The year is not 2008. You’re not going to gain an edge over your competitors by downloading the latest and best sales software to your phone and expect instant results. Your competitors will be doing the exact same thing.

So how can sales software really give you that edge that will make you outperform them?

The key is finding the best sales software for you. You might not need the best-ranked sales tool on G2, the one you need is the one that fits your use case and optimizes the processes you are lagging behind in. 

I’ve done a deep dive into the best sales software on the market today, whittling them down to the top 9.

Keep in mind that you may not need all 9. One or two may do. One may even complement the other with a clever integration. 

Keep reading to see what sales software your sales team may need.

The secret to getting the most out of sales software is to analyze what you need, why you need it, and how you should use it. 

Maybe you are struggling with attracting high-quality leads and are looking for a tool to optimize this. Or maybe your field sales team is wasting precious time with manual route planning and desperately needs a tool to spend less time driving. 

There are thousands of sales tools on the market, and they all fall into dozens of different categories. You’re not going to need them all. By understanding what you need, and why, you can find the best sales software for your sales team. 

Listen to this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode with HubSpot’s Senior Inbound Sales Professor Kyle Jepson to discover how you can optimize your sales with the right sales tech!

HubSpot

Price: Starter - $15/user/mo, Professional - $90/user/mo, Enterprise - $150/user/mo

Capterra Rating: 4.5/5

Get it: Android | iOS     

HubSpot is one of the major players in the sales CRM software space. 

Trusted by more than 216,000 customers in over 135 countries, HubSpot's CRM software offers a wide range of capabilities that include sales engagement, deal management, reporting & analytics, and much more. For features it lacks, the HubSpot App Marketplace offers more than 1400 different tools that you can integrate with to improve your CRM experience. 

Their multi-hub solution, which combines sales, marketing, and service tools, allows you to create an all-in-one platform for nurturing leads and driving conversions. 

The lead management feature lets you manage all of your prospects in one place, going so far as to remind you to reach out to leads that require attention, something that boosts your chances of closing a deal.

One of HubSpots most popular features is its meeting scheduler. This tool automatically syncs to your Google or Office 365 calendar, so your prospects can check when you are available to book their next meeting.  Their reporting capabilities allow you to create customizable and visual reports on everything from sales performance to deal status to conversion rates. With AI capabilities becoming more widespread in the industry, the scope for improving this data is increasing.

Check out our detailed guide on the best sales CRM software here!

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Badger Maps

Price: Business - $58/user/mo, Enterprise - $95/user/mo (Free 7-day trial) 

Capterra Rating: 4.7

Get it: Android | iOS

For sales representatives who spend a lot of time in the field, route planning is a crucial aspect of their job. If disregarded, you will end up spending more time in your car than with your customers. Not ideal, right?

The solution to this is to automate this process with a route planning tool such as Badger Maps.

Badger Maps is the best field sales software as it allows you to automatically plan, route, and maximize your time in the field, cutting down driving time by 20%. It helps sales teams save time on their daily planning, maintain better relationships with customers, and be more productive. 

The Badger Maps route planner takes your long customer list and turns it into a drivable, optimized route. By optimizing your routes, something you can’t do with Google Maps, you will save money on gas and meet with more customers than you normally would. 

The colorizing and filtering tools are great for planning your days. You can visualize your top accounts with colored pins, mass update information, see who’s generating the most revenue, and much more. Filters are fully customizable so you can visualize accounts based on priority, type, next step, or any other field you find useful. Sales teams have reported that they sell 22% more and drive 20% less when using Badger Maps, in fact, the average team of 10 reps sells $936k more the year they start using the app.

Sales-specific features like lead generation, follow-ups, and advanced reporting allow you to discover new leads in your territory, keep track of key customer information, and stay on top of your most important accounts. 

Using Badger Maps also means you can mobilize your sales CRM software, giving you instant access to important customer information as you work your territory. You can easily sync and leverage data in your CRM, all from your mobile device. 

You can enable a two-way, real-time native integration with the most popular CRMs such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Insightly, and many more. 

Additionally, field sales teams increase their CRM usage by 50% when using Badger Maps

Badger Maps is one of the best sales software as it is much more than just a sales route planner. It can help you with every single aspect of your job, from prospecting to closing. 

On average, sales teams using Badger Maps save 8 hours a week, drive 20% less, and sell 22% more.

Discover the value of Badger Maps by trying it out yourself. Start a free trial or schedule a demo now!

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Apollo

Price: Free - $0, Basic - $49/user/mo, Professional - $79/user/mo, Organization - $119/user/mo

Capterra Rating: 4.6

Apollo is an excellent choice if you are looking to leverage data and sales intelligence to inform your sales processes. It offers state-of-the-art reporting and analytics capabilities that can help you do exactly what you are paying sales tools for - to generate more leads and increase revenue.  

You have access to customizable dashboards that provide a real-time overview of your key performance indicators (KPIs). Here you can monitor tons of different metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates, response rates, call volume and outcomes, and much more. Understanding and leveraging your sales metrics is vital, and Apollo is one of the best sales intelligence software that can help you with this.

Their AI capabilities can transcribe your sales conversations and analyze them in detail, extracting valuable insights that you can leverage to better serve your customers. AI can uncover key sales objections, customer pain points, next steps, and more.

They also provide access to over 275 million contacts across 73 million companies worldwide. This database can be a goldmine as you look to increase your customer base. To whittle down your results, you can filter leads by job title, industry, company size, location, technologies used by companies, and much more. There are 65+ filters available, so you can be sure you’ll find the perfect lead that is just right for you. 

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Linkedin Sales Navigator

Price: 1-month Free trial, Core - $99.99/mo, Advanced - $149.99/mo, Advanced Plus - custom pricing

Capterra Rating: 4.5

Get it: Android | iOS

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales lead generation software that operates from LinkedIn's extensive professional database of more than 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. By leveraging this vast professional network, you can find, develop, and nurture relationships with your leads, all in one place. 

One of the best features Sales Navigator offers is its advanced search which allows you to find the right leads and accounts. There are over 30 search filters that allow you to narrow down potential leads based on specific criteria such as company size, industry, job title, location, and more. Generating leads is important, but if these leads aren’t qualified, all you will be doing is boosting your monthly numbers, not your monthly revenue.

The Spotlights feature is another great way to discover the prospects who are most likely to engage with you. It shows you who has been active on the platform in the past 30 days, something which is important as people who are more active here are more likely to be open to a conversation with you. It also shows you who has changed jobs in the past 30 days, something that could prove extremely useful as professionals who have recently changed positions tend to be more receptive to purchasing new solutions.

The Relationship Maps feature allows you to visualize and identify the entire buying committee at the organization you are targeting. This can be extremely useful because as we have already mentioned, positions in companies can often change, so being able to map out the entire team behind the purchasing decision can equip you with the information you need to quickly change tack if necessary.   

Chris J Reed, who is one of the foremost authorities on using LinkedIn in the sales process, uses Sales Navigator to “actually pinpoint people who want you to contact them. Send them a message and some nice content and then have a conversation. It's the easiest thing in the world. All you're doing is using data. It's all on LinkedIn- it's not rocket science at all!”

Listen to Chris’ Outside Sales Talk podcast episode where he teaches expert LinkedIn tactics to grow your sales and brand!

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Salesloft

Price: Contact for pricing information

Capterra Rating: 4.3

Get it: Android | iOS

Salesloft can stake its claim as one of the, if not the best sales engagement platform out there. Don’t trust my opinion? Take Forrester Wave’s research into consideration. They placed Salesloft above other sales engagement tools such as Outreach, Groove, Salesforce, and more, in their list of the best sales engagement software.  

So what makes Salesloft stand out? Let’s take a look at Cadences, a core feature of Salesloft. 

A cadence is a structured sequence of touchpoints or activities that you can use to engage with your prospects, mimicking your sales process. These activities can include phone calls, sales emails, social media interactions, and other modes of communication, all of which you can customize however you like. Taking the time to build out these cadences can help you drive efficiency through automation, while also allowing you to scale your outreach without sacrificing quality. 

Their AI capabilities can transcribe, analyze, and summarize every sales conversation you engage in, whether they be over the phone, by email, or over virtual meetings that are conducted through Zoom or Google Meet. You have the ability to track specific keywords or phrases that are used during calls so when you are going over the transcription on your computer, you can quickly find the part of the conversation you are looking for to see if it can help you inform aspects of your process.

Salesloft offers a suite of other features that include pipeline management, analytics and reporting, CRM integrations, and more. 

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Mindtickle

Price: Contact for pricing information

Capterra Rating: 4.7

Get it: Android | iOS

Mindtickle is a sales training platform that provides you with the tools and resources to help train, onboard, and continuously develop your sales team. With changing customer behaviors, new technologies, and a market that is constantly in flux, utilizing the best sales training software is a vital part of staying successful. 

Mindtickle provides sales training programs that revolve around one thing - helping you close more deals. They’ve done the research and know what skills and behaviors the top-performing sales reps need to succeed. Their programs are constantly being updated based on the latest evidence from the field. You can tailor your sales training to the specific needs of each sales representative, ensuring reps are engaged, stimulated, and most importantly, continuously honing their craft.

Their interactive learning modules use a mix of videos, audio clips, infographics, and more. You can also take part in realistic sales simulations and scenarios where you can practice and refine your sales skills. These might include role-playing exercises, objection handling, or sales negotiation tactics. You can update and make changes to these trainings directly on the platform.  The Readiness Index is a cool feature that offers a holistic view of how well sales reps are equipped to engage with sales prospects, close deals, and meet sales targets. Detailed breakdowns of how competent your reps are will help them be fully prepared when they enter a sales meeting. You can also track gaps in your team with the Ideal Rep feature ensuring your sales team is stacked with the talent you need to grow your sales.

Want to know how sales experts such as John Barrows, Samantha Mckenna, and Steve Benson are so successful? Check out their top sales growth strategies here!

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Gong

Price: Contact for pricing information

Capterra Rating: 4.8

Get it: Android | iOS

Gong is a sales forecasting tool that offers you a clear overview of your sales pipeline, allowing you to track the status of your current opportunities while providing you with valuable insights to increase your revenue streams. It can automate note-taking, summarize post-meeting follow-up tasks, and keep CRM records up-to-date, allowing you to save time and concentrate on other more time-consuming sales activities.

The Deal Execution feature on Gong's platform can analyze, transcribe, and summarize your customer interactions across various channels including phone calls, web conferencing, and email, providing you with the information you need to close more deals. You will be able to see what strategies are working in real time so instead of reacting to problems after they’ve affected your deal you can address them as soon as they arise. 

The Red Flag Warning Alerts feature can help you identify and address risks in your deals before they become major issues. When your prospect sends you an email, Gong's AI capabilities, with their advanced understanding of human language, can determine if they are doubting whether to proceed with the deal or not. The AI doesn’t just rely on keywords to see if your deal is at risk or not, their machine learning-based models take into account the full context of the communication in their assessment.

Gong is an excellent sales forecasting tool that can seamlessly integrate with your B2B CRM, allowing you to make more accurate predictions on future sales outcomes. Being able to forecast the year ahead will help you massively with your sales planning.

Discover the 7 best sales planning tools here!

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Mailchimp 

Price: Free version, Essentials - $13/user/mo, Standard - $20/user/mo, Premium - $350/user/mo

Capterra Rating: 4.5

Get it: Android | iOS

Mailchimp is a market leader and one of the first tools in the email automation space. This is a user-friendly sales software that provides you with the tools you need to create, manage, and analyze all of your email campaigns. Whether you’re a small sales team or a large operation, this sales software can be just the thing you need to automate your emailing strategy. 

You can segment your customer lists based on a wide range of criteria such as demographics, purchase history, engagement levels, and more. They provide surveys that you can get to your customers so you can get a detailed understanding of their interests. 

Getting the right emails sent to the right people will increase the likelihood of them engaging with you and ultimately, converting into a paying customer. Some segments can even predict your customer's lifetime value. 

Check out this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode to learn how you can generate more leads with AI-powered email campaigns!

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Xodo

Price: $14.99/mo

Capterra Rating: 4.4

Get it: Android | iOS

Xodo is a sales software that can streamline the creation, management, and tracking of documents you use in your sales process, such as proposals, contracts, and agreements. This will not only help you improve your sales team's efficiency, it will provide you with a secure and legally compliant approach to handling important documents. 

You can easily view and edit all of your documents, with options to search or bookmark important information. It comes with different branding and customization options, such as colors, logos, and icons, so you can create a personalized experience for your customers.

Their electronic signatures, which are now an industry standard, allow you to provide your customers with the option to draw their signature, type it, upload an existing one, or even have one generated for them. The eSignatures come with the highest level of compliance, meeting security and authentication requirements that are set out by the leading worldwide authorities.

Both unfinished and completed documents are stored on Xodo's secure and encrypted cloud infrastructure, providing you with ease of mind knowing important documents are safe and secure. You can also schedule documents to auto-expire after a certain time period, helping you to save some much-needed storage space and stay on top of all that paperwork.

Listen to this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode with sales expert John Barrows who teaches his proven techniques for crushing every stage of the sales process!

As you evaluate your options, consider how each tool can address your specific challenges and contribute to a more efficient and effective sales strategy. 

Reach out to a softwares sales team. Most will offer you a free trial or the opportunity to learn more through a demo. Don’t just jump in and purchase a tool because you were swayed by their marketing or a recommendation from a friend. Choose the best sales software for your sales team.