It takes a team to succeed in sales. But you can't do much if the team doesn't have the right tools to do their job. This ultimate guide explores how building a sales tech stack helps streamline a company’s sales efforts. 

What is a Sales Tech Stack?

Sales tech stacks make the process easier. They are a collection of digital tools or software services that helps sales teams to accomplish their targets. But this collection doesn’t fit every situation.

Just like every company works differently, the sales techniques differ too. And so do the tools and software to meet these needs.

And a perfect sales tech stack fits the needs of the organization, including its goals, challenges, and strengths.

Why do salespeople want to build a sales tech stack?

Sales is one of the best indicators of productivity in for-profit organizations. However, assessing sales differs across companies and industries. 35% of sales leaders track the performance of the sales tools to track productivity.

The reliance on sales tools has increased so much that 75-85% of the top salespeople attribute their successes to email marketing, social selling, CRMs (like Salestack), and even productivity apps. 

So, sales tech stacks bring in sales and help salespersons become more efficient and productive. It supports their selling efforts and increases the success rate. Tools also help salespersons to manage their operations and optimize their workflow.

What is the importance of building a sales tech stack?  

Unlike lawyers, salespersons do not have billable hours. They usually receive pay and commissions based on results. Tools shorten the sales cycle and help streamline and automate tasksthat did not directly impact sales. 

For example, a sales tech stack tool can help you place orders with a logistics company without inputting details of each transaction. This way, the tools help to save time and company resources at every stage of the buyer journey.

Another point is that some tools help detect issues that hinder the accuracy of monthly revenue predictions. It can help reduce the burden on production when the sales predictionis lower than the actual sales. Or help save up on inventory costs when the sales figure doesn’t meet predictions.

What happens when not using the sales tech stack?

Sales is an art. Salespersons are not machines that bring in the sales figure. To meet monthly goals, salespersons go through a lot of pressure and often burn out because they don’t have the right tools to support them.

Without tools to automate lengthy processes, they only spend 34% of their time selling. And this time also does not guarantee conversions. So, when a company is not using a sales tech stack or not using the right combination of tools and software services, it can’t close more effectively. 

Secondly, they spend their time in activities that do not generate revenue. Examples of these activities are:

• Fill in the client data in your CRM software manually.

• Writing each email to your prospects manually.

• Working on the next steps and sending meeting invites.

• Manually generating sales quotes.

• Prospecting manually.

When you automate these tasks, the sales pros can work on tasks that matter. 

Reasons why sales professionals are unable to invest in the right tool

One issue with selecting a sales tech stack is that companies don’t invest in the right tools. There are multiple reasons why this happens:

Unaware of the Frontline

One of the most common reasons for an ineffective sales tech stack is ignorance of ground realities. Sales leaders and teams may have experience, but when they are not directly interacting with the customers, they don’t know the challenges sales reps face and the expectations they need to fulfill.

Lack of Expertise

Only experts should pick out tools. Leaders may have worked as sales reps when sales were mostly manual. Hence, they may be out of touch with the latest tools. 

Tech Stack Selection Strategy

Developing the perfect tech stack is a process that shouldn’t be abrupt. Each tool should be assessed for its role, whether it is an unmet need or an overlap with another tool.

Creating Organizational Silos

When organizations start with sales tech stacks, they don’t realize that just using the tool does not guarantee success. Because every unit sold to the customer has the efforts of multiple teams and departments, sales tools also affect everyone.

If the company fails to break the silos, there will be business gaps that obstruct goals. According to the Harvard Business Review, processes must execute on the promise of customer focus. This way, the silos are busted, and departments can collaborate towards a single goal. Implementing a tool is also a form of collaboration between different teams and departments.

What questions to consider before building your sales tech stack?

Building a sales tech stack is like hiring. It should go through stages of approval. For example, selecting a tool could mean understanding how well it fits into the current work practices. Here are some questions to consider before choosing anything for the company’s sales tech stack:

• Are you currently facing any challenges?

• What tools are you currently using, and are they helping you?

• What software tools can easily integrate with your system?

• Is the technology useful for other cross-functional teams?

• What problem or unmet need does this application address?

Types of tools you need in your sales tech stack

The sales tech stack for every company can vary based on their processes, work environment, and people.

For example, a sales tech stack could include a chatbot if the company and the clients are ready for this interaction, harnessing the power of sales gamification to boost engagement and motivation. Most companies are moving in this direction, realizing the benefits of integrating AI based prospecting tools that streamline lead generation and email outreach platforms for effective communication.

Right now, let’s address the kind of tools that are a must-have in your sales tech stack, regardless of the industry that the company belongs to:

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Because sales should fulfill customer needs, ensuring these needs are met is necessary. CRM software helps keep track of both new and old leads. For example, old customers may receive membership benefits, while you can offer new leads some discounts to bring them in. 

CRM also acts as a platform for other tools, integrating your business data into one place. Through this data, you can predict whether a customer will churn or whether they will respond to the marketing. You can keep track of both new leads and old leads. 

It also helps salespeople to access a customer's sales activity and purchase history. And they can offer them additional discounts and deals to keep them from going to the competitor.

Outreach/ Email

Emails are still considered one of the best platforms for direct marketing. An email tool can help track important metrics like open rates, click-through rates, rejection rates, etc. It can help devise a sales strategy and create content that speaks to the audience, swaying them in favor of the purchase.

Also, automated workflows can scale the outreach of a business by automating replies and giving notifications for follow-ups.

Sales Enablement

Think of sales enablement as your sales team's secret sauce. It's all about giving them the goodies—cool tools, smart content, and the know-how—to charm prospects and win customers over. Plus, it bridges the gap between sales and marketing, enabling barrier-free collaboration to achieve revenue growth. And it's a game-changer for training your squad and keeping them in the loop with the freshest info, so they're always ready to impress. And when you throw a sales enablement tool into your B2B tech mix, you're basically turbocharging your team. You get all the neat tricks—think content libraries that are easy to navigate, insights that help you understand your customer better, and the power to track what works and what doesn't. And sales enablement tools are all about making life easier and sales smoother. It's not just important; it's your team's next level up.

Lead generation and prospecting

A lead generation tool often helps analyze the data collected from other sources. It not only helps provide new outreach opportunities but also helps create custom sales pitch decks.

For example, Google analytics helps determine the customer journey based on which salespersons can derive sales strategies. Many lead generation tools like Truebase now also use AI to find you the best-fit leads based on your ICP and help you find quality accounts faster.

Meeting scheduling tool

Even though lead generation and prospecting may seem the best ways to increase sales, some processes need to be efficient for these tools to work well. For example, a meeting schedule tool can make it easier for prospects to schedule meetings when they want, and you're less likely to be ghosted.

One of the best scheduling tools allows you to choose your availability and easily sync with google calendar.  

Video chat and screen sharing tool

After the pandemic, even salespersons have reverted to video chatting and other online modes of communication. Video calls are often preferred over calls and come second to in-person meetings. Mainly because video calls help deliver live demos and slide presentations. It also allows you to record video chats to help review your performance.

Many video chat tools allow you to deliver high-quality video and audio, share your screen, and integrate with other sales tools, like your scheduling tools.

Project management tool

It goes without saying that without an effective project management tool, the rest of the sales tech stack won’t work as it should. A project management tool serves as the basis of sales processes.

PM tools make it easier for sales teams to manage tasks, monitor progress, and report performance. And not just this, it also helps enhance work efficiency and facilitate team collaboration.

Finally, project management tools must have a feature that automates task creation and to-do lists, so you’re always up to date.

To sum up, tech always helps businesses streamline processes, especially sales. Hopefully, this guide helps you build a sales tech stack for your company.