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Productivity is key for inside sales teams to hit their targets. So how do the best performing teams do it? Often, the answer is found in productivity tools for sales reps.

Because we’re in the business of building tools like these, we do our research.

The Salesforce Third Annual State of Sales report looks at high performing inside sales teams and highlights key components of their productivity:

 

  • CRM system adoption is extremely high with 66% of UK sales teams using sales CRM software.

  • Sales reps only spend 34% of the time selling and the rest on data entry or other admin tasks.

  • 81% of sales teams say that a connected view of data across the customer journey is important.

  • The use of AI and automated technology will increase by 155% by 2020.

 

So what do all these stats add up to? They show that efficiency pays off. High performing sales reps minimise the time spent on non-revenue tasks, such as admin, while maximising the time spent closing deals.

They accomplish this by employing a CRM solution that’s integrated with productivity tools for sales reps.

 

CRM: The Heartbeat of Inside Sales

CRM software is at the heart of every efficient inside sales team. This is where leads and prospects are stored and managed. The key benefits of a CRM for an inside sales organisation include the ability to:

 

  • store all prospect and customer information in one location.

  • set follow-up actions and remind salespeople to complete them.

  • provide a central place where multiple team members can coordinate actions

  • enable sales managers to inspect deals and their sales team’s full pipeline.

  • facilitate reporting of conversion rates

  • enable instant forecasting for management.

 

Sales productivity can be boosted even more by extending the functionality of CRMs by integrating other tools for sales reps.

 

Boost Inside Sales Organisation with Shared Documents

In the age of Google Docs, there’s no excuse for not staying up to date - whether you’re talking sales email templates, proposals or internal company information. The beauty of document apps or software like Google Suite or Quip is that once a template is created, it can instantly be shared with the entire sales team. Not only that, but the collaboration process is greatly simplified, as multiple users can review and edit documents at the same time.

 

Stay Up-to-Date with Internal Message Boards

Inside sales teams need to be on the same page, all the time, every time. Whether product updates, policy changes, or quarterly targets, your sales team needs to be connected at all times. Slack is one of the most popular company messaging apps for sales teams due to the range of integration options with leading sales and CRM software. Other leading CRMs provide standalone solutions such as Chatter. Apps like these boost productivity with inline document sharing and team channel creation for streamlined communication channels.

 

Automate Proposals and Collect E-Signatures

Manually drafting proposals and chasing clients to sign them is a real productivity killer. Software solutions can simplify this process by automating proposals and allowing clients to digitally sign and return documents. These tools save sales reps a lot of time and hassle. They also creates a much better customer experience: it makes the lengthy print - sign - scan - email process redundant. Adobe is one of the most prominent e-signature tools, but there are many great alternatives for inside sales teams, such as Sertifi and DocuSign.

 

Get Your Point Across with Screen Sharing

Video call apps, such as Google Hangouts, Skype for Business or GotoMeeting, maximise engagement in your sales calls. One of the key features is the option to share your screen in real time. When a sales rep wants to quickly demo a feature or refer to a case study, screen sharing is an efficient and simple solution. Some solutions offer to add more than 20 users to a conference call – great for info events or webinars.

Features like these turn sales calls into an interactive experience and really helps your sales staff to get their point across. This is also highly efficient, because sharing in real time accomplishes multiple sales goals at the same time: education, product awareness and brand credibility.

 

Perfect Follow-Ups with Email Tracking

When it comes to email tracking, Zynbit is one of the most popular productivity tools for inside sales reps. You can track exactly when prospects open and interact with your emails. This allows you to schedule follow-ups at the optimum time.

What’s more, the app also offers features like calendar syncing. Based on your activity, Zynbit can actually save you time by automatically updating milestones in your CRM software

 

Track Shared Slide Decks

How many times have you seen a great company slide deck that would be perfect for engaging leads or starting a sales conversation? Often, prospects may even request to see a particular slide deck. Sending a loose powerpoint is not the best option.

Software like Clearslide makes it possible to share slide decks and track how prospects interact with each part of the presentation. This gives sales reps a slide level of insight. Knowing what slides a client values increases the ability of your inside sales to target the right users with the right pitch. ClearSlide integrations with top CRM platforms like Salesforce make it easy to integrate these into your current workflow.

 

Boost Sales Intelligence with Data Providers

Inside sales teams live on data. When it comes to prospecting and finding new leads, LinkedIn Navigator is many sales reps’ software of choice. With features like advanced search, sending messages without being connected on the network, and integrations with CRM, it’s clearly a powerful productivity booster. There is also a great network of data providers that can plug right into your CRM. This ensures your inside sales reps will always have enough leads to follow up.

 

Take Your Inside Sales Productivity to the Next Level

Using productivity tools for sales reps can help meet inside sales’ quota by increasing efficiency.

What’s more: by adding data and automation software to common workflows, it relieves the burden of administrative tasks and empowers your sales team to focus on closing deals.

Learn how the world’s leading Sales CRM software can maximise your sales productivity today.

 

This post is part of our Navigating the Sales Cycle series. Download the e-book and discover the 7 steps to sales success.