18.1 How to use Sales Tools and Technology to your Advantage

Let's begin by talking about the reason why sales tools and modern day technology have to form an integral part of the kit used by the modern day salesperson.The days of a salesperson going to a client with samples in a case and a sales pitch all prepared may still exist, but they have certainly been surpassed by technology. Now, you can show people all kinds of information that can ultimately be used to strengthen your own individual case, although we do stress that you should only ever use it to help and not to dominate your approach to selling. The key to all of this is to make sure that you use tools and technology to increase your efficiency as a salesperson.

They should only be used if they are capable of making your life so much easier than it was before and should never be a hindrance at any point.Prior to using either sales tools or technology, it is important that you think about the following points to ultimately decide if this is something you should be pressing ahead with.

1. What role will it play in the sales process?

With this, you need to think about the role and how it will make your life easier.

Does it help you to become better organised?

Does it make it easier to connect with potential clients?

Will it allow you to handle information better?

Understanding the answers to these questions will help you to ultimately decide if this tool or piece of technology is actually worth using.

2. Will it make you more efficient?

Efficiency for any salesperson is absolutely key because the more efficient you are, then the easier it will be for you to work harder and to hopefully seal more deals.

The last thing you want to do is to use a tool that is going to increase the length of time you have to do something as their sole purpose is to create a potential shortcut for you. Anything else is just not worth doing in the grand scheme of things.

3. Is it easy to use and what changes do you have to make to use it?

Finally, you need to consider if it is actually easy to use because time is always of the essence, especially when it comes to sales. You do not want to feel as if you are struggling to get either tools or technology to work as that leads to frustration, which is hardly going to be the kind of atmosphere or feeling you want surrounding you when trying to sell.

The one thing to keep in mind is that sales tools and technology are there to help and it should never be a case of you use them just because it sounds impressive.

Having various tools or aides at your disposal means nothing if you are unable to actually press ahead and finish that deal, so never allow them to take over.

18.2 The Key Sales Tools to have at your Disposal

Now, the difficulty you have is understanding the best sales tools you should use to your advantage because there is the possibility you can become over reliant on these tools and that will only result in matters being complicated.

We do admit that there are what appears to be an ever increasing number of sales tools you could potentially use and that in itself is a major problem because how do you even begin to understand which ones to use? The following tools will, therefore, act as examples of what is possible.

However, prior to looking at the tools, it is important for you to remember that they will cover virtually every aspect of your working life aside from the most important part, which is being able to close the deal. How many you use will be up to you.

1. LinkedIn

If you are in a serious profession, then getting on LinkedIn is an absolute must. This can help you to find the decision makers and to make an initial contact with them, which could lead to the door being opened at some point in the future. This is a website that is social media for the business world, although we should also add in the need for you to get on Twitter and Facebook as well to increase your exposure.

2. Google Maps

It may sound strange to consider using this as a sales tool, but it is a wonderful way of finding out about local businesses online and to link through to either their contact details or their company website. In other words, you can use this as a sales tool by logging onto the maps to begin to work out your route or to build a contact list that you can then work through.

3. Evernote

The problem with working in sales is that you do generally end up having to cope with a huge amount of information, including important facts and appointments, and how do you arrange all of that? The answer is Evernote as you can have notes about your schedule, plans, appointments, and it can be accessed across your computers, tablets, and smartphones.

4. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is something which is underused and that in itself is a crying shame. It is a tool whereby you can have industry news or updates related to specific companies or products sent to your email. In other words, you can keep track of what is going on without going and searching for it as Google will do all of that hard work for you.

5. Boomerang

Boomerang is a plugin for either Firefox or Chrome that links in with your email allowing you to schedule when various emails are sent out to their intended recipients. This means you can sit down for an hour, sort out the emails for the rest of the day and then set it up to send out at certain times without you having to be there. In short, it frees up so much wasted time and improves your efficiency.

6. Slideshare

One thing you need to consider using in order to help you with your sales are slideshow presentations and one of the best ways to do this is by using Slideshare. Not only is it easy to set up, but it flows well and you can also move documents from Microsoft Office or Adobe PDF over to it in just a few simple actions.

7. Rapportive

If you are using both Gmail and LinkedIn, then it can be pretty annoying trying to jump between the two on a constant basis. However, that is where Rapportive comes in because this is one tool that can certainly make the life of a salesperson so much easier. If you venture to your email and are looking at sending something out to somebody new, then this tool will show you a snippet of information about them, such as their name, contact details, and other key pieces of information from their LinkedIn profile. This tool is often used to help salespeople begin to build some kind of rapport with clients from that all-important first contact.

8. Docurated

There is no doubt that the more information you have as a salesperson in the way of marketing content the better it is for your sales. Docurated is a tool that makes it easier for you to be aware of the information out there as it allows you to customise marketing material for each individual client without having to spend too long on it. It allows you to search through all of the relevant marketing material linked to products or your company according to keywords and then it can be moved over to a PowerPoint presentation.

9. Datanyze

As a salesperson, it is always important that you understand what the competition are doing or achieving to allow you to alter your sales approach accordingly. This tool helps you to interpret key data linked to various industries and your competition, allowing you to know when to approach new clients in the hope of being able to convince them that your products or services will be far superior to what they have at this moment in time. However, this tool is only suitable for professional services, so do check it out to see if it is suitable for you.

10. Tinderbox

Tinderbox is a wonderful tool that makes the creation of important documents and contracts so much easier to compile. It can be used to make a seamless transition between the end of the sale and the paperwork that has to be completed, allowing you as the salesperson the freedom to focus on the aftercare rather than struggling to work out how to get the paperwork to the client. This tool does it all in an instant.

As we said at the beginning, this is not exactly an exhaustive list of the sales tools out there as they really do cover every single aspect you care to imagine. However, we have looked at tools for finding new clients, tools for marketing material, presentations, and even the creation of documents so it does provide you with a sense of what is out there at this moment in time.Do not be afraid to use a range of sales tools, especially if they are able to make your life easier by increasing efficiency and productivity at the same time. Just be careful to not become too reliant on them and pick and choose those that best suit your individual needs.

FACT

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Eighty percent of social business efforts will not achieve the intended benefits due to inadequate leadership and an overemphasis on technology.

Source: Gartner Group

18.3 The Way to use Technology to Make Life Easier

You will perhaps be building a picture of the role that technology and sales tools can play in your approach to sales, but we have to also discuss how they can make your life easier whilst, at the same time, making sure you do not over complicate matters.There is no way that any salesperson can expect to get on in their career without either their laptop, tablet computer, or smartphone and in a number of instances we are talking about having one of each.

The need to have these devices is now more important than ever before, thanks to the use of the cloud for storage space and accessing information related to the company you work for or the products you are selling. In days gone by this all had to be stored on the laptop, but now it connects via Wi-Fi so you can get the most up to date information possible and get answers to virtually any question by logging online and getting the advice you need.

Furthermore, due to the speed of connections on the move, it is also now possible for salespeople to use technology in order to still take part in meetings without having to waste time going there in person. This improves efficiency and, of course, a greater efficiency means less time being wasted and your productivity should also then increase accordingly.

In all honesty, you are probably sitting there wondering about the number of ways in which technology can make life easier, but as with sales tools, you still need to take various aspects into consideration before you press ahead and potentially start to use technology on a regular basis.

1. Will it make your life easier?

Once again, this question as to how exactly it makes your life easier is one that needs to be answered prior to using technology in any way, shape or form. Yes, it is always going to look impressive that you are modern and sleek in your approach, but that is only the case if you are sure it will make a positive impact to your sales life.

2. Does it speed up your work?

If technology is capable of speeding up the rate at which you work, then you should press ahead and start to use it as working faster improves efficiency and this is something which should always be a real goal. However, be careful in assuming that speed is the key thing because your work should still be accurate and you should still be able to deliver on what you promise.

3. Will you improve your productivity?

This is something else which is extremely important as productivity is something that can be measured by sales managers to ascertain if an individual is performing to the required standard. You should always look at technology to decide if it is something that is capable of improving productivity and if so how it is capable of doing it.

4. How often will you use it?

Is there any point in you using technology if you will only do so sporadically? If so, it is advisable to forget about using it simply because it is not worth the time and effort required to learn it if it really does add very little to what you are doing. Technology is only going to work to your advantage within the sales arena if you are going to use it a number of times a day or it makes a noticeable difference to the speed at which you do something.

What we are saying here is not to do with identifying specific types of technology that can help make your life easier as that will vary according to the type of sales you are in and your company will help you, but rather the way in which technology can indeed make a difference.It is inevitable that you are going to be using technology in some way and at some point in your sales career so it is useful if you are technologically minded in the first place.

18.4 Mistakes to Avoid Regarding this Form of Help

Finally, even though it is accepted that sales tools and technology are a welcome addition, there is no doubt that you can be opening yourself up to a whole host of problems if you are not careful in what you do.

The first mistake you have to avoid at all costs is not becoming too reliant on technology or sales tools to such an extent that you can hardly function or attempt to sell without them. This is a mistake because even though technology is a wonderful thing, it can go wrong at times and that is where the problem really does kick in.

If you believe that this type of help holds the key to everything, then you are wrong and you are only setting yourself up for a major fail later on.

Next, you cannot allow tools and technology to nullify the most important sales tool available, your own self. If you focus too much on what they can do for you, then the chances are you will remove part of your own personality and no matter what you are selling, it will often come down to your own personality and how people are drawn to you that is the clincher in everything. Remove that at your peril because people buy into the person they are dealing with, so if this is replaced by technology then you are making life harder.

Another mistake to avoid is believing that people will be amazed by the technology or tools you are using and that this will, somehow, impress them. In actual fact, the opposite will be true as it is not an attractive quality to be seen as a salesperson who has to rely on the tools at their disposal to get anywhere.

Finally, just remember that technology can let you down from time to time as it is not 100% perfect. In other words, be prepared to study the age old way of communicating with clients and customers and make sure that you have backup plans just in case something does go wrong. It will only reflect poorly on you if technology fails you and it brings the sale to a grinding halt, so make sure you understand how to proceed with your pitch using those methods that were around prior to technology or you could be wasting a considerable amount of time.