Using Sales Automation Tools to Boost Your Business’ Revenue

Can sales automation tools really help optimize the sales processes of today’s businesses?

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As we enter 2023 and an anticipated age of automation, the vast majority of businesses are incorporating automation tools into their sales processes in one way or another. Sales automation software can help save your business time and money.

A recent report showed that businesses that utilize sales automation tools increase their sales process efficiency by up to 15%. Those same businesses are also reporting up to 10% growth in overall sales numbers as a result of incorporating the automation tools.

Let’s take a deep dive into why you might want to incorporate sales automation tools in your business.

What are Sales Automation Tools?

Sales automation tools are typically offered through software designed to optimize a business’s sales processes. Such tools achieve optimization through the completion of manual tasks that are normally predictable and routine.

Sales automation tools can help with tasks that are often thought of as “repetitive” or “mundane.” Think of tasks like credit checking, invoicing, follow-ups, analytics, or any other order-related se handling.

Today’s automation professionals estimate that a third of sales-related activities can be automated.

Benefits of Using Sales Automation Software

Automation is proving to be a powerful weapon in regard to sales process optimization. From reducing costs to improving processing time, there are a number of benefits associated with adopting sales automation software.

1. Streamline your businesses sales pipeline

All elements of the sales pipeline are important. However, certain time-consuming elements are simple enough to be automated completely. Aspects of the sales pipeline such as collecting customer data and email addresses are time-consuming but also have few unexpected variables – making it easy for software to automate the process.

Sales automation tools have even proved useful in more complex aspects of the sales pipeline, such as making product recommendations or guiding customers through checkout.

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2. Retain customers and increase customer satisfaction  

Sales professionals have a lot to keep up with when it comes to customer relationships. In this regard, today’s sales automation tools have taken your traditional CRM to the next level.

First impressions mean a lot if a business is to retain customers. This makes not forgetting to send a follow-up email paramount to success. Even the more intimate, customer relationship-oriented aspects of the sales process can be automated to optimize results.

It raises a question that concerns many business owners who are still debating whether or not integration is right for them: will sales automation cause my business to lose its “human touch?”

A decade ago, the answer to that question may have been yes. However, today’s automation tools actually have the opposite effect. Over time, your business’s sales automation tools will pick up more and more data on how best to respond to customers. If anything, the concern is around just how good these automation tools are getting.

Soon, they may become more human than we are.

3. Integration and cooperation across systems

Like many modern business tools, sales automation software can integrate with CRMs to ensure all important details are kept in one place.  

As businesses become more and more directed by data and analytics, it is becoming increasingly important to keep sales data centralized. This ensures that team members across departments will be able to work together cohesively. Sales automation tools are doing wonders for how effective team members are able to work together.

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4. Performance benchmarks

Rounding out the most relevant benefits associated with sales automation tools, we have performance benchmarks. This is along the lines of analytics as automation tools can now streamline performance reporting.

Sales departments are able to access data on important KPIs quickly and easily. These analytics are profound for businesses that operate on forecasting models or find importance in tracking growth and setting optimal goals.

How can sales automation tools help optimize your business?

It’s the ultimate question – what can these sales automation tools do for me?

We’ve alluded to it in the benefits listed above, but there is a lot more that automation can do to improve the sales processes in your business. In recent years, there have been many essential sales tasks that automation has proved it can handle. Here are a few of the most prevalent.

1.    Data collection: An element of business that automation has been improving on for years, data collection can (in some cases) be completed solely by automation software. It is now capable of collecting information from all lead sources and storing them in a unified database.

2.    Order management: Whether your business uses an eCommerce platform like Spotify, or something more customized, automation tools have made order management simple and incredibly time-effective. They can help generate invoices, create shipping information, provide delivery updates, and more.

3.    Customer service: In select situations, your customers may require more assistance than automation can provide. However, in most instances, sales automation tools are more than capable of providing the answers to FAQs or other customer service requests.

4.    Lead generating and scoring: Most estimates place only 10-15% of leads turning into actual sales. To maximize sales conversion rates, it’s necessary for businesses to prioritize the right prospects. Through data-driven technology, sales automation tools can help sort out which prospects are most likely to convert.

5.    Scheduling: Sometimes, what should be a simple call or series of emails turns out to require far more time than anticipated. Businesses that automate their scheduling through sales automation tools are able to save time and integrate scheduling information across all third-party platforms.

What are the Best Sales Automation Tools for Your Business?

In today’s market, there are dozens of different sales automation tools to choose from. This can make things difficult for business owners looking to choose the best program for their own sales processes.

To help clear up any confusion, we’ve compiled a list of the best sales automation tools currently on the market. Let’s take a look at what each one has to offer.

1. HubSpot Sales

Possibly the most popular cloud-based sales automation software on the market, HubSpot Sales is more than equipped to handle all aspects of the sales process.

Pros:

• User-friendly navigation
• Email templates
• Behavior tracking
• Click-to-call dialer – making it especially helpful for the sales team
• Highly customizable, plug-and-play format
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Cons:

• Customization can lead to the dashboard feeling cluttered
• Difficulties with contact merger
• Doesn’t allow for automated emails for clients that aren’t already in the books

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2. SalesBlink

This quickly growing sales automation platform is built to handle each aspect of the sales process, from prospecting to closing. SalesBlink is formatted as a SaaS and integrates well with most existing CRMs and other 3rd party platforms.

Pros: ‍

• Automated follow-ups – works especially well with cold call/email sequences
• Functional email outreach tool
• Project management capabilities
• Data acquisition and advanced sales analytics

Cons:

• UI offers only dark themes
• Some users report difficulties in integrating with Gmail
• Problems with email verification with CSV files

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3. EngageBay

This free sales automation tool offers more than a few key benefits. is most effective in customer engagement. It can be used as a stand-alone product or as a landing page broadcast messenger to engage with customers and solicit important feedback.

Pros:

• Free version available offering all major features
• UI/UX ease of use
• Outstanding reported customer support
• Stable performance on the AWS + CDN Cloudfront

Cons:

• Missing key sales automation features, especially in terms of integration
• Can’t customize templates for landing pages, webinars, etc.
• Templates that are available are extremely limited

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4. Pipedrive

As the name suggests, this web-based sales automation solution has some advanced pipeline management capabilities. From planning out sales activities to monitoring deals, Pipedrive can do it all. Pipedrive’s users report closing an average of 28% more deals after using the tool for a year.

Pros:

• UI easy to navigate and organize
• Advanced quote management function with built-in reminders
• Easy to add multiple admin users
• Manage the entire sales team's progress in one unified dashboard

Cons:

• Difficult implementation process
• Problems reported with customer service
• Can’t link multiple email addresses with one account
• Drag and drop tools missing some capabilities

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5. Prospect.io (Now Overloop)

This automation software was built with sales teams in mind. Prospect.io allows sales professionals to tailor their emails for each recipient within the automation process. This allows teams to capitalize on the benefits of automation while still keeping the human touch that’s required in sales.

Pros:

• Fantastic 3^rd party integrations (LinkedIn, Google Drive, etc.)
• Pairs well with social media-centric businesses
• Advanced email analytics (opens, clicks, conversions, etc.)
• Customizable templates

Cons:

• Struggles to handle integration provisions
• Drip-campaign setup isn’t user friendly
• No mobile app

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Sales Automation Moving Forward

There is no denying the difficulties associated with running a business in today’s marketplace. It is becoming increasingly difficult to coordinate information across platforms. As difficult as it is, the emerging sales automation tools can help.

Whether you need them to automate a few small repetitive tasks or help coordinate the efforts across your entire firm, sales automation tools likely hold the key to optimized sales results.

It can be difficult to know just how to optimize the sales processes of your business. With the right tools, however, it’s more than possible to streamline your sales processes so you can focus on the details that matter most.