How to build your sales tech stack
Section takeaways
Sales tools should support your processes - don’t expect one to be a silver bullet.
Keep things simple, leverage free tools when you can.
Implementing a CRM doesn’t mean you need a heavy or expensive solution. Getting this set up early will help you keep track of your customers and streamline your sales process.
Note: This may seem like a nice-to-have if you’re a solo founder or a small group of co-founders. But it will make you more effective now by keeping things in one place, and save you time and confusion as your business and team grows
What are sales tools and why you need them
What are sales tools?
Tools help you optimize your sales process
Most sales tools are designed to integrate with your CRM, which will be your source of truth about your customers and prospects
Diagram of common tool categories and examples
This is not an exhaustive list, but the general categories that sales tools fall under include:
| Category | Example | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| CRM | Salesforce; Airtable; Hubspot | Keep track of your customer info and sales process |
| Lead handling | Email automation (Outreach.io, Sales loft) Live chat (Intercom, Drift), | Identify and qualify leads |
| Prospecting | ZoomInfo; LinkedIn; Leadgenius; hunter.io; Apollo | Find new leads to target; validate the info you have about them (i.e. email address) |
| Analytics/reporting | Looker; Tableau; InsightSquared | Analyze trends from customers/sales |
| Process/training | Learning management (Workramp; Lessonly); Notes/ sales process (Dooly; Momentum); Call recording (Chorus.ai; Gong) | Train new members of your team; automate and enforce processes |
| Sales intelligence | Clearbit; Zoominfo | Enrich data with information about leads/prospects (company size, industry) |
We’re going to focus specifically on the CRM aspect of the sales tool stack since this is the foundational building block that all other tools will build on.
How do you choose the right tools?
Tools alone will not solve your problems. First, define your processes and then select tools that help you amplify that process.
You don’t need every tool. Pick an area that you want to optimize and decide if you’re ready to add a tool to help you do this.
If you’re just starting to talk to customers you only need your email and a lightweight CRM to keep track.
Spotlight: CRM
IMPORTANT NOTE: This information isn’t meant to overwhelm you. As you’re starting out, you just need a simple way to keep track of your customers and prospects - you probably already have this in some form (a running Google Doc, written on a whiteboard or in your notebook).
The goal now is to streamline that so you have a system to keep track, and can build on this as your business grows and sales become more complex over time.
What is CRM software?
CRM = “Customer relationship management”
Without going into too much of a history lesson, this used to be done manually with very little transparency to anybody beyond the individual salesperson - remember Rolodexes?
Then, Salesforce capitalized on the cloud and invented a new category of CRM
Now CRMs are indispensable as the source of truth about your most important asset: your customers.
Why do you need a CRM?
Your CRM organizes and keeps track of all interactions with your prospects and customers; it will be your source of truth for anything customer-related (i.e. contracts; notes; the stage in the sales cycle)
By implementing a CRM early, and using it to implement your sales process, you’ll get better data about your business and be able to spot trends and areas of improvement early. Specifically:
CRMs give visibility into the sales process
Identify which customers to focus on by tracking contract size, predicted close dates, company size.
Data can tell you a lot but if you’re not collecting it consistently, it won’t help. Starting to collect data about your sales process early will give you an advantage later when you’re trying to optimize.
Having a sales process is fantastic - but a CRM makes it easier to enforce and stay consistent
Bottom line: solid CRM hygiene (i.e. consistently tracking interactions with customers from lead to customer) will benefit you in the long run by giving you strong signals about when you need to hire salespeople, how long it takes a customer to sign with you, what types of customers you’re winning and losing, and more.
What types of CRMs are there?
The most famous, and the industry leader is Salesforce.
Paid examples
Aside from Salesforce, other popular options include: Hubspot, Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Pipedrive
Free options
Some of the above also have free options too. These have limitations on functionality or number of users but are a good place to start:
Olivine CRM Template in Airtable
How do you start using a CRM?
Setting up a CRM can feel intimidating but it doesn’t have to be! Think of this as a way to keep consistent records about your customers and support your sales process. It can be lightweight, the goal isn’t to make it robust but to make it functional for you.
Remember, you’ve done the hard work of defining your sales process. Your CRM is going to help you stay on track. An easy way to start is by using this free template (plug the template).
No matter what tool you decide to go with, keep it simple to start with and focus on these three things:
Step 1
Decide what you’re going to track. Some basic information you should always keep track of includes:
Sales stage (where are they in your sales process)
Record type (customer, prospect, lead)
Customer contact information (Company name; contact’s name; Email; phone number)
What they’re buying (product or plan name(s))
How much they will pay (contract amount)
When you think they will purchase (close date)
Next step and date (what is your next action to continue to move the sales process along?)
Important documents (contracts; legal reviews; etc.)
Step 2
How will this information get into the CRM?
When does a lead get created? (do they have to fill out a form or take a certain action?)
How? (manually, integration, etc.)
Who converts leads to prospects? (if it’s not just you, who is going to be doing what)
Step 3
Follow your process and use your CRM
Make sure that you are updating your CRM after every conversation/interaction
Data is only good if you’re collecting it consistently
Get started: Open the CRM Template in Airtable, make a copy, and start selling!
