The Best Apps in Salesforce AppExchange to Make Your Sales Team More Productive

Salesforce AppExchange is a great resource for sales teams of all sizes and from all types of industries. Of course, Salesforce itself has built quite a reputation for providing companies with resources and solutions in the realm of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), and their app marketplace is just the latest extension of this. 

You no longer have to go hunting for compatible apps, and thanks to Salesforce’s own organizational efforts, you can even browse for apps by function, purpose, or department, including apps for sales teams. 

Of course, every sales team is different so their app needs may vary, as well. Salesforce does a good job to provide more than 4,000 apps for businesses that help with everything from sales to productivity to marketing and so much more. Today’s small businesses need to be innovative, agile, and ready to make changes at the drop of a hat. They also need to embrace forward-thinking tech and AI in every way that helps their efficiency. 

In the list below, we’ll cover some of the best sales-specific apps for Salesforce users that are available in the AppExchange. First, though, we’ll talk a little more about productivity and how to choose the best apps for your sales team. 

Productivity means growth 

Today, technology is changing the game for the way that every business operates. The available software, apps, and tools are giving people the chance to do things in a simpler, more streamlined, and more effective way than ever before. With the apps from the AppExchange, your team can solve business challenges, increase collaboration and provide a better customer experience, and streamline the journey for everyone to increase productivity and profits across the board. 

When your sales team has the best tools for the job, they’ll be better able to meet your customers where they are and deliver the level of service required. When they can automate routine and redundant tasks, that frees up their time for things that really need their attention. It’s all about giving your team the tools to help them succeed so that they can help your business succeed. 

When you work with the Salesforce platform, they make that a lot easier than you might think. Now, let’s talk about how to figure out which apps you should be working with. 

Choosing the right apps for the job

There are thousands of apps out there today. While that’s helpful in many ways, it can be overwhelming for some. Some apps are a surefire problem solver, and then there are some that you have to consider a little more carefully. There are no right or wrong answers here, either. It’s all about finding what works for you.

Challenges: What challenges are you trying to solve? Which pain points of your sales team are the most pressing and require a new approach? This will help you narrow down your search for apps and limit it to those that are immediately relevant. 

Business Processes: What type of processes are you trying to improve? Just because it’s for the sales team doesn’t mean it has to be sales-related. In fact, you could add the DocuSign app, for example, so that your dealership sales team can get signatures electronically and close deals faster. Think about the areas you most want to improve and then start there when stocking your Salesforce library from the AppExchange. 

Customer Experience: If you find apps that help your sales team improve the customer experience while also improving their own efforts, you’ll get a double win. And with over 4,000 different apps to choose from, Salesforce has something for every team on the AppExchange. This is a big part of success for any business, so be sure to check out any apps that make things better for your customer. 

App Features: Obviously, you’ll want to consider all the features that come with the app. Because there are so many different options out there, you can afford to be a bit pickier here, so make sure that you check out the features and choose apps that have the most that you can use. There’s something to be said for an app that only does one or two things if it does the right things, but when you’ve got apps with more features, you can get more done with fewer tools. 

Time and Budget: although most of the apps and tools are free or cheap on the AppExchange, these factor into your consideration for any tool that you use for business. That’s why it made the list. Consider your timeframe and the budget that you’re working with to help you get the best apps that will get results when you need them. 

There are several other factors that you may want to consider, including the types of apps out there. There are several to choose from, categorized by:

• Productivity
• Collaboration
• Data and reporting
• Remote access
• Customer experience

You might find that you need a few apps from each of these categories, or you might find that you’re just looking to boost your productivity and collaboration, for example. Either way, knowing what you have to work with is half the battle. Now that you’ve got a better idea of how to find what you need, let’s talk about the apps you need to consider to boost the productivity of your sales team. 

The best apps for sales productivity

Zapier

The entire purpose of Zapier is to automate and increase productivity. It’s always going to be a win in our book when you’re looking for integrations that improve productivity. This tool helps you integrate all of your apps and keep things streamlined so that you can run your business more effectively. There are thousands of integrations and pre-built configurations, and you can even create your own. 

DocuSign eSignature

We mentioned this one briefly above and for good reason. If you’re in any kind of sales where signatures are required for contracts or other documents, electronic signatures are the way to go. DocuSign can integrate with all of the tools that you use so that you can get signatures in a matter of minutes without having to wait on the mail or a physical meeting. While the virtual ink is drying, your sales team can take care of other things. 

Salesforce CPQ & Billing

Again, the last thing your sales team needs is to be spending hours on paperwork and details like quoting. With this app, quotes are quick, easy, and accurate even when the quoting process is complex. Plus, it offers features to integrate with and export to your other software tools, allowing your entire business to be streamlined. 

Dashboard Pal

This is a free app that is going to save a lot of time for sales teams and your entire business. The tool helps organize all of your dashboards in one place and makes it easy to navigate to them from the home page so that you don’t have to go through a lot of steps to get the information that you need. When it comes to productivity, faster and more efficient is always better and tools like this are great because they don’t cost a thing. 

Gainsight

Gainsight helps brands organize customer data and create actionable information that can be consumed and used to make smart sales moves. This app is a useful one for the sales team when you are struggling to organize customer information and use it to create successful qualified leads. There are a lot of different ways you can use and customize this app to fit the needs of your sales team, too. 

Slack for Salesforce

Slack is a great collaboration and communication tool for teams of all kinds, including sales teams. It helps improve communication and transparency and can even improve the customer journey because there are fewer hiccups in intra-office communication throughout the sales process. Slack allows you to private message people, create groups and boards, and even share documents and other information in real-time so that everyone is on the same page. Instead of having to run across the office or pick up the phone and call someone, you can just hop on Slack and start talking like they’re right beside you. 

Cloud Coach

If you want to improve training on productivity and related topics, Cloud Coach is a great choice. This app is an integrated tool that features videos, a knowledge base, and other resources to ensure that your people are properly trained for the job. This is great for change management, new hire training, and updated training modules. It’s a cloud-based platform that you can customize to your business needs, and it can help your sales team improve their skills in less time and with less involvement on your part, thanks to technology. 

Distribution Engine

This tool is an integral one for several brands that are trying to route their inbound leads and improve their sales funnel. The app is available with several features and customization options to help each company create the ideal routing for their inbound funnel that delivers the quick, efficient results that companies today need. When your team spends less time qualifying and coaxing leads along, they’ll be able to spend more time closing deals and creating lasting relationships with your customers. 

Campaign Monitor

For sales teams that are looking to monitor their campaigns and improve their performance, Campaign Monitor is a must-have. It’s a free app, first of all, and it integrates seamlessly with the Salesforce platform so that you can get robust reporting without even leaving the app. You will be able to customize the campaigns and reports, as well as the various dashboard features, and more. This is a great way to access all of your metrics and reporting in one place and streamline tracking for everyone. 

Chatter

Want to keep your sales team in communication at all times? You can use Chatter from Salesforce to build your own social network for your enterprise operation, creating a place where everyone can connect with their co-workers, team members, superiors, and others. It has a lot of great features and tools, and when you have a large organization, it streamlines the communication process so that everyone can work quicker and spend less time waiting for answers. It’s not a free app, but if you’re enlisting the Salesforce platform, it’s worth the investment for the additional communication support. 

Salesforce Pardot

This is perhaps one of the best customer experience tools on the AppExchange. This tool can help your sales team find and nurture better leads, close more deals, and greatly improve their return on investment (ROI). You’ll be able to move leads quickly through the pipeline, engage buyers where they are, and understand everything as you go, thanks to tracking and metrics that are captured every step of the way. When it comes to improving productivity, automation can go a long way. 

Speaking of productivity, get another boost when you partner with Smith.ai 

While your sales team is busy taking care of sales, who’s fielding your calls and answering your website chats?

If you partner with Smith.ai, you’ll be able to count on our 24/7 virtual receptionists to field every call, chat, and even Facebook and SMS messages, along with plenty of other services and solutions to keep your business moving. Your sales team doesn’t need to be sitting at a desk answering phones and waiting for website queries—they should be out taking care of the customers and working on sales. 

Our virtual receptionists can handle all of the admin and communications tasks you need, from after-hours answering and overflow call answering to payment collection, scheduling and lead intake, and so much more. Plus, we’ll build a custom strategy to help you manage it all and integrate with your CRM and other tools to keep you informed every step of the way. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation to discuss what the 24/7 virtual receptionists can do for your productivity by taking more off your plate. You’ll also find us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.