Personalized messages convert more leads than generic ones. But if sales reps spend all their time writing emails, they will never be able to scale up or hone their skills. So, what should they do?

The simple answer is to leverage the sales engagement software. From personalizing your automated messages to boosting productivity, the benefits of using sales engagement platforms are many. According to a recent study, 51% of B2B companies currently use sales engagement software, with another 13% planning to invest in the sales platform in the near future.

However, with more than thousands of sales outreach platforms available in the market today, choosing the right tool can be a challenge. Here is a complete guide on sales engagement tools, their benefits, use cases, and the factors to look for in an effective platform.

What is a sales engagement software?

A sales engagement software facilitates efficient communication between your sales reps and prospects/customers. It diversifies the communication channels and allows the reps to connect with prospects on the phone, send voicemails, text messages, and emails, and hold video meetings. 

What does a sales engagement software do?

The best sales engagement software allows sales teams to:

  • Automates and streamlines sales activities for improved efficiency.
  • Build custom communication sequences. For example, you might start with a phone call with new leads and then follow up through an email three days later. 
  • Efficiently unite all communication data in a single place, so sales reps don’t have to toggle between multiple programs in search of specific information. 
  • Sell smarter by tracking calls, emails, and social media engagement.
  • Enables personalization while providing analytics and reporting for measuring sales performance.
  • Integrates with CRM systems fosters collaboration among sales teams, and facilitates workflow and task management.

Why do you need a sales engagement software?

Imagine being a sales rep with a mountain of leads to follow up on. Enter a sales engagement software, your trusty sidekick in your sales game. It automates tedious tasks like personalized emails and response tracking, giving you more time to build relationships and close deals.

Want to know which cold email templates are hitting the mark? The software itself analyzes open rates and click-throughs, revealing the winning formulas. Collaboration is also a breeze too, with a centralized hub for team members to share ideas and track progress.

As your business grows, the software also scales effortlessly, adapting to handle more leads and maintaining that personal touch. Ultimately it acts like your sales ally, turbocharging your success.

What to consider before choosing a sales engagement software?

A great sales engagement tool can significantly boost productivity and sales, whereas the wrong platform can cause serious headaches and disappointments. When choosing a sales engagement software, look out for these features that will help you scale the business:

#1 – A single platform for all communications

You should always opt for a sales engagement software that consolidates all communication channels, such as email, phone, SMS, social, and chat, into a unified platform that offers numerous advantages.

It eliminates the need to juggle multiple tools or switch between platforms, simplifying workflows and saving time. Having all communications centralized in a single platform streamlines tracking, reporting, and analysis, enabling a comprehensive view of interactions and enhancing collaboration among sales team members.

This way Outplay revolutionizes prospecting with a multi-channel engagement approach that covers email, phone, SMS, social, WhatsApp, and chat. By providing a comprehensive suite of communication channels, Outplay equips you with everything you need to maximize sales at scale. This ensures effective touchpoint coverage, leading to a steady stream of meetings and opportunities. 

#2 – Workflow automation tools 

The faster you engage with your leads, the higher the chances of converting them into customers. That’s why sales engagement software that can automate several parts of your workflow can be a game changer when it comes to improving outreach sales engagement.

Good automation results in more accurate data by reducing human error and relieving the sales team from the burden of data input.

Sales engagement software like Outplay process large amounts of data and automate all repetitive tasks so your sales reps can spend less time scheduling meetings, data entry, or sending follow-up information. Furthermore, based on your needs, the tool allows you to either trigger auto-emails or send manual emails. This means you get to save hours each week to refocus your teams’ efforts on generating more leads in your pipeline.

#3 – Scoring and sales performance analytics 

A sales engagement software should not only help businesses efficiently engage with prospects but also help them generate leads and track them accurately.

So, when choosing a sales engagement tool, look for one with a sales reporting feature, such as Outplay. It offers accurate, easy-to-understand, real-time insights, so every member of the team is on the same page. It also helps to identify areas of the sales engagement process that can be improved.

With Outplay, you can monitor every interaction your sales reps have with potential customers and track their performance, opportunity stages, sequence stats, prospect stats, meeting booked, task executions, and more. This offers greater visibility into your sales pipeline and performance, so you can alter it for improvements and craft excellent and personalized customer journeys.

#4 - Seamless integration

When choosing a sales engagement software, it's crucial to ensure seamless integration with your existing ecosystem of tools.

The software should effortlessly connect with your CRM system, communication platforms, and other essential tools to avoid any disruptions or inefficiencies in your sales workflow. This compatibility allows for smooth data exchange, centralized information management, and streamlined processes.

Tools like Outplay integrate with popular CRM systems like Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive, Zoho,  and other sales tools for efficient data synchronization, empowering your sales team with accurate and real-time information.

#5 - Personalize emails at scale

An ideal sales engagement software empowers you to personalize everything you send out. It should provide you with advanced capabilities, such as dynamic content, enabling you to tailor messages to individual prospects while saving valuable time.

This capability allows for more meaningful and relevant interactions, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion. With personalization, you can maintain a personal touch even when reaching out to a large number of leads.

Outplay effortlessly enables all these functionalities by allowing you to write and send custom emails to your prospects. These emails are seamlessly recorded as activities, providing valuable insights and the ability to refine your strategy for optimal results. This will help you in turn gain control over your messaging and can adapt your approach based on real-time data. 

#6 - Smooth onboarding

Effortless onboarding is a crucial consideration when selecting a sales engagement software. Look for a solution that offers a user-friendly interface and intuitive features, ensuring a quick learning curve for your sales team.

Software with easy onboarding processes, comprehensive documentation, and accessible customer support will minimize training time and maximize productivity. Smooth onboarding allows your team to hit the ground running, leveraging the capabilities to accelerate sales activities and achieve faster results.

Outplay takes pride in offering white glove onboarding to all users, without the need for any additional payment. This provides personalized attention to ensure your success, regardless of the number of seats you purchase. The dedicated customer support team is available 24X5, responding to your queries within minutes. Most importantly, we strive to resolve any issues you encounter on the same day. 

#7 - Effective lead generation and nurturing

The right sales engagement software should excel in both lead generation and nurturing. It should provide robust tools for identifying and capturing leads, such as sales prospecting features and data enrichment capabilities.

Additionally, the software should offer functionalities for nurturing leads throughout the sales cycle, enabling automated and personalized touchpoints to keep prospects engaged and move them closer to conversion. These capabilities empower your team to consistently generate high-quality leads and cultivate relationships that drive sales growth.

Accelerate your sales cycle with Outplay's dynamic sales lead sourcing database. Access real-time verified data for 850 million professionals across 35 million companies worldwide. Not to mention the game-changing power of Outplay's AI capabilities, converting objections into opportunities, nurturing high-intent leads, and outshining your competition.

#8 - Streamlined content management

An essential aspect of sales engagement software is its ability to create and manage sales content efficiently. Look for a solution that allows for easy creation, organization, and retrieval of sales collateral, cold calling scripts, col email templates, and presentations.

Robust content management enables your team to access the right materials at the right time, ensuring consistent messaging and efficient sales interactions. This will also save time, enhances productivity, and ensures a cohesive and professional approach to your sales efforts.

Outplay ensures seamless access to resources for all team members, empowering them to edit and update whenever and wherever needed. This guarantees that everyone is utilizing the most up-to-date versions of the resources and allows them to stay on the same page

Learn about the best sales engagement platforms in 2023 to prospect efficiently.

Sell more with the right sales engagement software solution 

Sales engagement software can be a great investment to boost your business’s sales efforts and make processes more efficient. However, you should evaluate each platform based on its ability to support various use cases across teams before purchasing one.

The right tool will help your sales team become more productive, gather more data, waste less time doing meaningless tasks, streamline processes and workflows, and achieve better success rates.

If you are looking for a sales engagement software to take the stress off your sales reps’ shoulders, give Outplay a try. A perfect platform for all your sales needs, this powerful platform engages prospects on multiple sales channels, automate manual non-revenue generating tasks, and analyzes sales outreach leveraging powerful analytics. Plus, it allows deep integration with all the tools sales teams depend on, such as Zapier, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and more.

Book a free demo here.