Top 10 Sales Enablement Software of 2025 RevOps 10 min Your sales reps have a mile-long to-do list. They need to generate leads, manage the pipeline, attend customer meetings, and follow up on a ton of other activities.  You’d agree it’s overwhelming.  With so many things to juggle, it can be difficult for them to figure out where to focus their energy. This multi-tasking is one of the biggest blockers for sales teams today. Shockingly, only 35.2% of a sales rep’s time is spent actively selling.  So, what’s the solution?  Give your sales reps the power they need to succeed with great sales enablement software. In this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about sales enablement – from what it actually is, to the benefits you’re missing out on if you’re not using it for your sales team.  Plus, we’ll be sharing the ultimate list of the top 10 sales enablement software that you can use to turn your reps into super-reps.  Top 10 Sales Enablement Software of 2024 1. Nektar 2. SalesLoft 3. Groove 4. Cirrus Insight 5. InsideSales 6. Mixmax 7. Spotio 8. salesSimplify 9. Buzzboard 10. VanillaSoft What is Sales Enablement?  Sales enablement is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have for any organization that wants to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. Forrester Research Sales enablement is a term that’s been gaining popularity in the business world over the past few years. In a nutshell, it’s all about providing sales teams with the tools and resources they need to be able to sell more and better.  This can include things like product knowledge, sales training, customer insights, sales automation software, and other resources that can help sales reps get better at what they do.  The ultimate goal of sales enablement – increase sales.  Overview of Top 10 Sales Enablement Software of 2024 Now that you know what you should look for, we will give you a detailed comparison of the top 10 sales enablement software in the industry and how they can turn the tables for your sales processes. 1. Nektar   Nektar is a sales productivity platform that helps sales reps improve their performance and hit their targets by using data-driven insights and automation. It offers various tools and features that help streamline the sales process including automated data collection.  The platform enables sales reps to focus on what they do best – building relationships with prospects and closing deals. Nektar’s primary focus is to equip sales teams with the necessary tools and resources to kickstart their sales funnel effectively. The platform enables sales reps to focus on what they do best – building relationships with prospects and closing deals. Nektar’s primary focus is to equip sales teams with the necessary tools and resources to kickstart their sales funnel effectively. Key features: Automated tracking of leads, deals, and pipeline metrics Collaborative forecasting and scenario planning AI-powered revenue optimization insights Rules configuration for sales updates Real-time notifications and alerts for revenue insights Historical data analysis and trend forecasting User-friendly interface with customizable dashboards Integration with popular CRM platforms 2. SalesLoft   SalesLoft is a comprehensive sales engagement platform that is designed to help sales teams streamline their workflows and drive revenue growth.  The platform is known for its focus on personalized outreach and building strong relationships with customers, as well as its ability to provide managers with valuable insights and data to help them optimize their teams’ performance. Overall, SalesLoft aims to help businesses improve their sales processes, drive growth, and achieve their revenue goals. Key features: Email tracking and scheduling Sales automation and cadence management Call tracking and recording Analytics and Reporting Social selling tools Sales coaching and training resources Customizable sales workflows Mobile app for easy access to the sales dashboard 3. Groove   Groove is a sales engagement platform that helps sales teams increase their productivity and efficiency. It offers various functionalities, with a focus on email tracking, CRM integration, sales automation, and analytics and reporting.  The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and ability to be customized to fit the specific needs of each sales team. Its goal is to streamline the sales process, improve collaboration, and ultimately drive better results for businesses. Key features: Email tracking, scheduling, templates, and scheduling Real-time analytics and reporting Customizable sales workflows Sales coaching and training resources Mobile app for on-the-go sales 4. Cirrus Insight   Cirrus Insight is a sales engagement platform that is designed to integrate customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce, Gmail, and Office 365 into a single, unified platform The main focus is on improving sales productivity and efficiency by enabling sales teams to manage all of their customer interactions and data in one place, while also providing managers with valuable insights to optimize team performance and drive growth. Key features: Email tracking, scheduling, and templates Sales automation and workflow management Analytics and reporting Customer data management and segmentation Lead and opportunity tracking Campaign and pipeline management Calendar integration and scheduling 5. InsideSales   InsideSales is a sales engagement platform that leverages AI and machine learning algorithms to help sales teams prioritize leads, personalize outreach, and close deals more effectively. The tool allows sales reps to work together on deals, share insights and information, and collaborate on sales strategies. The platform’s AI capabilities can also help sales teams identify hidden opportunities and potential areas for growth. Key features: AI-powered predictive analytics  Lead scoring and routing Email and call tracking  Sales coaching and training  Real-time insights and analytics  Mobile app for productive sales  Pipeline management and forecasting  6. Mixmax   Mixmax is an all-in-one sales productivity and communication platform that provides a range of features and tools to help sales teams streamline their workflows, improve productivity, and close more deals.  The platform offers real-time collaboration and commenting, allowing team members to share insights and feedback on sales activities and customer interactions.  Key features: Email tracking and scheduling Email templates and snippets Calendar scheduling Automated and personalized email sequences Analytics and reporting 7. Spotio   Spotio is a

A Revenue Leader’s Guide to a Successful SKO 2025 Sales 10 min As revenue leaders, you must be busy preparing for your Sales Kick Off (SKO) for 2025. With so many challenges being carried forward from the last two years, are you wondering what a modern SKO might look like for the coming year? The approach you take must communicate your go-to-market strategy for the year ahead, and set up your sales reps for success. To make this happen, you will have to address some of the most pressing challenges that your sales reps face. In this article, we have compiled top tips from 15 revenue leaders on what they plan to do differently for their SKO 2025. These are the top use cases these leaders plan to focus on. We believe it will be helpful in making your next SKO a game-changing event and will help you drive your revenue acceleration plans. 1. Understand who your reps are speaking to and at what stage Your sales reps probably speak to multiple prospects on a daily basis. However, the most initial prospects might not always be the most valuable when it comes to closing deals. As the sales cycle proceeds, it’s not uncommon for different personas or buyers to enter the conversations. The more information your reps have on these new entrants, the easier it will be for them to close deals faster. In short, your sales reps must be adequately equipped to handle dynamism with respect to buyer queries at different stages of the sales cycle.  For instance, a deal might be at a later stage in the sales process, and a new persona might enter into the conversations through your email threads. This should not go unnoticed, and your system should alert on the role that this new stakeholder might play in the deal journey.  Instead of being lost on new buyer personas entering the sales conversations, the right tool can help you figure out some of the following questions: Is the new persona valuable in accelerating my deal cycle? Does the new persona have a say in the decision-making process? Does the new persona affect my deal size? Depending on the answers you get, your sales managers can coach reps about the persona(s) that are now a part of the buying committee. They can also educate reps on how to handle the probable objections that might come with them. This way, your sales reps will be alerted and prepared to mould the forthcoming conversations with the new persona in mind.  2. Use activity data to understand if the deal is real Sales pipeline management continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of managing a sales team. While there are automation tools that have made it simpler for sales managers to create detailed sales pipeline reports, the quality of these reports might not always be of value. The key reason is sales pipeline bloating. Over a period of time, your sales pipeline might get bloated with many opportunities that are no longer viable. This happens because your sales reps might not want to eliminate any deal opportunity, even if no conversations have taken place in a long time. Your sales reps might also believe that the bigger the pipeline is, the more value it holds or creates a positive image of their selling skills for their managers. However, the truth is that these opportunities end up wasting time and resources when conversations are missing. They need to be eliminated from the pipeline so that reps can focus on deals that are actually valuable.  If your sales managers have a clear picture of where the pipeline looks bloated, they can decide on how to drive predictable quarters for themselves. The activity data of the reps can be used as a leading indicator to determine which deals are real and whether the deal has a potential to be closed or not.  This significantly improves the sales cycle and helps focus on deals that actually yield positive returns for your organization.  3. Monetize the value of your CRM Sales technology, such as CRM tools have become an integral part of the sales process for top-performing organisations. While CRMs solve a lot of challenges sales teams face, they also have certain limitations. Sales people spend 17 percent of their day entering data into their CRMs. This struggle to find clients, research and keep CRMs up-to-date can suck out the energy of your sales reps, leaving less time for them to spend on more strategic and revenue-generating activities.  CRMs also run the risk of carrying incomplete data as manual entry is prone to error. Overtime, CRM data can also become stale and not really add any value to closing deals. Your sales reps are busy. You need to give them automation solutions that make their lives easier. According to Hubspot’s Global Sales Enablement Report 2021, leaders and managers who use automation as a part of their sales process are exceeding revenues.  Automation is helping reps improve their productivity and close more deals by eliminating manual tasks from their everyday life. By automating parts of their sales process, sales leaders free up rep time to focus on selling.  A system that logs all activities of your sales reps, creates contacts and updates business objects such as accounts and opportunities in your CRM without any human intervention can potentially free up five to six hours of their time per week. Nektar maintains CRM hygiene by automating the data entry process and provides timely and accurate insights on revenue activities, delivering 3 key values -100% CRM hygiene, higher win rates, and increased deal velocity. 4. Improve playbook compliance for consistent selling Poor internal processes can be the major reason causing deals to slip through the cracks. When reps from your teams communicate differently with customers, it might harm your brand’s reputation.  A playbook freezes the sales process to be followed, and helps create a strong foundation for your teams. An HBR study found that 50 percent of high performing sales organisations had sales processes that were closely

Buyer Intelligence: The Secret to Reduce Customer Churn Churn carries high costs for businesses. Find out how access to buyer intelligence unlocks churn prevention secrets. Customer Success To compensate for one lost customer, you need to acquire three new ones. Believe it when McKinsey says it. Churn carries high costs with it. That’s why retention is a top priority for businesses today. Yet, churn is on the rise, with 64% of companies expecting it to increase. What’s more surprising is that the issues behind churn can be managed or resolved. And as much as 96% of subscription businesses agree. So, how can you uncover the real reasons behind churn, use buyer intelligence to reduce it, and improve growth? Let’s find out. What is Buyer Intelligence? First things first, let’s have a clear understanding of the buyer intelligence concept. Buyer intelligence analyzes past patterns to predict and direct future customer interactions. It assesses ongoing customer data gleaned from omnichannel interactions. Then, it produces insights on these customers. B2B buyer intelligence could look at a wide range of data, including but not limited to: Customer behavior Business goals Business challenges and priorities Purchase decision Successful use cases Communication Company background Segments Financial standing The beauty of buyer intelligence is that it derives this information from several channels. After doing so, it combines and drives insights. Channels include emails, meetings, product usage, service consumption, and more. Its primary goal is to enrich the CRM with complete and reliable data. This gives customer success managers (CSMs) the information to optimize future client interactions. CSMs can use B2B buyer intelligence insights to not just look at customer behavior. They can also dive further into the buyer committee. They can verify contact data and messaging patterns to reach the right stakeholder at the right time. Buyer intelligence is the key to solving emerging problems in customer experience today. Emerging Customer Success Pain Points Resulting in Churn Businesses are strategizing for resilient growth by concentrating on retention. And customer success plays a pivotal role in seeing this effort through. But as the spotlight on customer success shines bright, so do its glaring problems. Notably, the last few years have thrown up multiple issues. Some emerging pain points in customer success include: 1. Customer success rigour doesn’t match sales A singular focus on sales leads to rigorously planned workflows and playbooks. However, leaders don’t follow a similar rigor for customer success. This is despite businesses keeping client experience as their number one priority. 2. Missing engagement Customer success talks to just one person (the champion) instead of engaging with the entire buyer group. This is specifically important as buyer committees are more complex today. 82% of companies say that difficult purchases involve two to nine departments in the client’s company. Other times, CSMs engage with the top 10% (best-performers) and lowest 10% of clients (at high risk of churn). But they miss the remaining customers. These left-out customers could have the potential to become a bigger account (expand) or feel overlooked and leave (churn). 3. Inconsistent information At times, customer success doesn’t know what is happening in the client’s organization. They possess information that is incomplete, inaccurate, siloed, or non-compliant. As a result, CSMs don’t know how to use the available information to strategize the next steps in the customer journey. 4. Too many tools The global customer success platforms market is expected to grow more than double—from US$ 2.07 billion in 2023 to US$ 4.35 billion in 2027. But this growth doesn’t necessarily spell a boon for CSMs. They may have too many tools to gather buyer intelligence from. And end up getting confused. They may not know how to apply these tools to monitor customer behavior. Nor will they know how to help clients make the most of your solution. On the other hand, these tools may also need extensive manual inputs. It becomes overwhelming for CSMs to keep up with the tools alongside other responsibilities. 5. Impersonal client interactions As a result, CSMs can’t personalize communication for each account. Instead, they send generic messages and content for ongoing offers and new features, among other updates. As much as 65% of customers don’t like the impersonal approach, expecting companies to adapt to their evolving preferences. 6. Ineffective renewals Because CSMs don’t have complete information on clients, they hold renewal conversations closer to the due date. There’s no communication or relationship-building activity beforehand. At this time, if you decide to increase costs without an intimation well in advance, customers may be discouraged from continuing with you. The above pain points present a picture of ineffective customer success. What, then, is the effective version? What Does Valuable Customer Success Look Like? Effective customer success is when customers find value in their relationship with your business. And this value is strong enough for them to stick around. Customers assess value by determining their success since deploying your solution. They also look at the experience of working alongside your team. If you deliver high-value experiences to your clients, they’re 3.5 times more likely to advocate for you. But what could CSMs do differently to achieve this feat? Effective CSMs use buyer intelligence to: Work with customers (not despite them) and Understand each buyer’s pain points, business goals, and KPIs. They give customers the resources to be effective, achieve business goals, and feel confident in growth. They don’t create strategies around short-term wins. They also optimize for long-term, sustainable growth. You’ve seen the power of effective customer success. Now, let’s find out how you can build valuable relationships and reduce customer churn using buyer intelligence. The Role of Buyer Intelligence in Reducing Churn B2B buyer intelligence deliberately uses insights gathered from clean data to nurture customers. It enables them to grow with your business, encouraging the customer to associate their success with you. Here are six ways in which buyer intelligence could reduce churn: 1. Single-threaded to multithreaded accounts Poor quality data leads to 56% of CRM users losing existing customers. Owing to incomplete information, CSMs may know who is the day-to-day point of contact. However, they may not know who is involved in deploying and using

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

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.

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 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

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

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.