Top 10 Clari Alternatives Sales and revenue management is an ever-changing landscape where the quest for seamless and accurate data capture is never-ending. Clari Capture, a formidable revenue intelligence platform, has adeptly shouldered this responsibility by automating the capturing of every crucial contact and activity detail throughout the sales cycle.  However, as you look for excellence and competitive advantage, exploring alternatives that might offer unique benefits becomes imperative. This article looks at the ten Clari Capture alternatives ideal for anyone looking to boost their revenue intelligence efforts. What is Clari Capture? Clari Capture is a sophisticated revenue intelligence platform designed to enhance the revenue management process. Clari Capture is an automated data capture powerhouse, diligently capturing every revenue-critical signal that courses through your organization. Doing so eliminates the burden of manual data entry and the need for data cleansing. You can also do away with the complex task of matching this information to your records.  Clari Capture empowers your sales team by reclaiming precious time that would otherwise go on data-related tasks while simultaneously elevating the data quality. The comprehensive solution extends its reach across communication channels, including email, calendar, calls, and more. It is a vital tool for sales teams seeking a more intelligent and efficient revenue process. Top 10 Clari Alternatives in 2023 Here are ten Clari Capture alternatives worth exploring. 1. Nektar Nektar is a unified contact and activity capture solution that guards CRM data integrity and hygiene. Nektar is a reliable partner if you want a complete and accurate view of revenue intelligence. The platform ensures every piece of critical information is captured with precision.  Seamlessly integrating with CRM systems helps it maintain the sanctity of your data, thereby safeguarding its accuracy and relevance. In doing so, Nektar enables your sales team to unlock the quickest route to revenue realization, providing a strategic advantage in today’s ever-competitive business landscape. Give me a product tour. Key features: Actionable pipeline visibility Accurate, complete CRM data and reporting Account-based selling Targeting untapped revenue opportunities 2. Match My Email Match My Email is a meticulously designed solution that seamlessly synchronizes emails and calendars with Salesforce. One of its key differentiators lies in its approach to data management. With Match My Email, all email and calendar data is intricately interwoven with your Salesforce records, ensuring a centralized repository.  The distinctive feature guarantees the permanence of email data within the Salesforce ecosystem, offering a cohesive and holistic view of your customer interactions. Moreover, Match My Email excels in the automation of email logging, relieving users of manual tasks while maintaining a comprehensive audit trail. The automation extends to precise reporting, where the system provides timely and reliable insights into your data.  Key features: Ensures accurate email and calendar data Permanently stores email and calendar data Compatible with any email client and host. 3. Einstein Activity Capture (EAC) Einstein Activity Capture is a formidable tool tailored to empower sales representatives in their daily endeavors. The proficient tool facilitates a seamless connection between a representative’s email and calendar accounts and their Salesforce environment. Upon successful synchronization, emails and events are automatically and intelligently integrated into the activity timeline of pertinent Salesforce records.  The meticulous record-keeping ensures critical interactions are effortlessly tracked and associated with relevant accounts. EAC meticulously reviews activities through its intelligent algorithms and provides valuable recommendations. These recommendations serve as guiding beacons, steering representatives in the direction that maximizes their efficiency and effectiveness in nurturing client relationships and progressing deals.  Key features: Captures email and events from Microsoft or Google account  Adds events to the activity timeline of Salesforce records Captures contact data for email insights 4. Revenue Grid Revenue Grid is a leading revenue intelligence software many teams choose to fix revenue leakage, improve conversion rates, and enable growth. Its comprehensive features and exceptional performance make Revenue Grid stand out. The customizable platform seamlessly integrates with popular CRM systems and sales tools, making it an attractive choice for businesses of all sizes.  Revenue Grid also offers reliable customer support, ensuring you have the assistance you need throughout your journey. Its results-driven focus on revenue growth and sales performance improvement makes it an ideal solution for businesses seeking tangible results.  Key features: 360-degree pipeline visibility Actual and forecasted revenue match up Revenue signals to improve the sales process 5. Linkpoint LinkPoint is a comprehensive solution that streamlines the intricate process of email integration and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) record maintenance. Offering seamless and integrated inbox access, LinkPoint elevates efficiency and accuracy in managing communications and client interactions. A standout feature of LinkPoint is its effortless email integration. Users can securely and promptly record emails within their CRM with just a single click. Furthermore, LinkPoint provides real-time CRM data access from within the email platform, eliminating users needing to toggle between applications. The feature empowers sales teams with immediate insights for informed decision-making. Key features: Simple one-click email recording Custom Salesforce object and field detection Secure client-side deployment 6. Collective[i] Collective[i] offers a strategic approach dedicated to fostering productivity within sales teams, aiming to achieve better success. Collectivei’s mission is to enhance every facet of your sales ecosystem. It includes optimizing your data management, streamlining sales team operations, and fine-tuning the activities that drive revenue. The unique strength of Collectivei lies in its ability to achieve these improvements by leveraging your existing sales tools.  For sales operations and marketing teams, Collectivei is a game-changer, offering a suite of tools for clean, comprehensive, and automated data collection. Collectivei ensures your data is accurate and actionable, empowering your teams to make informed decisions. Key features: AI-generated forecasting and opportunity odds Automated activity and contact input into CRM Transparency to remove unexpected misses with collaboration tools 7. Setsail SetSail is a pioneering revenue intelligence software solution, purpose-built to empower modern revenue teams with actionable visibility. Its mission is to offer revenue teams precise and comprehensive sales data, a foundational pillar for informed decision-making and strategic enhancements. SetSail’s remarkable capability is its proficiency in automating the identification of effective sales behaviors. Leveraging

An Artificial Intelligence Layer is Only as Good as the Data Underneath It 2025 saw the rise of more tools and consolidation in the sales tech market. With this, there has been some debate about what the future might look like.  Will companies continue to invest in point solutions?  Or will the customers prefer an “all in one” tool that takes care of most of their needs? Well, only time will reveal what the landscape will look like.  But what is clear is customers prefer technology that helps them close more revenue, and address gaps that exist throughout the customer lifecycle. The entire customer journey, from lead to opportunity to revenue is riddled with complexities.  Tools that help drive a unified visibility across the funnel and align teams with clean and complete data will be successful in coming times. And an intelligence layer is what can take companies closer to their revenue targets.   What is an Intelligence Layer? An intelligence layer is the key that unlocks the data and exposes patterns that have long been trapped in databases and applications.  This layer knows how to make use of data that is continuously streaming into systems and has the ability to provide insights at the time of need. This layer also is intelligent enough to know that it needs to continuously evolve and adapt to keep itself updated.  In that way, it has the ability to marry historical context with the continuous oncoming of data about accounts, opportunities and prospects. And offers predictive signals into what can add value to the buying journey at any given point in time.  Image Source These signals can open up the possibilities of real-time predictive engagement. This makes it proactive, rather than reactive. It is the battle for this system of action that will win the sales tech game.  Revenue leaders are asking – “Which solution can deliver the best insights in a single User Interface that serves as a rep’s point of decision and point of action?” Whether it’s deciding who to reach out to, which deal to go after this week, or which deal to revive, an intelligence layer shares a predictive list of actions that pushes your teams towards deal closure.  These insights are highly valuable as it produces signals to ensure customer-facing teams are always focused on the highest-value and most-likely-to-convert accounts at all times. The Real Story: It’s Not Just About the Algorithms While this intelligence layer will definitely be the winner in coming times, the usefulness of it will depend on the data underneath it.  Because AI requires meaningful data to recommend improvements that help improve revenue outcomes. In short, building an intelligence layer requires business to have a solid data layer underneath it.  Otherwise even the best of breed cannot undo the effects that bad data has on revenue. Unfortunately, most businesses are still struggling with data quality.  A recent survey by Modern Sales Pros along with Buzzboard revealed the following: Only 6% of respondents reported being highly confident of their data. 58% of respondents reported data accuracy as the number one reason impacting their ability to collect quality data. 37% said poor quality data leads to poor conversion rates. Clearly, data quality is a challenge for organizations currently.  The questions revenue leaders must ask are: What will be my data source when I deploy generative AI apps?  Do I trust the quality of my data? Is my data clean and accurate to drive reliable insights for my business? For a business that is unsure of the quality of data it has in its systems, adding even the most advanced generative AI solution to their tech stack won’t improve their revenue outcomes.  It will add more tech debt to their business. Such data inefficiencies prevent an intelligence layer from delivering its true potential.  Bad Quality Data Leads to Poor Conversions Incomplete and inaccurate contact data has a direct impact on conversion rates, and hence revenue.  In a survey, 37% of revenue professionals said poor data fuels poor conversion rates.  Without the right data and insights at their disposal, demand generation and sales teams are unable to: Get the right leads into their sales funnel.  Nurture those leads down the funnel. Identify the most viable prospects to engage with. Run highly personalized campaigns and outreach This is where the intelligence layer (AI) has to converge with data to help organizations meet their current gaps in revenue generation.  Accurate, rich and complete account data is foundational to build an AI driven sales organization.  And those who don’t invest in a strong foundation may not be able to withstand the rapid pace and changes in today’s sales environment.  Characteristics of Good Quality Data The quality of your data rests on a number of characteristics that it must meet. Data quality is considered superior when it is: Accurate Automated Complete Timely All of these characteristics come together to determine data quality – the basis for making good decisions.  A quality dataset is crucial to support successful AI, as models are only as good as the data you put in them. This idea of data quality is an important part of having a solution that delivers consistent results.   Checklist to Assess Your Data Quality If you think you have good quality data in your systems, ask again. Here is a checklist of questions we have that can help you assess your current data quality status. Top of the funnel: Is your data accurate and timely to maximize buying group intelligence to opportunity conversion? Does your data allow you to increase your speed-to-lead ratio? Can you identify your high intent leads? Does your sales and marketing team have actionable visibility into account based execution? Do you have access to lost contacts and relationships? Does your data capture partner activities? Middle of the funnel: Do you have confidence in your pipeline numbers? Do you know which deals to prioritize in the pipeline? Do you have data about your buying group and their engagement? Are your reps able to multithread with the right accounts? Do you

What is Salesforce Duplicate Management? RevOps 10 min Salesforce duplicate management is a cause of worry for most businesses. It fills up the CRM with untrustworthy data. And the insights drawn from that data become questionable. Duplicity in Salesforce is when customer data is entered multiple times in the system leading to confusion, inefficiencies, and inaccurate reporting of leads. Sales duplicity management is an issue that leading companies of the world are dealing with.  Duplicate data in Salesforce describes a situation where two or more records in your database describe one unique real-world entity. For example, suppose you possess a contact named Ariana Grande, but your CRM comprises several contact entries representing Ariana Grande, each with some differences (A. Grande, Ari Grande). Duplicate data often results in lead ownership and sales commission confusion. The customer, on the other hand, gets conflicting messages and redundant calls, causing a negative impression of the organization.  The problem of duplicate data in Salesforce is huge, with most CRMs having 15-30% duplicate records. New records coming from integrations are almost 80% duplicate on average! How Duplicate Data is killing your Salesforce Effectiveness Let’s have a detailed look at how duplicate data might be hindering your Salesforce CRM’s effectiveness.  1. Poor customer experience Imagine receiving identical emails twice or having to repeat your issue to customer support because they are looking at different records. Such experiences can be frustrating and hamper the customer experience, which Salesforce aims to provide seamlessly. Duplicate records in Salesforce create the opposite effect, disrupting the smooth customer experience and undermining customer satisfaction. 2. Wasted sales opportunities Duplicate data in Salesforce can lead to wastage and frustration for the sales team. For instance, if a salesperson contacts a lead that another salesperson is already engaging in, it can result in wasted time, added frustration, and a poor experience for the lead.  An excessive number of duplicates can also erode salespersons’ trust in the data in Salesforce. Consequently, they may either extensively verify each contact before reaching out or skip checking background data altogether. 3. Unnecessary costs Businesses that utilize physical marketing materials like brochures, sample kits, and direct mail might suffer financial losses by sending the same materials to a person twice. This practice is not only wasteful but also harmful to the environment.  Moreover, certain software licenses are tied to the total number of records. Removing duplicates can minimize the number of records and associated costs. 4. Inflated forecasts The process of forecasting involves evaluating the number of prospects that are likely to progress through the marketing and sales funnel. However, inflated numbers caused by duplicates in the data can result in overly optimistic forecasts, which may be unattainable.  For example, if two sales representatives work on the same opportunity and enter the same data into Salesforce, the opportunity will be counted twice in the forecast. When there are multiple records for the same customer or prospect, it can be difficult to get an accurate view of the customer’s history, preferences, and needs. This can lead to misinformed sales strategies and missed opportunities. 5. Bad decision-making Effective decision-making begins with a unified view of the customer, consolidating all customer data into one view. This view can comprise various types of data, such as click data, transactional data, and contact information, and can enable cross-channel marketing and other capabilities. Measuring the impact of actions across all channels is crucial for making informed decisions. However, duplicates in the database can prevent a comprehensive analysis of specific customers and make the aggregated data unsuitable for analysis. With duplicity in Salesforce hurting organizations so viciously, companies are trying to find solutions to this common problem. One such solution is – Automation.  Automation in Salesforce can be used to prevent duplicates by implementing data quality rules, identifying potential duplicates, and automating routine data management tasks. This can improve data accuracy, reduce the risk of errors, and ensure consistency in customer data. What are the various ways in which Automation can mitigate the issue of duplicate data in Salesforce? Let’s have a look.  How Automation Can Resolve the Problem of Salesforce Duplicity Management What are the various ways in which automation can mitigate the issue of duplicate data in Salesforce? Let’s have a look.  1. Automated data entry instead of manual work Automated data entry can help prevent duplicate data in Salesforce by reducing the likelihood of human errors that often occur during manual data entry. With automation, data can be extracted from various sources and integrated into Salesforce without manual intervention, thereby minimizing the risk of creating duplicates. Automation can also check for duplicates in real time, and if detected, the system can either merge or delete the duplicate record automatically. 2. Audit before importing data Auditing data before importing it into Salesforce can identify and eliminate potential duplicates before they are introduced into the system. This involves thoroughly reviewing existing data and cross-referencing it against the new data to be imported. By doing so, businesses can identify any existing records that match the imported data and take the necessary actions to merge or delete them. 3. Implement validation rules to enforce data standards  Implementing validation rules in Salesforce can help prevent duplicate data by enforcing data standards and ensuring that new data being entered meets specific criteria. These rules can be set up to validate different types of data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. For example, suppose a validation rule is set up to prevent the creation of multiple contact records with the same email address. In that case, any attempt to create a new record with an existing email address will trigger an error, preventing the duplicate record from being created. This can improve data accuracy, reduce the risk of errors, and ensure consistency in customer data. 4. Proper validation on all CRM-connected forms Implementing proper validation on all CRM-connected forms can help prevent duplicate data by ensuring that new data being entered meets specific criteria before it is added to Salesforce. This

10 B2B Sales Closing Techniques for 2025 RevOps 10 min “How hard can you push a client to close a deal?” Sales leaders get asked this question a lot. “Why push at all?” some might answer. If you have clarified the value they’ll get out of your product, they would want to sign up. But you have to be tactical about it. Sometimes customers don’t want to commit until next week, next quarter, and so on. And that’s where sales closing techniques come in. What are Sales Closing Techniques and Why Do They Matter in B2B? For the best sales reps, selling is an exact science. They use tried and tested strategies to: Understand what makes people buy Appeal to those factors to close sales The strategies are based on months of researching accounts, studying the market, and decoding buyer behavior.  But let’s face the facts. Selling B2B is not easy.  Remote sales even less so.  B2B deals have many layers to them – multiple buyers, pain points, sign-offs, etc.  Priorities can change overnight. People may tell you they don’t have the budget after months of follow-up. Effective B2B sales closing techniques can give reps a fighting chance. And help the team speed up sales. So, here’s our list of 10 B2B Sales Closing Techniques for 2024: 1. Always ask about their goals for the product For VPs and CEOs, buying decisions are black or white.  Your product either meets their needs or it doesn’t.   So, think about what they want from the product.  Don’t hesitate to ask if you aren’t sure.  And tie your product solutions to them.   This will help you contextually explain your value proposition. To do this: Look beyond the sales script and ICP data. Put people first. Ask your own leadership team about the current market outlook Look up case studies or ask your LinkedIn contacts about problems that CEOs obsess about. You might have already talked to their team members before getting into a meeting with the CEO. But always ask them about their biggest goals for the year.  Hear out their perspective and use the same words they use to describe the problem. Then position your product as the answer. 2. Don’t engage in discount-based selling Asking about their goals can be a great way to qualify them.  They’ll tell you what they’re spending money on.  You’ll likely be able to tell how likely they are to buy. Ask them, “How important is XX goal to you?” Or “By when does this initiative need to be completed? Explain how your product can help them achieve it.  You might find some don’t have objective criteria for evaluating a product. Rare but not unheard of. Some buyers might change their buying criteria to match changing business needs.  And it might all come down to the pricing.  They may tell you that they’re considering other alternatives. If so, list all the core benefits plus any additional support or consulting you offer.  Be sure to highlight the impact – both good and bad. If they push for a discount, try to start at a higher price point.  But never offer one upfront. 3. Competitor comparisons can be an opportunity – use them well. You have to dig deep when clients bring up competitors.  It could be a renewal or a fresh proposal.  You know how good your product is relative to the competition.  You have provided quantifiable data and testimonials to build your case.  Now it’s time to take it up a notch. Ask, “On a scale of 1-10, how well is Product XX working for you?  Listen closely to what they say. There could be areas of concern you can capitalize on.  If yes, ask “What would need to happen for it to be a 10?” Use the clients’ own words to describe the problem and segue to how your product solves them. Confirm they understand by asking: “Can you see how our product solves this problem? “Would rate us higher on this metric?”  Discuss any other concerns that might come up. 4. Lead with a Mutual Action Plan (MAP) A MAP literally ‘maps’ out who needs to do what to close the deal.  It can help set clear expectations for all involved.  This approach reduces risk for the buyer too. But be sure to highlight three things: The estimated timeframe for closing the deal What it’s going to cost – both to you and them. (due diligence, contracts, compliance) The number of people will be involved on either side. Slip it in that it will take 3X to 4X the time with other vendors they may be considering. This is a surefire way to know if they’re ready to move forward with you. Either way, email them a summary of the discussion and ask them to confirm.  This will help you build credibility with the client even if they don’t close. 5. Use ‘the word ‘we’, not ‘you’ You may have been given plenty of advice on how to build rapport. Pace and match the client Find common experiences But there’s something much simpler you can do to get the same results- replace ‘you’ with ‘we’.  Say it enough times and you’ll collapse the barrier between buyer and seller.  It makes clients think you’re on their side. “We’re both interested in helping you reach XX goal. I’ll do what I can to get you what you want.” 6. Get them to do the Yes Set A Yes Set is a series of 3 yeses you want the client to give you.  You ask 3 questions that have obvious ‘yes’ answers, conditioning the client to agree when you finally ask them the big question. 7. Be assumptive when asking them to close This is quite similar to the yes technique.  It involves the use of language that implies that the deal is done.  For example, “Do you want to sign up for our Starter Plan or Enterprise Plan?” A word of caution: use it only when you think the prospect is ready to buy.

Nektar.ai v/s Clari v/s Gong v/s People.ai v/s EAC Are you Looking for an in-depth comparison between Nektar.ai vs Clari vs Gong vs People.ai vs EAC Product In today’s business world, where data is the currency of success, the significance of automated data capture cannot be overstated. In the pursuit of efficient revenue operations and intelligence, organizations are turning to AI and automation platforms that streamline data collection and analysis. This blog embarks on a comparative journey, shining a spotlight on five trailblazing platforms – Nektar.ai, Clari, People.ai, Gong, and Einstein Activity Capture – all united by a shared focus on automated data capture. Each platform boasts the promise of automating data capture, harnessing artificial intelligence, and delivering actionable insights to supercharge revenue operations. We will delve into their core functionalities, unique strengths, and how they empower businesses to revolutionize their sales strategies. Whether you are looking to refine your sales forecasting, enhance opportunity management, or gain deeper pipeline visibility, this comprehensive analysis will guide you in selecting the ideal revenue operations and intelligence solution tailored to your organization’s needs. Let’s dive in and uncover the transformative potential that lies within these cutting-edge platforms! Nektar Nektar.ai was founded in 2020 with a vision to enable GTM teams to take control of revenue leaks with a purpose-built AI data foundation that unifies accurate, clean, timely revenue data, automatically at scale. Claim to Fame Nektar is popular for its AI-powered automated data capture capabilities that sync contacts, emails, and calendar meetings from sales communication to Salesforce. This is done for ongoing activities as well as historical GTM activities. It supports all customer-facing teams – from business development and sales to customer success and account management. For this reason, revenue operations and revenue leaders choose Nektar to gain a 360º view of their customers. Pros: Captures historical and ongoing contacts and GTM activities to deliver pristine CRM data Presents the buying committee in every deal by enriching contacts with job titles and the corresponding buyer role (influencer, decision maker, economic buyer, etc) Automatically links captured contacts to relevant open opportunities as OCRs Automatically classifies activities as per the sales or CS process to provide insights on the types of activities sellers/CSMs are spending their time on Captures calendar events, including recurring events and updates made to the event (participants or schedule) Always on reporting where ‘Actionable’ insights are delivered on Slack, email, or MS Teams – the power of a dashboard without the dashboard Continuously maintains the CRM data by updating and correcting the captured data Works for every customer-facing team, not just sales Supports data capture for partnership/channel/alliance teams as well Cons: Best suited for companies with 10+ sellers. Clari Founded in 2012, Clari emerged with the mission to revolutionize sales operations through AI-driven insights and predictive analytics. Since its inception, Clari has been dedicated to helping sales teams optimize performance and revenue growth with its innovative technology. Clari’s platform is built for frontline teams as well as sales leadership teams. Today, it boasts several capabilities that include automated data capture, opportunity management, mutual action plans, conversation intelligence, and forecasting. Claim to Fame While Clari offers an extensive platform for sales analytics, it is appreciated by sellers and leaders specifically for its forecasting capabilities. As such it is popular among sales teams more than any other revenue-facing team. Pros: Clean visuals and UI Customizable dashboards ‘Funnel view’ of the pipeline Visibility into current & projected pipeline Introduced conversation intelligence recently (easier to consolidate tools) Cons: Several contacts are not captured on Salesforce Syncing activities into Opportunities on Salesforce is not always accurate Salesforce sync has issues User adoption is a potential risk, and requires constant enablement PeopleAI People.ai was founded in 2016 to transform sales and marketing operations through AI-driven automation and data analysis. People.ai‘s platform focuses on capturing and analyzing sales activities to provide valuable insights and enhance sales effectiveness. Since its establishment, People.ai has claimed to be utilizing artificial intelligence to streamline sales processes and improve revenue outcomes. Claim to Fame People.ai started to become popular for its account planning and management capabilities with a focus on enabling sellers on corresponding playbooks. Given this, it is popular among sales teams, with considerable interest from marketing teams, specifically in companies that pursue ABM, since it also captures contacts better than the other heavyweights in this category. Pros: Monitor the adoption of sales playbooks and their compliance Capture contacts, emails, and meetings in linear sales communications Provides good insights into buying committee members Easy-to-use interface for sellers to update a CRM Cons: Data capture is not as extensive or accurate Engagement insights not as granular Not flexible, requires support for customization Insights are not as extensive as other vendors Data privacy is not as strong, given its operating model UI is not very friendly, requires continuous training/enablement Support can be slow Gong Founded in 2015, Gong is a pioneer in conversation analytics for sales teams, utilizing AI to analyze customer interactions, meetings, and calls. Gong.io‘s platform provides valuable insights into (verbal) sales conversations, helping teams refine their strategies and manage sales meetings better. With a focus on improving sales performance, Gong has become a prominent player in the field of AI-driven sales analytics since its inception. Claim to Fame Gong became popularly known for helping sales leaders coach their teams on handling sales meetings better through its conversation intelligence capabilities. It’s accuracy and depth of insights in conversations are best-in-class. And so, while it started out as a tool for sales teams, it has since become popular among customer success and prospecting (SDR/BDR) teams as well. Pros: Ability to ramp new sellers faster and coach reps better Good for all customer-facing teams given its focus on conversation intelligence Provides alerts when specific keywords get mentioned in sales calls Extensive integrations available along with deep insights in conversation-based engagement Cons: Only conversation intelligence is widely used which casts doubt on ‘value for money’ Data captured on Salesforce gets removed when Gong is pulled out Data enrichment requires building Salesforce Flows and is not done by

5 CRM Data Challenges that Impact Sales Productivity Sales productivity taking a hit? Missing and faulty CRM data could be to blame. Read this blog to learn more CRM RevOps The ongoing economic uncertainty has slowed down funding to a large extent, prompting revenue leaders to look at business success differently. Cutting down the focus on growth at all costs, they’re now pursuing “productivity at all costs.” So, where should you double down as a revenue leader to boost rep productivity?  CRM, the central hub of all sales activity, is the best place to start. CRMs act as data centers for sellers, and those with high-quality data can support highly efficient sales teams.  But CRM data leakage (faulty, poor, incomplete, and unreliable data) can disrupt RevOps, resulting in a significant dip in productivity.  Missing or Inaccurate Data Bears Risks As much as 79% of the opportunity data collected by reps never steps foot into the CRM.  Even worse, reps may capture dirty data (inaccurate, non-compliant, or outdated) when they enter contact information in the CRM. On the other hand, quality data remains stuck in sales tools, inboxes, calendars, meeting notes, and supporting platforms.  It’s a rising problem as 91% of CRM data is incomplete, stale, or duplicated each year. Adding to the challenge, 70% of this data decays annually.   Source Business decisions made on insights and analysis gathered from bad data cause more harm than any other errors. Following the concept of “garbage in, garbage out,” poor quality intelligence leads to poor quality decision-making.  This shortcoming ultimately hampers marketing and sales campaigns. Mainly when there’s no layer of intelligence to enrich sales data, sales reps have difficulty closing deals involving multiple stakeholders in the buying committee.  Reps could destabilize multithreading by not having enough accurate information on each participant.  For instance, the IT leader may be more interested in understanding the functional and underlying take makeup of your solution. But reps don’t have enough data to arrive at this insight. Instead, they send a generic document to all stakeholders with extensive marketing and financial information, which may be less relevant to the IT team. The result – a flawed customer experience.  Let’s see how CRM data leakage affects sales productivity and what you can do to solve the problem.  5 Key CRM Data Challenges Responsible for a Dip in Sales Productivity While there could be multiple reasons for a dip in sales productivity, we’ll look at five significant problems of CRM data leakage that slow down productivity.  1. Incomplete insights on leading indicators 52% of sales leaders report that their CRM costs potential revenue opportunities because the system doesn’t effectively meet their needs.  To fuel predictable revenue and motivate reps, you need to know everything happening in your business in real time.  Relying on lagging indicators doesn’t help productivity. They’re geared toward past performance and don’t provide information on ongoing deals, such as  What opportunities are stuck? Which reps aren’t hitting their quota attainment and why? What are the key channels to communicate with a particular buyer? Reps need insights into leading indicators (predictive measures of future performance) to close deals successfully and repeat winning tactics. These indicators clearly show buyer-seller activity and where deals are headed.  Some critical leading indicators are Buyer vs. sales stage Number of sales activities per sales stage Number of multithread deals Multithreading score Productivity score  CRM data leakage blocks actionable intelligence on leading indicators. So, reps don’t know what to make of their CRM data.  Ultimately, this makes effective selling a challenge.  Reps have to look at multiple data points spread across several platforms for critical pieces of information on a prospect. It leaves them clueless about the buyer’s selling stage and affects deal prioritization.  CRM data leakage also inhibits you from using a combination of lagging and leading indicators to close deals better.  Consider this. Leading indicators allow you to see what new opportunities are created and how many first meetings are done in a given period.  From there, you can drill down to see what activities reps undertake to win more deals and how this impacts your pipeline using sales metrics (lagging indicators). Or, if something isn’t right, you can figure out what needs to be done to resolve the problem.  None of this is possible without high-quality leading indicators, adversely impacting reps’ selling abilities and productivity.    2. CRM Data Capture Remains Largely Manual For 76% of companies, poor adoption of sales tools is a primary reason they miss sales quota attainment.  Moreover, organizations have wasted a considerable amount on sales tools that weren’t fully adopted by reps – an average of $313,000, to be precise.  One of the top causes for reps to dislike CRM is manual entry. And it’s clear why, as reps continue to tackle evolving selling processes to attract the evolved buyer.  On any given day, reps have to get through a series of simultaneous tasks to win deals, like Researching prospects, their business size, location, target audience, and more.  Hosting discovery calls with interested leads.  Cold calling and emailing new prospects to refresh the sales pipeline  Nurturing stakeholder relationships within a buyer group to push deals through the sales funnel faster Handling internal reviews with peers and managers, exchanging feedback and new selling ideas  Amongst it all, entering data manually into the CRM after each buyer interaction feels extremely tedious and unnecessary. Not to mention time-consuming, too.  When faced with the massive responsibility of entering contact data, reps spend more time on administrative activities than prospecting and selling (i.e., their core responsibilities). The consequences are disastrous, as non-selling activities add up to one full day of work every week for reps! Sales Reinvented Podcast  Reps subsequently prefer putting more time into building buyer engagement. And if they can’t accomplish this feat, they experience a “drag” on productivity.  Unmotivated sellers are a wound in the side for sales quota attainment and winning deals. This pushes them to explore other opportunities outside the organization, carving a dent in your bottom line.  3. CRM Acts as a System of Record as Opposed to a System of Actionable Insight

The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid in Your Sales Playbook Getting a sales playbook right is one of the first steps to building a strong sales machine. Don’t make these 5 mistakes while building one. B2B Sales Sales Sales Leadership Sales Playbook Founders, make notes. We are here to share the biggest mistakes that are made while devising a sales playbook. A sales playbook is the holy grail that gives an end-to-end view of your sales process – from hiring and onboarding your sales team, executing your sales motion to scaling it. Your rockstar performers already have a lot of ground knowledge. Be it what questions to ask prospects at different stages or what material should be sent out to a prospect from a particular industry, they have developed the know-how to such crucial questions through their experience. A playbook lays down the set of best practises from A players – all those Eureka moments that helped close tough deals in the beginning are all documented and shared with the new reps. If new reps have access to all these do’s and don’ts from Day 1, they will be more productive and close that first deal sooner.  https://youtu.be/_TomEFmIslU?si=v1MWrd-BHyxJJjIZ These learnings and strategies are the heart and soul of a playbook, and can act as a friendly mentor to any new rep joining your team as they navigate the sales process. Whether you already have a sales playbook or are in the process of devising one, we are here to share some of the biggest mistakes that make sales playbooks fail. 1. Not documenting your learnings Founders have a lot of learning in the initial days through interactions with customers, researching about the market or building the product. The playbook should include this knowledge of what has worked for the company. You won’t be able to do this overnight. But you need to start articulating it as you start seeing success in the following areas: You have a product that is solving a particular pain point  Your product delights a particular buyer persona in a certain way Once you have achieved these two things, you need to start documenting your sales process. Answer some specific questions such as: How do you go about doing a solution discussion with your prospect? How do you convince the prospect of the value your product adds to their lives? How do you sell to the prospect? How do you onboard the prospect? How do you implement the product? How do you create a customer support journey post sale? List down what’s working and what’s not in every step of the sales process. For example, if during a discovery call, one of your A player figures out a particular pattern that has been aiding the move to the next step, it must make an entry into the playbook. The learnings in the journey of your sales process are unique to your organisation and the knowledge needs to trickle down to everyone else in your company. For that to happen, define your unique sales process very clearly in your playbook. Most companies fail to map out their unique sales processes, which leads to missing out on deals, or failing to follow a standardized routine for interested prospects.  Without this documentation, the best practises are never known to everyone, and keep floating like tribal knowledge between the rockstars and is never leveraged by the new reps. 2. Too many floating versions Onto the second mistake – if companies do manage to build a playbook defining the best practises, there are different versions of it that keep floating around.  There is no centralised process that takes care of standardising the playbook and making it universal for everyone to follow.  Too many versions can create confusion and make different teams approach the product and customers in a different manner, creating a non-uniform experience for your prospects. To make sure your playbook has one single version, you will have to invest in a dedicated sales enablement function that can act as a custodian of that playbook.  This team can act as that central force that not only creates the playbook, but also maintains one singular version of it so that everyone is on the same page. 3. Not evolving the sales playbook Playbooks are dynamic by nature. Just like your product matures, your GTM insights develop and the competitive landscape changes, playbooks also need to evolve along with them. But most organisations fail to evolve them.   https://youtu.be/thpLYTzbe7M?si=8b6BvRgDjSsPGevw Your playbook should be tailored according to the kind of deals that you are trying to close. For example, if you are going upstream from an SMB to an Enterprise model, the playbook has to change accordingly. The same strategies that helped you close deals for SMBs will not work for an enterprise model. It’s important to evolve your playbook as your company, product and the market goes through different stages. This is the way to keep up with the competitive landscape and be ready to face turbulent times with a guide. The way to do this is to have your playbooks be centrally managed by your enablement function, who can keep updating it as the company graduates from one stage to another. 4. Lack of peer to peer collaboration Your sales reps are on the field, talking directly to customers, understanding the competition and dealing with the market. The kind of intel they develop as a customer facing function should not be limited to just them. It needs to be shared with the entire organisation. For example, the kind of documents or emails that A players are sending to prospects or the kind of questions they are asking in the calls – all of this should be documented and circulated among the new hires.  Mature reps in the organization must actively participate in building and continuously contributing to your playbooks. This can be done by passing on the intel of your A players to a central team that can develop the playbook

5 Effective CRM Data Management Strategies CRM 10 min Having the best CRM data management strategies in your arsenal can help you prevent several revenue leakages in your business. Data interactions went up by a whopping 5000% between 2010 and 2020. With this amount of data to handle and manage, businesses need a plan of action. This is where CRM data management comes into play.  In this article, we will reveal tried-and-tested CRM data management strategies that will transform your CRM into a real growth engine.  Let’s get started.  What is CRM Data Management? CRM data management refers to the process of effectively collecting, organizing, storing, and maintaining customer-related information within a CRM. It involves managing the vast amounts of data generated from customer interactions, purchases, inquiries, support requests, and more. These perfectly organized datasets are then used by almost all the departments of your business including sales, marketing, customer service, and RevOps. In simpler terms, CRM data management is like maintaining a well-organized library of customer information. Just as a librarian categorizes and arranges books for easy access, CRM data management involves structuring customer data to make it easily searchable and retrievable for businesses. Hold on, there’s more to it! CRM data management can bring immense benefits to your business which we will discuss now.  Why Do you Need CRM Data Management? With a gazillion amount of data lying inside your CRM arises a need to manage it effectively so that you can begin harnessing its power. Here’s how organized and clean data make an impact on your business.  1. Higher conversion rates When your data is organized, you can quickly identify leads that show genuine interest in your products or services. With a clear picture of your prospects, you can customize your sales pitch and marketing efforts to address their specific needs and pain points. You will also be in a position to aptly score your leads.  This targeted approach increases the chances of converting potential leads into happy customers. The increase in conversion rate can go up to a gigantic 300%. 2. Access to customer insights  44% of customers ignore unprepared sales pitches. Clean data allows you to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and buying patterns more effectively. You can identify trends, popular products, and areas for improvement.  Armed with these insights, you can create personalized customer campaigns, pitches, and offers that resonate with your audience, fostering stronger customer loyalty and repeat business. 3. Higher levels of efficiency  A well-organized CRM database ensures your team can access the right information at the right time. It eliminates the frustration of searching for data in different places, streamlining workflows and decision-making processes. In fact, this data accessibility can shorten the sales cycle on average by 8-14%. The efficiency boost enables your team to focus on core tasks, betters collaboration and accelerates overall team productivity.  4. Compliance and governance Keeping your data clean and up-to-date is essential for maintaining compliance with data protection regulations and industry standards.  By ensuring data accuracy and security, you build trust with your customers, reassuring them that their information is handled responsibly. This trust can positively influence the image of your brand and customer relationships. No wonder, 84% of consumers are more loyal to companies that have strong data security controls. 5. Accurate sales forecasts  Accurate and organized data helps in making reliable sales forecasts. By analyzing historical sales data and customer trends, you can predict future sales performance more precisely. This helps you to set realistic targets for your teams, allocate resources mindfully, and make informed business decisions to optimize revenue growth. 6. Targeted campaigns Sales and advertising departments lose about 550 hours in a year due to insufficient data. When your data is clean and organized, you can segment your audience more effectively. This audience segmentation allows you to create highly targeted ad campaigns that resonate with specific customer groups.  As a result, you can optimize your advertising budget and achieve higher conversion rates with ads that reach the right people at the right time. Now that we understand the benefits of clean data for business operations, it’s time to shift our focus to the next step: exploring effective strategies for managing it. 5 Effective CRM Data Management Strategies 85% of sellers admit having made likely embarrassing mistakes due to incorrect CRM data. Are your reps also making these mistakes?  Well, chances are high.  But the good news is that we have reached that part of the blog where we will reveal the most effective CRM data management strategies that will not only prevent your reps from committing these mistakes but also take your CRM’s ROI to the next level.  Let’s dive in. 1. Standardize data collection  Imagine if everyone in your team used different formats for storing data – what a real mess it’d be. Standardizing data collection means setting s standard policy i.e. clear rules and formats for entering information.  When everyone follows the same guidelines, the data becomes consistent, making it easier to work with and understand. Plus, it reduces errors and confusion, ensuring you get accurate insights from your data. For example, use standardized date formats, consistent naming conventions, contact details, and uniform categories for data entry. Also, make sure only specific people are allowed to enter data in your CRM and not all the employees so that you know who is accountable for which entry.  2. Regularly cleanse and update your data Regular reviewing and cleansing of data is important to ensure only the relevant data remains in your CRM. The aim is to keep your database neat and tidy, so you can find what you need without any hassle at the right time. Here’s what you can do. Set a schedule to review your data periodically, say every quarter as stated by Jacky Leiha, CRM expert in one of our podcasts. Look for duplicate entries and merge them, fix any inaccuracies, and delete outdated or irrelevant information. Also, create monthly exception reports. This data cleanup process keeps your database accurate, relevant, and up-to-date. 3. Integrate data from other platforms Picture your business as a puzzle with many pieces.

10 Key Traits to Look Out For in Your Next Sales Representative Sales 10 min When it comes to recruiting a sales representative, traits trump competencies.  Traits are unique characteristics in a rep’s personality. Competencies or skills can be developed over time through training, mentoring or coaching. However, the right traits take long periods of time to develop, and training or coaching might have very limited impact in enhancing them.  For example, for a sales rep job, a candidate can learn skills such as “product knowledge,” “presentation skills” or “business writing” once hired. But traits such as “self motivation” or “accountability” might not be learned on the job. These are traits that need to be a current part of their personality. Having the right set of competencies can be a great add-on. But having the right traits while hiring is non-negotiable. When you hire for your sales reps, dive deep into their personalities to figure out their unique traits, and if they can translate to the sales environment.  Let’s see what are the top traits you must look for when hiring a sales representative. 1. Hunger Hunger refers to the burning desire to do anything that it takes to achieve one’s goals. This is a trait that needs to come from within the sales representative, and goes a long way in establishing relationships and closing deals. Hunger is defined by the “why” of getting into sales. Is it just money, or is there a larger goal they want to achieve for themselves? For some, it may be providing for their family, for others it may be financial stability. Whatever that end goal is, it will push them towards bringing their best version to work every single day.  As Tony Robbins puts it, “Hunger will destroy that fear of failure.” When sales reps have an innate hunger to make it in sales, they are always ready to hustle and roll up their sleeves to get the job done. Hunger offers that platform for ambition to take off from.  If there is hunger in sales reps, they will be motivated to close more high-value deals, face obstacles head-on and walk that extra mile whenever needed. 2. Coachability Coachability is a key contributor to the success of sales reps. A sales representative is coachable when they are open to being taught and trained as they progress at their jobs.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSI_OSEpot8 Abhijeet Vijayverigiya, CEO at Nektar.ai says, “I look for a strong intent to learn. It’s very important for sales reps to have that learning ability. Even if you don’t know the product, domain or the solution, you can always pick it up, provided you have the learning intent. Whenever I see this as a negative, I tend to not go for the candidate.” Top sales representatives are aware of their own performance, strengths and weaknesses. They use that awareness to continuously learn from their peers, seniors and their prospects and grow as professionals.  This focus on continuous improvement to keep their skills sharp helps reps stay ahead of the curve and become “great” from “good.” Coachable sales representatives are all ears for constructive feedback, and believe in the power of mentorship from their managers. 3. Confidence Confident reps truly believe in what they sell, and most importantly the value that your product or service adds to the lives of customers. Only when reps believe that their product is the absolute best in the market will they be able to genuinely and confidently showcase that to their prospects. Along with the product, great sales reps believe in themselves and their vision. They can confidently explain how your product or service is going to solve a problem for the customer. A great sales representative also instils decision confidence in their prospects by helping them see the true value of the product they stand for. In today’s digital world, where B2B sales are happening online, the best sales reps confidently help their customers articulate the nuances of your product and differentiate it from the competition, leading to more sales. 4. Tenacity Sales is hard. The number of rejections might be higher than approvals. And that’s okay. What’s important is to stay focused and determined on the goals and carry on. Being tenacious keeps reps focused on the larger picture. Sales reps who are tenacious are always ahead of the curve. They are always trying to fill in their knowledge gaps and visualise scenarios from a customer’s perspective. They are constantly on the lookout for how they can solve their customer’s problems effectively. Because of their constant pursuit to improve and learn, these candidates are not only open to feedback, but also willing to incorporate them in making themselves better. They are always open to learning and improving their work ethic. They take accountability for their mistakes and always welcome constructive feedback. These reps demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence and they look at challenges as opportunities to learn, improve and grow. 5. Honesty Authenticity, honesty and integrity are key traits to make a brand stand out in today’s world.  The best sales reps are honest. They speak the truth, even when it is hard. They do not let their enthusiasm draw the wrong picture for their clients.   They never bend the truth or exaggerate their offerings, just to close a sale. Building credibility takes time and honesty from the very beginning is what creates that level of trust among prospects.  For example, if a solution does not meet the expectations of a prospect, a sales representative should not say otherwise. Giving a false timeline of deliverables without consulting the team or having certainty of outcomes can cost businesses their reputation. Great sales reps always set realistic expectations for prospects and never put their reputation at risk. They are committed to their ethics and they always choose the establishment of trust over finding ways to manage short-term profit. They act as a reliable resource, rather than plain sellers.  Make sure you hire reps who abide by the principles of