The sales technology landscape is bursting with innovative new platforms aiming to boost productivity and revenue growth. With so many options to consider, selecting the right tools for your business can be challenging. This post ranks the top 10 sales technologies for 2024 along with an in-depth look at features and capabilities.
What are the Benefits of Sales Technologies?
Sales tech promises a wealth of benefits when leveraged effectively:
- Automate Manual Tasks: Platforms can take over admin tasks to free up seller time to focus on value-added activities. For example, data entry, list imports, email sequences, and follow-up reminders can all run automatically.
- Powerful Analytics and Insights: Advanced reporting dashboards provide a 360-degree view of pipeline health, forecast accuracy, customer retention and more key metrics to inform strategy.
- Increased Productivity: Features like click-to-dial, email templates, meeting schedulers and task automation help sellers get more done in less time.
- Enhanced Targeting: Audience insights tools tap into demographic, firmographic, technographic and other data to identify high-propensity prospects worth pursuing.
- Shortened Sales Cycles: Capabilities like intelligent lead routing, playbooks and process triggers help progress opportunities faster down the funnel.
Key Types of Sales Technologies and Tools
There are a variety of sales technology categories, including:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms
CRM systems like Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and Zoho store all customer data, interactions, pipeline deals and tasks in one centralized hub accessible across the org.
Sales Enablement Platforms
Sales enablement tools like Highspot arm sellers with training, coaching, content and other assets they need to have better customer conversations.
Email and Cadence Tools
Email tools like Outreach, and Mailshake help sales teams automate and track email outreach campaigns and customize multi-touch sequences.
Data and Analytics
Data platforms like ZoomInfo enrich contacts with firmographic and technographic insights for better targeting.
Sales Acceleration Tools
Sales acceleration software like Gong, Chorus and Outreach provides conversation intelligence, advanced analytics and other capabilities to optimize interactions.
The Top 10 Sales Technologies for 2024
Based on market trends, VC funding, and real user reviews, these rank as this year’s top B2B sales tools:
- Salesforce – The 800-pound gorilla, Salesforce remains the CRM market leader.
- HubSpot CRM – All-in-one CRM for scaling companies.
- Zoho CRM- Online Sales & Marketing CRM
- ZoomInfo – Lead & company data enrichment taken to the next level.
- Outreach – Top sales engagement platform used by over 5,000 businesses globally.
- Gong – Conversation intelligence for coaching and selling optimization.
- Mixmax – Sales and email productivity booster.
- Brainshark – Sales training, coaching and readiness software.
- Highspot – AI-powered sales enablement.
- Mailshake – Cold outbound email made easy.
Now let’s explore the details of what makes these sales tools rank among this year’s elite technologies:
1. Salesforce Details and Features
Salesforce remains the 800-pound gorilla in the CRM market with its leading Sales Cloud platform used by sales teams to manage contacts, track customer interactions, facilitate team collaboration, and analyze performance.
Key features include:
- Sales Cloud – CRM capabilities for pipeline, forecasting, contact/account management
- Einstein Analytics – Built-in AI for forecasts and key metrics dashboards
- Sales Cloud Einstein – AI-powered tools like predictive lead scoring and automated data captures
- Pardot – Marketing automation for lead nurturing and customized content
- Salesforce Inbox/High Velocity Sales – Sales acceleration features and productivity apps
2. HubSpot CRM Details and Features
HubSpot CRM is an all-in-one platform that combines CRM, marketing automation, sales enablement, and operations features.
Key features include:
- Contact Insights – Firmographic, technographic, social media enrichment
- Deal Stages – Customized sales pipeline workflow management
- Email Sequences – Drag-and-drop multi-channel campaign builder
- Analytics – Reporting across sales velocity, deal forecasting, and more
3. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM empowers sales teams with an end-to-end suite of tools for optimizing sales performance. Used by over 250,000 organizations globally, Zoho equips teams with the visibility & insights needed to understand customer needs, engage in relevant conversations, and accelerate revenue growth.
Key features include:
- Sales Pipeline Management – Custom stages, deal scoring, pipeline analytics
- Contact & Account Insights – Enriched firmographic & technographic data
- Email Productivity – Templates, mass email, tracking & monitoring
- Conversation Intelligence – Call logging, sentiment analysis, talk tracks
- Collaborative Forecasting & Reporting – Predictive models, quota tracking, dashboard creation
- Integrations – With top marketing, sales and collaboration apps
4. ZoomInfo Details and Features
ZoomInfo powers go-to-market strategies by delivering best-in-class B2B intelligence on contacts, companies, org charts and intent signals to help teams identify ideal customers and shorten sales cycles. Over 275,000 businesses globally use ZoomInfo to fuel predictable revenue growth.
Key features include:
- Data Accuracy – Over 95% guaranteed accuracy of data
Contact Profiles – Technographics, hierarchies, news sources and more - Company Profiles – Firmographics, technologies used, contacts and org charts
- Integrations – 300+ native app and platform integrations including Salesforce
5. Outreach Details and Features
The leading sales engagement platform used by over 5,000 companies, Outreach drives more efficient and productive sales processes. Outreach helps teams automate administrative tasks, optimize sales workflows, and provide actionable insights with its tools for email sequencing, calls, texts, buyer insights, and progress benchmarking.
Key features include:
- Prospecting – Email templates, cadence builder, opens/clicks tracking
- Sequencing – Rules-based multi-touch email and call workflows
- Analytics – Pipeline health, quota attainment, projection dashboards
- Integrations – Native for Salesforce, GSuite, Office 365 and 100+ other apps
6. Gong Details and Features
Gong provides conversation intelligence to optimize revenue team performance. Sales leaders use Gong to capture customer calls, meeting recordings, emails and texts which feed into an AI-powered analytics engine to surface contextual insights, trends and coaching cues for reps.
Key features include:
- Reality Analytics – Transcripts and talk tracks analysis
- Coaching Insights – Smart playback and annotation capabilities
- ROI Dashboard – Deal scoring algorithm and metrics focused on areas to improve
7. Mixmax Details and Features
The sales engagement platform Mixmax enhances email productivity within your current Gmail and inbox workflows. Reps use Mixmax to easily schedule meetings and track opens, clicks, and replies without toggling between multiple apps.
Key features include:
- Tracking – Opens, clicks, replies, and reminders
- Templates – Custom email templates with merge fields
- Sequences – Schedule sending multiple emails to prospects
- Integrations – Calendar, video, survey, eSignature addons
8. Brainshark Details and Features
Brainshark empowers sales teams with on-demand training and coaching through their cutting edge sales enablement and readiness platform. Reps can rapidly create and share bite-sized microlearning video content to ensure messaging aligns across the team.
Key features include:
- Onboarding – Structured training curriculum and coaching
- Content Authoring – Quick video and content creation tools
- Analytics – Content consumption tracking
- Integrations – Salesforce, Outreach, LinkedIn integrations
9. Highspot Details and Features
Highspot offers an AI-powered sales enablement platform to elevate rep performance through dynamic content recommendations, guided selling tools, and advanced conversation analytics.
Key features include:
- Recommendations – Surfaces best content for each buyer based on signals
- Playbooks – Step-based guidance pegged to CRM data
Analytics – Content consumption patterns and trends - Integrations – Native for Salesforce, Dynamics, Marketo and others
10. Mailshake Details and Features
Mailshake is a simple yet powerful cold email automation tool designed to help sales teams scale outbound campaigns and increase qualified leads.
Key features include:
- Sequences – Schedule sending multiple emails over time with reminders
- Templates – Custom email message templates with merge fields
- Tracking – Opens, clicks, replies, and linked prospect activity
- Integrations – Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, HubSpot and other CRM integrations
In summary, today’s wide range of sales technology platforms offer varied capabilities and pricing models catering from solopreneurs up through global enterprise sales organizations. When evaluating options, be sure to consider factors like current tech stack fit, ease of use, stage of business, and specific features required by reps and leaders in your organization. Let me know if any other details on sales technologies would be helpful!
Factors to Consider When Selecting Sales Tools
Keep these elements in mind when evaluating sales technologies for your organization:
Small vs Midsize vs Large Company Needs
Early stage startups may opt for pared down free CRM tools and simple email tracking addons given limited budgets. Sales teams at enterprise corporations often demand heavy customization and AI capabilities supported by dedicated customer success managers.
Key Features to Look For
Regardless of company size, core must-have capabilities may include activity and relationship mapping, forecasting and analytics, conversation intelligence for call and SMS tracking, workflow and process automation, and audience insights.
Prioritizing Ease of Use
Complex platforms with steep learning curves hinder user adoption. Seek tools with intuitive interfaces, self-service training, and flexibility to mold to your unique processes.
Existing Tech Stack Issues
Review how well contending sales tools integrate across your martech stack from marketing to operations. Avoid isolated point solutions if possible for continuity.
Security and Compliance Factors
Verify adequate data access controls, user permissions and protocols (SOC 2, ISO, etc) are in place, especially when storing customer contact data.
Demo and Free Trial Options
Outreach, HubSpot and most other major platforms offer free trial versions. Take advantage of piloting tools with smaller sales teams before committing.
Conclusion
This breakdown of the top sales technologies for 2024 identifies major capability trends in platforms advancing sales productivity, effectiveness and customer-facing collaboration. From AI to ease of use, today’s tools cater to organizations of all sizes and industries. Stay adaptable as new innovations emerge in this continually evolving category. But also recognize sales technology alone cannot drive growth without the right processes and seller adoption habits behind it.
