How to Choose the Best Sales Engagement Platform: Complete Guide

Looking to boost your sales and take your business to the next level?

Look no further!

Sales engagement platforms are a great way to track the progress of your sales team.

But how do you know which platform is right for your business?

This guide will help you navigate the world of sales engagement software and help determine which platform is best suited for your needs.

We’ll discuss everything from types of engagement platforms, their features, pricing considerations when it’s an appropriate time to invest in one (hint: ASAP), and more.

What is a Sales Engagement Platform?

A sales engagement platform is a software application that helps you manage your sales cycle.

These engagement platforms give you the tools to keep your sales team on track and help them perform better. It also helps track deals, manage sales leads, and more. Some platforms also provide insights into how your organization is doing and what it needs to improve.

There are many different sales engagement platforms available. Some are designed for specific industries, while others offer more general-purpose tools with specific features built in.

The best engagement platform will be able to track deals, provide insights into your sales cycle, and help you manage leads.

What Features Should You Look For In A Sales Engagement Platform?

Here are a few important features to consider when selecting a sales engagement platform.

Integration with Other Business Tools

Does your business use online software and automation tools to thrive?

Your sales engagement platform should integrate seamlessly, including email marketing, marketing automation, and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms.

Customer Support

A platform with strong and responsive customer support can assist with setup, training, and troubleshooting.

Excellent customer support can help ensure that the platform is being used to its fullest potential and that any issues are quickly and efficiently resolved.

This can ultimately lead to better results and ROI for the business. Additionally, a sales engagement platform is a significant investment for a business, and good customer support can provide peace of mind and protect the investment.

Customer Data Security and Privacy Standards Compliance

Your customers will trust you more if they are assured that their information is safe from hackers or other unauthorized users.

You’ll also need to ensure that your sales engagement platform complies with industry-specific security regulations.

Next, you must ensure that your sales engagement platform has access control. This function will allow you to give certain employees access to certain information. This feature is essential as having confidential customer details exposed to the wrong people can seriously harm you and your company.

Integration with Social Media Platforms

Consumers use social media to learn about new products.

Your sales engagement platform should be able to engage with your leads across various social media platforms.

Consumers are spending more time on their phones than ever before. Look for a sales engagement platform that enables you to easily create and deploy mobile applications.

This will allow you to reach more consumers and give them a better experience using your product or services.

Customer Experience

A good sales engagement platform will also provide you with data that can help improve your customer experience.

This data could include information about where consumers are coming from (e.g., social media), what they’re looking for, and how long it takes them to find what they need.

Email Marketing

A sales engagement platform should also be able to send your customers regular, personalized emails.

These emails help you keep in touch with your customers and remind them about their purchases or next appointment. They will also help you build better relationships with consumers by providing them with relevant information.

Real-time Data

Finally, you should look for a sales engagement platform that provides you with real-time data.

This will allow you to make faster decisions about your business and see how well your marketing efforts are working so that you can adjust them accordingly.

Pricing Considerations for Sales Engagement Platforms

You’ll also want to consider a range of costs that come with using a sales engagement platform.

Cost of the platform itself. The price tag associated with your chosen SaaS model and any additional features you might need (e.g. email marketing.) These are important considerations when budgeting for your project.

Implementation costs: If you’re starting to implement an engagement strategy, significant investment will likely be required for all parties involved. Remember, it will take time for your team to get acquainted with the new system and understand its benefits.

Training costs: Anytime you implement something new, everyone must understand how it works and how they can use it effectively. This means providing training internally (for staff members) and externally (for customers).

Your team may also need training or support after launch to fully implement their plans or how best to use the platform’s features.

When to Invest in a Sales Engagement Platform?

When should you invest in a sales engagement platform? Here are three scenarios to consider.

If You’re a Startup Company

You have some cash to spare and a small sales team, so it might be time to develop one. A good sales engagement platform can help build your team and grow with them as they grow the business.

If You’re a Growing Company

Your company has reached its first milestone, and it’s time to look at ways to scale up its operations or increase revenue streams. Investing in technology that helps facilitate communication with clients, partners, and customers is the best way to go.

A SaaS-based solution can help bridge the gap by enabling employees across functions (sales, marketing) to collaborate on opportunities that lead to more deals closed rather than individually. This saves time for everyone involved.

If You’re an Established Company

It’s never too early or late for any organization to improve its processes through better use of technology!

Whether your company needs to optimize existing processes or introduce a new one, technology can help.

You may need a new sales engagement platform with additional features or a simple upgrade for more users.

How Do I Choose The Best Sales Engagement Platform?

Choosing the right sales engagement platform can seem tricky when there are so many options available. Here are some things to consider to ensure you get the perfect sales engagement platform for your business.

What Do You Need The Software For?

For example, suppose you are looking for a tool to help you manage your sales team more efficiently. In that case, you should consider having an online platform with detailed reports and analytics that allow you to see what is happening daily.

In the case of sales engagement software, one of the most important aspects is how it works with other systems within your company, such as CRM or ERP.

Pricing Structure

A great place to start is to look at sales engagement platforms that offer a free trial or demo so that you can test it out before committing.

If you’ve found one that you like, next is to look at the details about their pricing structure and the contract terms. Most companies offer a pay-as-you-go model, while others offer monthly costs.

Make sure it’s something you can afford and that there are no hidden fees or costs involved.

Evaluate The Company’s Reputation

Look for reviews from other customers and read recent news about the company or its competitors. This is a great way to ensure you make the right choice for your company.

You can also check out independent reviews on sites like TrustRadius, G2, and GetApp. These review sites can also give you an insight into the customer support they provide.

If you’re using software, it’s always to know their customer support is there to help if anything goes wrong.

The Best Sales Engagement Platforms

There are several popular sales engagement platforms on the market today. Some of the most well-known include:

1. PersistIQ

PersistIQ is a sales engagement platform that helps sales teams automate and scale their outbound sales processes. It provides features such as email automation, lead management, and reporting to help sales teams reach and engage more prospects, drive more conversions, and increase revenue.

2. Salesforce

Salesforce is a popular sales engagement platform offering various applications to help sales teams manage their workflows. The company has been around since 1999, and it’s considered one of the top enterprise software companies in the world.

Salesforce offers many different products that can be used together or separately. One such product is Sales Cloud.

Sales Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) software application that helps sales teams manage leads and contacts, schedule meetings and calls, track emails, and activities, organize deals for closing, and more. Salesforce also offers other products that can be used with Sales Cloud, including SalesforceIQ.

This customer experience management application helps sales teams improve their interactions with customers. It’s designed to help companies better understand what people want, how they use your products or services, and when they need help.

3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

This sales productivity platform helps salespeople manage their LinkedIn activities. LinkedIn Sales Navigator includes features for prospecting, finding new leads and opportunities, and tracking deals’ status. It also includes a calendar that helps salespeople track their meetings and appointments. This can be especially useful for companies with multiple offices or partners.

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a comprehensive customer relationship management tool. It’s designed to help businesses manage their leads and sales opportunities and track deals’ progress.

The platform also includes features for managing service quality and creating reports on sales performance. It includes integrations with other Zoho products, so businesses can use it to manage their sales processes across multiple channels.

Zoho CRM is available in a free version or as part of a paid subscription plan.

5. Hubspot Sales

Hubspot Sales is a customer relationship management tool designed for sales teams. It includes features to help businesses manage leads, track opportunities, and perform pipeline analysis.

The platform also includes integrations with other Hubspot products, such as its marketing automation tool. The platform is available in a free version or as part of a paid subscription plan.

6. Oracle Eloqua

Oracle Eloqua is a marketing automation platform designed for businesses that want to create, manage and optimize marketing campaigns.

The platform includes features to help businesses acquire new leads, convert them into customers and measure the results. Oracle Eloqua also has integrations with other Oracle products, such as its CRM tool.

7. OutboundEngine

OutboundEngine is a marketing automation platform for small businesses that want to create and manage email campaigns.

The platform includes features to help businesses acquire new leads, convert them into customers and measure the results. OutboundEngine also includes integrations with other marketing automation tools, such as Hubspot.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive option, OutboundEngine is also worth considering, as it’s free for up to 25 active users.

8. Cirrus Insight

Cirrus Insight is another great choice if your business is focused on lead generation and nurturing prospects through their buying cycle.

The tool offers templates and integrations with other marketing automation tools. It also includes a contact database and email campaign builder.

One of the best features is its ability to track the effectiveness of emails by analyzing open rates, click-throughs, and other metrics.

9. Hippo Video

Hippo Video is a fantastic choice if your business wants to create and distribute video content.

The tool offers a drag-and-drop editor that makes it simple to create high-quality videos without any technical skills. It has features such as animated text, music libraries, customizable templates, and more than 1 million stock photos.

10. Clearbit

Clearbit is a powerful tool that offers many different features. It helps businesses get insights into their customers and prospects by providing contact information, company data, and more.

It also has a Chrome extension that can be used to find email addresses, phone numbers, and social accounts.

11. Klenty

Klenty is a tool that allows businesses to find the best influencers for their campaigns. The platform helps find influencers based on demographics, interests, and audience size.

It also has features such as Klenty Analytics and KlentyHub that allow users to track the performance of their influencer marketing campaigns.

12. Salesloft

Salesloft is a sales engagement software that helps businesses manage their sales teams and automate processes.

It has features such as Salesloft Engagement Cloud, Salesloft Analytics, and Salesloft Social to help users track leads, manage contacts and create campaigns.

13. Pipeline

Pipeline is a sales engagement software that helps businesses manage their sales teams and automate processes.

It has features such as Pipeline Sales Management Suite, Pipeline CRM, and Pipeline Service Desk to help users manage their leads and contacts and create campaigns.

14. Zendesk Sell

Zendesk Sell is a sales engagement software that helps businesses manage their sales teams and automate processes.

It has features such as Zendesk Sell, Zendesk Service Desk, and Zendesk Analytics to help users manage leads and contacts and create campaigns.

Choosing the Right Software

Choosing the right sales engagement platform is a big decision that can make or break your company. It’s important to take your time and choose wisely because this investment will affect your business for years to come.

Want to double your monthly sales meetings?

PersistIQ is a wonderful sales engagement platform for small teams.

This software will allow you to start conversations, find new customers, and personalize your sales outreach in one easy platform.

Book a demo with PersistIQ today and find out how this platform can help accelerate your business growth.

How to Choose the Best Sales Engagement Platform: A Comprehensive Guide