Businesses at various stages of development need a unified and integrated suite of technological tools to support and simplify the operations of sales teams and other departments. With a plethora of options including platforms, apps, and external services, it's crucial to identify the essential tools for each growth stage and understand the process of choosing them.
Prevalent Technology Tool Stack Choices
The selection of a technology tool stack is as critical as the organization and its processes it's meant to enhance. With a myriad of options available for every tool a team might require, choosing, acquiring, and integrating your company's tech stack components can seem daunting.
Typically, the most popular choices include:
Salesforce-Centric Framework: Salesforce (SFDC), predominantly utilized as a CRM (customer relationship management software), is a go-to for companies with an annual contract value upwards of $15,000. Businesses that offer a platform-based product and encounter extended sales cycles often opt for SFDC due to its comprehensive suite of tools. All SFDC SaaS offerings are accessible on the Salesforce AppExchange.
Google-Centric Framework: Google (G Suite) tools are a favorite among companies focused on early-stage, high-velocity solutions. Firms selling applications rather than platforms generally lean towards G Suite solutions for extended periods before transitioning to SFDC. All CRM tools and applications based on Google can be found within G Suite.
Refining Your Technology Stack Choices
To effectively refine your choices for a technology stack, consider these four essential guidelines:
1. Understand the distinct layers within the stack:
Your technology stack will comprise various components, each requiring careful selection:
- Server: Essential for your business operations, choose servers from leading providers like Microsoft, AWS, or Google.
- Platform: Examine various platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, and Zendesk. The right choice should accommodate your company's long-term needs, as switching platforms later can be challenging.
- Application: These can be independent, fully integrated with your chosen platform, or operate alongside it. Applications, unlike platforms, are more flexible to swap as your business evolves. Examples include Calendly, Bill.com, and Zoom.
- Outsourced Services: Consider external agencies that handle specific functions for your business, like an outsourced SDR, an accounting firm, or lead enrichment services.
2. Every instrument must feed information into the database:
The majority of your organization's upcoming decisions will hinge on data, so it's crucial that every instrument adds valuable information to your repository of knowledge. Take an email automation tool as an instance. Rather than inquiring with your sales team about their effective use of email, employ an email tool that reveals the effectiveness through tangible data. Your chosen email automation system should ideally record all incoming and outgoing emails automatically, generating statistics about reply rates and successful delivery. Broadly speaking, even if a tool excels in functionality, it should be set aside if it fails to supply meaningful data to your overall enterprise data bank.
3. Different technology types necessitate distinct contract approaches:
Generally, it's advisable to follow these guidelines for each layer of your technology stack:
- Server: Consider this as the foundation of your infrastructure.
- Platforms: Begin with a one-year contract. If the platform aligns well with your business requirements, a longer-term, multi-year agreement is a sensible next step.
- Applications: Opt for contracts with a maximum duration of one year, followed by yearly renewals.
- Services: Frame service contracts around usage or effectiveness. Limit commitments to periods not exceeding three months each.
4. Every business area requires tooling support for scalability, yet equilibrium is key:
All departments, including marketing, customer success, and others, need a degree of technological enablement to expand effectively. Nonetheless, overloading one sector, like marketing, with an excess of tools, while neglecting others can lead to imbalance. Accumulating too many tools also escalates the need for personnel to oversee, maintain, and analyze the data these tools generate. It's crucial to find a harmonious blend of technological resources and human intelligence.
Suggested Sales Technology Suites for Various Stages of Business Expansion
In deciding on the sales tools to invest in, many firms often bypass a thorough evaluation and selection process, instead seeking to identify the top tools available. However, as every business has unique needs, the ideal choice varies based on individual circumstances. Consequently, the market offers a myriad of tools, each with distinct functionalities and features.
The compilation of tools presented here serves as a basic guide. While these tools may not suit every business, they provide a solid foundation for assessing your company's requirements and selecting tools that align with your specific business objectives. It's important to note that the landscape of solutions is continuously evolving, with new tools emerging regularly and smaller tools frequently being integrated into larger platforms. Therefore, this list should not be seen as all-encompassing or definitive. Instead, it offers a general framework for the types of tools a business might need during each stage of its growth trajectory.
Tools for the Initial Phase: Launch
In the Launch stage, businesses typically have a limited number of sales representatives. It's crucial for these companies not to overwhelm themselves with an excess of tools. A practical approach would be to maximize the use of basic spreadsheets, complementing them with a handful of robust tools. Facilitate lead generation using platforms such as LinkedIn Navigator, MixMax, and Calendly. For the majority of other requirements, manual methods or spreadsheet alternatives should suffice.
Google Workspace: Most emerging startups gravitate towards Google Workspace as their initial toolkit. It’s straightforward, budget-friendly, and excels in collaborative features. Offering economical access to essential office productivity tools that are user-friendly, it enables teams to share, edit, comment, and collaborate seamlessly in real-time. Begin with these applications, which seamlessly complement or integrate with Google Workspace:
ZoomInfo: As your business grows, creating a top-notch database becomes crucial, necessitating superior quality inputs. ZoomInfo delivers accurate contact details for your ideal prospects tailored to specific criteria.
Drift: Increasing website traffic calls for enhanced engagement with visitors. Drift provides the capability to interact with site visitors, with its bot feature facilitating prompt responses, meeting scheduling, and valuable insight gathering. Initiate with its no-cost version as soon as feasible.
LinkedIn: For effective lead generation and in-depth understanding of prospects, connections, and meeting attendees, LinkedIn stands as a dependable and rich resource.
MixMax: In building your sales force, the need for scheduling meetings, sending template-based emails, and establishing email sequences arises. MixMax presents intuitive tools for streamlined email communication.
Zoom Video Conferencing: While face-to-face meetings hold great value, they don’t scale as effectively for future growth needs. Familiarize yourself with remote meetings using Zoom video conferencing early on.
HelloSign/DocuSign: Right from the start, it’s essential for your company to keep an electronic log of all digitally signed documents and agreements. Begin with a no-cost HelloSign or DocuSign plan, and upgrade to a paid subscription once you surpass the limit of complimentary signatures. Stick with your chosen provider for several years.
Xero: Avoid the pitfalls of manually processing your initial company invoices. The complexity and potential for errors in financial transactions outweigh any minor savings. Implement Xero from the get-go for handling invoices. Below is an example of a customer-friendly invoice. At this nascent stage, provide your direct contact number to customers to swiftly address any financial queries.
Initial Hurdles in the Early Stages of Business
- Hurdle #1: Opting for a substantial initial payment or extended contract durations. Initially, choose a month-to-month agreement, even at a higher cost. Once the tool demonstrates effectiveness, consider switching to an annual or upfront payment plan. Avoid contracts with automatic renewal clauses.
- Hurdle #2: Investing in premium subscriptions when free alternatives are available. This period is crucial for experimenting with different tools to determine the best fit for your business and team. Future needs will naturally lead to necessary paid tools.
- Hurdle #3: Reluctance to invest in essential paid tools for key operations like electronic signatures or video conferencing. These significant functions should not rely on complimentary versions of tools.
- Hurdle #4: Prematurely committing to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Marketing Automation System (MAS). Avoid heavy investments in these systems, especially if your customer base is below ten. Keep in mind the eventual necessity for a consultant to set up and oversee a CRM system.
Instruments for the Expansion Phase: Advancing Beyond Basics
As a business evolves into its Expansion Phase, it's time to move past basic tools like spreadsheets. This stage calls for adopting a streamlined CRM, enhancing lead qualification through enriched analytics, and considering premium versions of essential tools. This investment in advanced tools aligns with your business's scaling trajectory, promising substantial efficiency improvements.
Core Platforms for the Expansion Phase:
In this critical phase, integrating Marketing Automation System (MAS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms into your operational toolkit becomes essential. As your business gains momentum, choosing your first foundational platforms is crucial:
HubSpot/Pardot: For marketing automation, options like HubSpot or Pardot are ideal for developing landing pages, tracking engagement, and managing email campaigns.
Transitioning from free to paid subscriptions is recommended for:
Drift: The paid version allows advanced features like specific "playbooks per page," including campaigns, qualification processes, and scheduling tools.
LinkedIn: Investing in LinkedIn's Sales Navigator enhances lead searching and provides tailored lead suggestions.
Zoom: It's time to opt for a professional Zoom license and set up a well-equipped conference room, shifting away from informal video calls.
Outsourcing Strategies in the Expansion Phase:
This phase might also introduce the need for outsourcing:
External Accounting Services: Engaging an accounting firm for tasks like invoicing and payment follow-ups is advisable. They can remotely access tools like Xero, easing the financial management load.
Lead Enrichment Processes: Replace manual lead gathering (previously done through website and LinkedIn perusals) with outsourced services. Platforms like Upwork can facilitate this. Provide a detailed video or a written guide explaining your lead generation process to ensure accurate replication by your outsourced team.
When using platforms like Upwork for outsourcing, initially assign the task to multiple candidates (three to five) who meet your experience and location preferences. After a trial period, assess their work to select the best fit. The ideal collaborator will demonstrate excellent communication skills and deliver high-quality work.
Typical Hurdles in the Scaling-Up Stage
Hurdle #1: Challenges in Selecting the Right Tool. Three key benefits can be derived from a tool set:
- Enhanced Capability: The tool boosts your chances of securing more business agreements. For instance, tools like Infer or Everstring.
- Improved Productivity: The tool enables you to accomplish the same workload with less effort or resources. Tools such as Calendly are examples.
- Elevated Experience: The tool enhances the experience for either the customer or the user. For example, Docusign simplifies the process for customers to sign documents, while tools like Xero for accounting or Pandadoc for quotations minimize data entry for your team.
If a tool delivers benefits in all three areas, it's an excellent investment. If it addresses two, it's likely a worthwhile acquisition. A tool that impacts only one area should offer significant benefits to justify its procurement.
Hurdle #2: The overwhelming variety of tools makes decision-making difficult. Experiment with each potential application through A/B testing over a period of one to two weeks before making your choice.
Hurdle #3: You discover an outstanding tool, but it fails to mesh with your existing technology stack. In such cases, it's advisable not to proceed with the purchase.
Tools for Expansion Phase: Scaling Up
As your enterprise transitions into the Scaling Up phase, it faces a new reality: a burgeoning sales force requiring a more advanced array of tools to facilitate and manage increasingly complex activities. These instruments become crucial as your business accelerates the pace of adding sales personnel, outstripping the rate of growth in sales operations, enablement, or management. Opt for tools offering intricate insights and supporting your team across the entire customer journey.
Platforms for Growth:
In this phase, it's essential to integrate a comprehensive customer database and advance to professional-grade tools. The infrastructure and platforms you choose now will likely accompany your business up to the $50M Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) milestone. Therefore, careful selection is key:
- Customer Database: Adopt Salesforce. Despite its higher cost and complexity, its scalability is unmatched.
- Marketing Automation System: Select a system that delivers extensive lead data - from lead quantity and origin to engagement patterns with your business and content interaction. Companies focused on inbound strategies (selling applications) often prefer HubSpot, while those with outbound approaches (selling platforms) typically lean towards Marketo.
- Customer Relationship Management: Continue with Salesforce (referenced above).
- Customer Support Platform: Most businesses will benefit from a blend of Zendesk for support ticket handling, coupled with Gainsight or Totango for customer success initiatives.
Application Strategy:
Your enterprise likely has diverse teams with varying requirements and preferences for applications. Prioritize investments judiciously. A critical factor in choosing the right tool is its compatibility with your data framework. For example, can a call recording automatically sync with your CRM customer record, or must it be manually entered by sales reps? Aim for tools that integrate seamlessly to complete your data ecosystem:
- Cloud-Based Proposal Creation: Platforms like PandaDoc allow you to craft proposals, include terms, and access up-to-date customer databases in real-time.
- Cloud-Based Telephony: As your company grows, reliance on emails and personal phones becomes impractical. Implement a comprehensive phone system, including toll-free lines, through cloud services like TalkDesk or NewVoiceMedia.
- Real-Time Dashboards for Executive Reporting: Utilize standardized dashboards for reporting, like InsightSquared, to streamline board meeting preparations and reduce organizational stress.
Leveraging Outsourced Services:
In the Scaling Up phase, integrating additional services can bolster areas of relative weakness in your company. Many of these external services, such as consulting, might bring their own specialized tools:
Call Analysis and Training:
Tools like Chorus or Gong can record and analyze calls, integrating directly with platforms like Zoom. Collaborate with an external service or consultancy for reviewing these calls with sales representatives, ensuring your sales metrics like Average Contract Value (ACV), win rate, and sales cycle duration are top-tier.
Typical Challenges During the Scale-Up Stage
Challenge #1: Excessive tool accumulation. Prevent your organization from being overwhelmed by excessive tools through a stringent tool approval process. Require executive team authorization for any tool that necessitates a multi-month commitment. This step is crucial because each tool demands a share of your team’s time, training, and budget, or a mix of these resources.
Challenge #2: Uncertainty about the optimal number of SaaS tools. As a reference, a business in the Start-Up phase should utilize between 10 and 20 tools, one in the Grow-Up phase should have 20 to 30 tools, and during the Scale-Up phase, a company should manage 30 to 50 tools. Remember, these figures pertain to the entire company’s toolset, not just those used by the sales department.
Challenge #3: Tool acquisition without adequate manpower for operation. At a minimum, your team should include one individual, possibly more, dedicated to Sales Operations to oversee your tool stack effectively. Despite the ease of use promised by tool providers, your organization requires personnel to handle the processes of tool evaluation, conducting pilot tests with sales representatives, selection, integration, and overall management of these tools.
