How can you improve your sales process by 200%? We have tested and evaluated hundreds of sales tools over the years and have found a few that are so good we use them every day.
Sales Navigator
Salesnavigator is the best known of the toolstack I am going to discuss with you. Salesnav has a pretty good search function that can be linked to make the other tools excel. We use Salesnav to create a target list based on functions of decision makers and specific features of a company.
In this example, we are looking for the directors/CEOs of software-related companies. We select on the company size, because we know that this is where our sweet spot is. We also exclude certain functions, to avoid pollution in the target list. We only want to invest our time and energy in the prospects that are the best fit for us.
What also works well is to look at the decision-makers who have changed jobs in the last 90 days. They are much more likely to be open to change from the current situation than someone who has been in the same job for years.
Linked Helper
This is a really interesting tool. You can automate a whole sh*tload of actions. Linked Helper is an easy way to quickly get the attention of your target group. You could make great use of this for your awareness.
We use this tool to make 'eye contact' several times before approaching the prospect. People are more likely to do business with people they know. We take our target list of LinkedIn addresses and via Linked Helper we have them automatically view their profile a few times. You can also set them to like the latest post/article.
There are many more possibilities such as connection requests with a personal message, event requests and many more. Be careful though, because everyone knows how irritating it is to get a connection request with a pitch. What we always keep in mind is to bring before you can get.
Seamless
Seamless is an enormously useful tool for finding out direct e-mail addresses and direct telephone numbers. The quality of the data differs a little for each target group. With one target group every address is correct, with another target group it can be as little as 50%. In any case, we are big fans!
Seamless can be used within LinkedIn. So you can find the information with the click of a button. You can also have the entire target list examined by Seamless at once, so that you have looked at everyone through Linke Helper and you have different ways of reaching them.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is another tool that fits in extremely well with the prospecting process. Pipedrive doesn't cost too much and it provides enormous support if you are active in prospecting. Pipedrive makes it easy to set up your process, so that you know exactly which contact moments have occurred and what phase the prospect is in. Naturally, you want to know which prospects will enter the market and when.
Other advantages are that you can make calls via Pipedrive and record all your conversations so that you can listen to them again at another time or use them for training.
In addition, you can e-mail from Pipedrive and it has an e-mail tracker that allows you to see if and how often your e-mail is opened. They also have all kinds of workflow automations that make certain processes run much faster. This leaves you with more time to prospect.
Klenty
Over 60% of the prospects you have approached will not be in buying mode, but in learning mode. In other words, they are not in the market right now to buy your product or service.
They do not know that they have a problem or that they are missing an opportunity and they work in the best way known to them. But they are certainly open to learning how their lives can be made easier. So these are the companies that are in the nurture phase.
How do you keep talking to these companies? You've had contact with these companies so you know what they find important. Based on this need, you are going to segment the prospects and send them content that is relevant to them. We use Klenty for this.
Klenty allows you to create drip campaigns. What that simply means is that when a lead reaches a certain stage they automatically receive an email every few days. So with that you avoid sending general newsletter information to them, but content that fits the topic they want to learn more about.
The beauty of Klenty is that you can easily a/b test and everything is immediately registered in your CRM. And should they respond, the automatic flow stops and you can reach them again on a personalised basis.
For €250 per month you already have a decent tool stack to support your new business development. The tools are, of course, tools to start a conversation with the prospect.
