Features Your Sales Automation Software Should HaveÂ
Sales automation software is a must-have tool for any business aiming to eliminate time-consuming administrative tasks. Marketing automation tools help sales representatives with finding new leads, following up with customers, recording transaction history, lead scoring, and collecting contact information.
Whether you work alone or manage packed sales teams, selling manually without sales automation tools is nearly impossible. That’s why 56% of companies currently use marketing automation, and more than 40% of B2B companies plan to adopt it. Additionally, automation tools increase sales productivity by 14.5% and reduce marketing overheads by 12.2%.
But with so many options available, choosing the right software for your team is overwhelming, especially when planning multi-channel outreach via email, LinkedIn, and more. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 10 must-have features every sales automation software should have for effective LinkedIn outreach automation and email campaigns.
1. Built-In Calendar for Sales Pipeline Tracking
Know where you stand with your sales pipeline at all times. If you know what stage each prospect is in, you can better manage resources and forecast income accurately using sales automation tools.
A built-in calendar showing when deals were established, when qualified leads were last contacted, and when deals close takes stress off your team, especially for deals spanning weeks or months.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Integration
Customer relationship management (CRM) tracks and manages customer interactions. CRM software combines multiple information streams into a single system where data is organized efficiently through process automation.
Your ideal sales automation software should include email templates, scheduling, contact management, and the ability to integrate with other existing tools for seamless marketing automation across channels.
3. Team Collaboration Features
Team collaboration features help users work together effectively. Make sure your sales automation software allows seamless collaboration with other departments using automation tools that connect teams.
Sales reps should add team members to deals so everyone stays informed and assign tasks to members who are experts in certain deals.
4. Advanced Reporting Capabilities
You’ll want sales automation software that allows creating different report types for B2B lead generation insights. Generate reports highlighting deal closures, customer renewals, email campaign interactions, and customer assistance contacts.
These reports help spot trends using marketing automation tools and let you know if you need sales process adjustments.
5. Robust Real-Time Communication
You’ll want robust real-time email, call, or messaging features that help communicate with customer departments using AI-powered automation. Built-in communication tools save time by enabling you to communicate with customers from one central place.
6. Detailed Records of Past Conversations
Your sales automation software should track past conversations, enabling you to keep track of times you’ve spoken with each customer and outcomes using automated lead generation tracking.
Implement lead scoring systems that rate customers based on their value to your business using AI-powered solutions that analyze engagement patterns.
7. Video Calling Capabilities
Video calls remain the best way to conduct virtual meetings and build trust with customers. Your ideal sales automation software should schedule video calls and mark them on your calendar to avoid missing important meetings.
8. Meeting Logistics Tracking
Once you hire remote sales teams, you’ll need ways to track where and when they meet with customers using sales automation tools. This helps you figure out what times are best for scheduling meetings.
9. Auto-Responder with Templates
An auto-responder with templates means you don’t need to manually draft follow-up emails using LinkedIn outreach automation and email sequences. Create templates for each stage and send automated emails to leads using marketing automation tools.
10. Integration with Existing Tools
Your automation software should integrate with your company’s other tools to easily pull data from CRM, customer service software, and other sources using process automation. You need reliable sales automation software that integrates with existing tools.