using call recording, call transcriptions, call analytics and call scoring. That's obviously just for calls, though. Conversation Intelligence obvious benefits are about to be reaped across all customer communications including video, email, sms, and chat.

    What's the shortcoming?:
    Conversation Intelligence by and large is an English-only affair. That means all your French-German-Dutch-Japanese-Russian sales communication will remain a "mystery" for the foreseeable future.

    Regardless, we've gathered a few tools to get you started.

    The Tools

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    Social Selling

    We Use

    • LinkedIn Sales Navigator – The social selling era starts now.
      LinkedIn Sales Navigator is the regular LinkedIn on steroids. Work with anyone, anywhere, now.

    • Shield App - Real-time LinkedIn Analytics
      Before the introduction of Shield App, going through our LinkedIn social selling and content data was rather difficult if not impossible. Now, we have clear, live, actionable insights for any component we'd like analytics of.

    Other Tools

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    Collateral Tracking

    We Use

    • DocSend – Find and share the documents that close deals.
      We currently use Docsend as part of our sales process. It provides an easy way to show off your content, track views, and build process workflows (using Zapier and IFTTT).

    Other Tools

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    Web Visitor ID/Tracking

    We Use

    Other Tools

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    Sales Intelligence / LeadGen

    We Use

    Other Tools

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    Smart Scheduling

    We Use

    Other Tools

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    Prospecting Leadgen List Creation

    We Use

    • Bouncer - Email Verification Done Right
      You know why email doesn't work? It's because those email addresses get outdated lightning fast - literally. Bouncer helps us make sure our data is accurate, so we'll be able to properly stay in touch with our clients and potential clients.
    • Datanyze – Sales Intelligence & Lead Generation Software
      Giving this software a spin after being away for a long while. Thus far, the data we're getting from Datanyze is very accurate and has impressive depth. It goes well beyond just scanning websites.
    • PowerWWW - Source Code Search Engine
      Basically what it says on the tin. Are you selling an offering that competes with an offering which requires code snippets on websites? Then here's how to find all their clients.
    • Voogy (renamed from Salestools.io) – Connect with anyone. Direct Emails and Phones.
      Salestools allows us to build lists of organizations based on a number of criteria all over the World and automate it with their Auto Prospector.

    Other Tools

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    Marketing Enablement & Automation

    We Use

    • Buffer – A Smarter Way to Share on Social Media
      Long time first pick for how to easily share social media updates. Plans are about to change and we'll see during 2018 how that pans out for Buffer.
    • KuKu.io – Social media management tools
      Social Media manager, similar to Buffer.com. We use Kuku to post to more accounts than we can with our Buffer account.
    • Story Chief – create awareness and gather initial interest
      Story Chief makes it a lot easier to generate inspiring thought leadership content and distribute it to blogs, social networks, influencers, email marketing software and more.

    Other Tools

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    Performance Management

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    Sales Automation/Acceleration

    We Use

    • PieSync – Integrate your Apps 
      Just absolutely great at syncing contact information between CRM, Google Contacts, and other relevant apps.
    • Salesflare Email Tracking – The Intelligent Sales CRM
    • Zapier – The best apps. Better together
      If you're reading this and you don't know Zapier already, this might be the biggest find on this entire list. Zapier brings it all together and turns your disparate best-in-class software into a suite on steroids.

    Other Tools

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    Sales Forecasting

    What is Sales Forecasting:
    Predicting with varying degrees of accuracy which deals or which volume of business is going to close within a certain time period. Forecasting sales volume for product categories is a common addition.

    Why is Sales Forecasting Important?:
    This varies by industry and the range of reasons for forecasting is fairly wide. It includes the following:

    • manufacturing products in correct amounts at the appropriate time and help with correct resource allocation;
    • managing stock market expectations for revenue, profit, and for specific product categories;
    • an accurate forecast makes it possible to create plans.

    How is Sales Forecasting Done?:
    In B2B sales the most well-known method is the forecast call or forecast meeting, where each Sales Professional estimates the near-, medium- and/or long-term for their respective areas. All input is consolidated into a department and company view of the total sales forecast.

    Sales reps, of course, can't hold or crunch vast amounts of data on product category splits sold vs forecasted, seasonal changes, and  under-/over-forecasting percentages.

    For this and other reasons companies increasingly use technology to gain productivity and increased understanding in the forecasting process, in order to efficiently produce an accurate company-wide forecast.

    This category represents those much needed tools.

    Tools

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      Email Outreach

      We Use

      • Salesflare – The Intelligent Sales CRM
        Most of the time we actually default back to Salesflare's campaign feature. It allows us to send out the right email to clients and prospects in a timely manner, and seeing what happens with that email after sending. Simple & effective.

      Other Tools

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      Field Sales Management

      What is Field Sales Management?:
      Selling in the field presents its own set of challenges if it is to be done efficiently. Software for Field Sales Management helps solve those challenges.

      Why is Field Sales Management Important?:
      Sales Professionals are expensive valuable for the companies they work for. Sales Professionals in the field, sitting in their car, public transportation, or idling in an airplane are SUPER expensive.

      Sales Leaders and Sales Professionals alike have a keen interest in maximizing sales time going into the field.

      How is Field Sales Management Done?:
      Sales Pro's use Field Sales tools to crush their quotas by:

      • optimizing route planning, getting the best route to the best prospects;
      • convert inefficient and idle planning time to revenue-generating client-facing time;
      • make the most of unforeseen schedule changes by replanning on the fly;
      • increase conversion rates through leaving a good first impression by simply being on time.

      Sales Leaders profit too by:

      • making better sales territories;
      • manage territories and accounts to maximize return on opportunity;
      • help Sales Professionals to maximize sales and minimize travel frustration.

      It's quite possible that Inside Sales is on the rise and several of the tools on this page are proof of it. There are still really large opportunities, complex problems, and difficult decisions, which require a visit.

      By using some of the Field Sales Management software offerings below, companies can help their clients even more.

      Tools

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      Sales Stack Apps Integration

      We Use

      • Zapier – The best apps. Better together
        If you're reading this and you don't know Zapier already, this might be the biggest find on this entire list. Zapier brings it all together and turns your disparate best-in-class software into a suite on steroids.
      • PieSync – Integrate your Apps 
        Just absolutely great at syncing contact information between CRM, Google Contacts, and other relevant apps.

      Other Tools

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      Live Chat

      We Use

      • Crisp - Give your customer messaging experience a human touch
        In tests.
      • Drift - the new way businesses buy from businesses
        Drift is a relatively new entrant in what was Intercom's market. Unlike Intercom they come from Sales and are committed to helping companies have more meaningful dialogue with their clients. Sequences are an important part of how that's done.

      Other Tools

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      Screenshare, Demoing, Conference Calls

      We Use

      • Skype - enabling the World's conversations
        Since many of our conversations start on Skype, screensharing using Skype is natural. It works well, but is missing proper whiteboarding.
      • Zoom – #1 Video Conferencing and Web Conferencing Service
        We're using Zoom on assignments for our clients. In our own environment it's particularly handy for sharing of a whiteboard. Few other apps have as useful collaborative whiteboarding features as Zoom.

      Other Tools

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      Analytics

      We Use

      • Shield App - Real-time LinkedIn Analytics
        Before the introduction of Shield App, going through our LinkedIn data was rather difficult if not impossible. Now, we have clear, live, actionable insights for any component we'd like analytics of.

      Other Tools

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      E-Signature

      We Use

      Other Tools

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      Phone Systems/Solutions/Dialer

      We Use

      Other Tools

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      Team Communication

      We Use

      • Skype - enabling the World's conversations
        Slack is our leading internal communications tool, but sometimes it's just more practical to communicate with parts of the extended team using Skype chat.
      • Slack – Be less busy
        We like Slack for channels, private messages and first and foremost for its Zapier integration, which elevates internal communication to a while new level.

      Other Tools

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      Planning

      Back to the Start of the List & Table of Contents

       
       

      Sales/Marketing Alignment

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      Video Sales Engagement

      We Use

      Other Tools

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      Sales Growth Hacking

      Before you read this section, take note of this!!!: These tools should not be used by sales automation novices - guidance highly recommended!
      The correct use of tools can take you to your desired destination faster. Without proper process many tools can alternatively accelerate and compound the speed and degree with which things go wrong. 
      The nature of the tools in this category is that they can very quickly take you to a very, very dark place far, far from your desired destination. If you decide to use them, make sure to take advice from an experienced Sales Automation Professional. You've been warned! Read on and use at your own risk.

      What are Sales Growth Hacking Tools?:
      With the rise of technology as a core component of sales operations, a subset of very powerful have emerged. These tools mostly take advantage of web technology to automate actions one would have otherwise had to manually execute.

      What makes Sales Growth Hacking Tools interesting?:
      It's mostly about productivity, really. Most of these tools carry out actions that any determined individual with plenty of time on their hands would be able to do manually. Here are a few of the potential benefits:

      • messaging outreach for faster prospecting, recruitment, and list generation;
      • messaging outreach for quick and targeted distribution of content;
      • scrape content from website - often social networking sites.

      How are Sales Growth Hacking tools used?:
      More often than not sales growth hacking tools come packaged as extensions for Google's Chrome browser. In addition to and alternatively they may exist on entirely separate websites.

      What's the shortcoming?:
      Well, it's simple, really. While these tools aren't necessarily technically illegal, many will go counter to the terms and conditions of the services they're built to make use of. Wrong use could lead to temporary or permanent penalties for your access to any of these services. Handle with care!

      All the tools:

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      Sales Stack Tools Graveyard:

      Back to the Start of the List & Table of Contents

      What triggered this article is a year-old passion for tools for the sales process along with a question on Quora wiki, which you can find here. The problem in the Quora wiki is that everyone can add and delete content. Competitors would remove each other and add themselves, making the wiki unreliable.

      Edited and categorized as always by Jakob Thusgaard. Making sure to keep a copy, so this list of tools for the Sales Stack remains as valuable and relevant as possible. Send a message or comment here if you have any problems whatsoever with that.

      Comments 24

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      2. Wow, great list.

        I noticed two exceptions of tools we use:
        Appointlet.com – scheduling software (we chose this after reviewing against Calendly for functionality we needed)
        Envoke.com – marketing automation and email marketing software (full disclosure; our company)

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      3. Hi – great list!
        Any reason you aren’t including the following categories:
        1.) ABM/ABS (account-based marketing/sales)
        2.) Content (creation, management, distribution, analytics) – especially creating quality content at scale. It underpins pretty much any outbound/inbound strategy/campaign and is extremely ‘manual’ still

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      4. Enjoyed reading the article above , really explains everything in detail,the article is very interesting and effective. Thank you and good luck for the upcoming articles.

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      6. Pingback: Anonymous

      7. Pingback: What is a Sales Stack?​ | I´m Andreas Cederblad

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          Thanks for asking, Robert. It should be possible to make one. I have it all in a more raw data format. What kind of visualization are you interested in and what might the purpose be?

          Reply

      10. Hello, Jackob.

        Very comprehensive list. I stumbled across it and thought to contribute a couple of tools that we use and have found them very useful.

        Hangouts : Surprisingly practical for mobile professionals. Great for meetings/demos etc especially if your business is already using suite.
        MiragetLeads : We use their B2B lead generation platform. Very powerful platform.
        Gobot : Live chat and chatbot with support for logical sequences. Very robust and best of all it is free. Recommended for startups on limited resources.

        Regards,

        Andy

        Reply

      11. Awesome Jacob. Thanks for sharing this exhaustive list of tools. I’m sold on this already. In the lead gen tools that you mentioned, I’d like to make a suggestion. I have been using this tool called Leadbunnies email extractor for some time. It’s a great fit for email marketers who believe in cold email marketing to bring in prospects. This tool that I’m talking about can extract 1000s of email leads and build a strong prospective list within minutes. Saving you great amount of time, effort and money. Would be glad to know how you feel about it!

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      13. Hey Jakob,

        recently came across your article and I have to say kudos for the in-depth list and for keeping it up-to-date. If possible I’d love to feature Sales.Rocks on your list as well. We’re a sales intelligence platform mainly dealing with European B2B data but we’re constantly expanding the platform (the perks of a growing field and a start-up).

        Thanks again for the exhaustive list and have a good day!

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