7 Considerations to Pick the Right Software for Your Sales Tech Stack

When it comes to picking the right software to build your tech stack, there are a lot of considerations involved. Of course, what matters to you might be slightly different than what matters to others. When you do it correctly, your sales tech stack will deliver everything that you need, including the insights and analytics that will help you increase sales volumes and streamline inefficiencies. 

B2B technology and sales tools are changing the way we do business and that’s something that we need to take advantage of when building the ideal tech stack. With bigger and better CRM solutions, cloud technology, and plenty of automation and AI, it’s easier than ever to streamline your operations and free up your sales reps so that they can focus more on customers and less on the tedious details. 

Here are seven factors that need to be on your list to ensure that you choose the best software for your sales tech stack, no matter what kind of sales you’re in. 

1. What does the software do?

If you’re in the market for a certain type of software, such as a CRM or a sales platform like Salesforce, make note of that from the start. The best tech stacks have a mix of software tools that help streamline business operations and you will need to hand-pick them one at a time to ensure that you cover all the bases. 

Consider the features and main use of the software to narrow down the list and rule out products that you’re not actually using. To help, here are some sales tech stack must-haves:

• Project management
• Customer relationship management 
• People management and communications
• Admin and scheduling tools
• Sales enablement and automation tools
• Brand/creative management 
• Marketing automation tools
  

2. Automation features

What type of automation features does the software offer? Machine learning and AI are changing the way that sales teams operate. Find tools that can take as much of the work off your hands as possible. Consider all the pain points or areas that you want to streamline. Then, look at the software tools that are available and find the one that suits your needs. 

Some software tools can fully automate things like lead generation, sales follow-up, and other processes. This can help you spend less time at the desk and more time with your customers, which is where any good sales team should be. 

3. Integrations

The best sales tech stack software will integrate seamlessly with the other tools and software that you use. There’s no sense in investing in a platform that stands alone and doesn’t play well with others when there are programs out there today that will integrate with just about anything. The more integrations you can connect, the more streamlined your tech stack will be. 

Keep in mind that you might also find outsourced partners like the team at Smith.ai who will handle integrations and automating different processes, also. It helps if your software is integrated and streamlined from the start, but as long as it gets there eventually, that’s what counts. 

4. Ease of use 

The point of all this technology is that it’s supposed to make things easier. That means that if you’re looking at a software platform that seems too complicated, you should probably just walk away. Make sure that you choose tools that make your sales team’s job easier, and definitely not more tedious. Fortunately, when you are looking at most of the platforms today, you’ll see that they’re all fairly simple to use. 

Trials, reviews, and demos are a great way to find out how easy software will be rather than just guessing or taking the company’s word for it. After all, if it’s not easy to use, it’s not improving anything. 

5. Analytics and reporting

Modern tools are designed with integrated reporting and analytics features that you can use to set up your campaigns and monitor your success. In any of the tools that you use, see what kind of reporting and analytics features are included. If you want, consider investing in software or tools just for analytics (like the Google Analytics program for your SEO marketing). 

Look at tools that can track all of the metrics that you need to be monitored. Take the time to compare their features and consider how you can best put those metrics to use. Think about the KPIs and metrics that matter most in your campaigns and find software that fits into your tech stack to deliver all the insights that you need.  

6. Customization options

In today’s world, customization and tailored solutions have become the standard. There’s no reason to settle for sales tools and software that are limited in their features. Make sure that you can tailor the software to your needs as much (or as little) as you want. For example, you may be able to set custom dashboards for each sales team member, or you could choose to scale the platform to fit the needs of your SMB and grow with you over time. Take advantage of these. 

7. Prospecting and lead generation features

Of course, any tool worth its weight in your sales tech stack will offer some type of assistance with prospecting and lead generation. Whether it’s streamlining insights and customer information from your sales calls into your CRM database or generating a targeted lead list based on automated data insights, there are a lot that modern sales tools can do to assist with lead generation and prospecting, even if that’s not their only function. 

Or, outsource with Smith.ai and get the perfect tech stack and a partnership to go with it

You’ve got a lot on your plate already—organizing your tech stack could prove to be the challenge that you don’t need right now. When you choose to partner with the dedicated virtual receptionists at Smith.ai, you’ll be able to get it all: the tech solutions you need and the people to handle the rest. 

Our dedicated virtual receptionists offer 24/7 solutions for outbound sales and support, appointment scheduling, lead intake and qualification, and even outreach campaigns and more. Schedule a consultation to discuss what a partnership with Smith.ai can do for your business. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.