Deciding between renewing existing software versus purchasing a new one
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Renewing tools is akin to switching jobs. Change is always difficult, but necessary to grow. It’s important that you recognize consistent value, or a slump.
Now how do you do that with your tech stack?
Are there any shiny new tools in the market?
Is it worth it to shift your entire workflow to accommodate a new tool?
In this edition, we share how to decide between:
Renewing existing software versus purchasing a new one
🧠 What the Experts Recommend:
- Use a product renewal checklist
- Diligently track your SaaS subscriptions and tool usage
1. Use a product renewal checklist for every tool
Avery Yip, CEO of an integrations platform, Vessel, shares that one should always be exploring options given the changing needs of your business and the evolution of products in the market.
Here's a short list of questions to check off when it’s time to renew:
- What is the most painstaking part of using this product?
- Does this tool integrate well with the software I use?
- Is this tool seeing usage across the team?
- If it's a tool related to engineering, is it core to the success of your business? In this case, you might consider building in-house.
- Is there an alternate product that solves my needs better and/or at a better price?
Once a tool is purchased, it becomes harder to remove because processes are built on top of them. SaaS sprawl is a big issue across every company and being cognizant about the tools you use and your spend upfront is the best way to maximize your SaaS portfolio.
2. Diligently track your SaaS subscriptions and tool usage
Klaus-M. Schremser, CRO at Usersnap, a user feedback platform, looks at software renewals or cancellations as opportunities to
- rework the goals you want to achieve with this software,
- renegotiate your contracts,
- and cancel unused subscriptions.
First: Implement a SaaS subscription management system, (either via a specific tool or a good old spreadsheet.)
Second: Consider these before going into a renewal or consider hiring a new software vendor.
- Review your current usage of the software
- Check upgrade/downgrade options (or changing from monthly to yearly payment). How many licenses does your company own?
- Talk to the responsible person about results, satisfaction, and support tickets
- Re-read the current contract
- Check the most obvious competitors
- Re-validate that the software still complies with current security, legal and governance standards - This clarifies that the re-validation process should encompass not just the core software but also the identity access management solution that is integrated with it.
- Evaluate the level of integration and migration effort
- Reassess your goals and the future development of the software vendor
- Prepare for renewal negotiations
- Talk to the vendors anyways. Vendors are interested in keeping you. Maybe, they offer you a deal or upgrade.
Note: Consider all options with the existing tool because the old saying is true: “Never touch a running system.”
Subscribe to the Buying Bottlenecks newsletter to never miss out on future editions!
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Related Articles
How To Grow Your Pipeline with Intent-Based Marketing
Intent data is your audience’s digital footprints that show purchase intent.
When you act on these signals and reach the buyer at the right time, you'll also have better chances of shaping their decision criteria.
That's why around 55% of sales leaders see increased lead conversions when using intent data.
This happens when brands use intent data intelligence to improve their messaging across marketing channels.
If you aren’t on this bandwagon yet, here's our simple guide to making intent-based marketing work for you.
Let's dive in!
What is intent-based marketing?
Intent-based marketing is the practice of tailoring your marketing campaigns based on signals that indicate a prospect's likelihood to purchase.
Think of it as reading into your buyer's actions that suggest buying intent and acting on it, over waiting for prospects to book a demo or reach out to a sales rep.
What are some Key Sources of Intent Data?
Searching for the right intent marketing data can be the cheat code to a successful marketing campaign. It’s often broken down to three main sources:
1. First-party Data Sources
First-party data is basically the digital footprints your prospects leave directly on your website – from demo interactions to pricing page visits.
Examples include:
1. Interactive Demo Engagement
Your product demos are more than just feature showcases – they're intent goldmines. It’s essentially giving your audience a “test drive” of your product at the awareness, decision, and even the retention stage.
Here’s how it works:
So, what makes demo engagement particularly valuable?
The key is in the patterns. A prospect who spends 30 minutes sifting through demos on landing pages and exploring other features in your product demo is showing significantly higher intent than someone who briefly clicks through your knowledge base demo.
In fact, pay attention to:
- Which demo steps they’re revisiting
- How much time they spend in each section
- Whether they're exploring advanced functions
- If they're testing integration capabilities
Remember: A product demo interaction signals they're visualizing your solution in their environment – that's powerful intent data you can't ignore.
2. High-Intent Landing Pages
Not all website visit sessions have the same intent. Certain pages naturally attract serious buyers who are closer to making a decision. These high-intent pages include:
- Pricing pages
- Technical documentation, such as API references
- Integration capabilities pages
- Security and compliance information
- ROI calculators
The key is tracking not just visits but engagement patterns. A prospect who spends 15 minutes on your pricing page and then immediately checks out your implementation guides is sending very different signals than someone who briefly glances at your features page.
2. Second-party Data Sources
These are intent signals collected by another brand’s first-party data and then shared with you, such as review platform activities or publisher data.
Some examples include:
1. Activity on Review Platforms
B2B review platforms like G2 and Trustradius have become the new battleground for purchase decisions.
These platforms offer crystal-clear intent signals because, let's face it – when prospects are comparing solutions, they mean business.
Look for these high-value actions:
- Multiple visits to your competitor comparison pages
- Looking at reviews in your category
- Downloads of comparison reports
- Feature-by-feature comparison activities
- Engagement with pricing comparisons
Infact, recent data even shows that accounts driven by G2 intent signals typically generate higher form submission rates, with 61% higher MQL to SQL conversion rates and 20% higher win rate.
With this level of intent, you can act on it via email outreach, creating tailored landing pages or form submissions and move prospects down the funnel- increasing your chances of converting these visitors into paying customers.
2. LinkedIn Engagement
LinkedIn isn’t just a networking platform; rather, every reaction, comment, or share might just be a buying signal in disguise.
It’s also what Konstantin, CEO of Cascaddy, emphasizes:
Here's what makes LinkedIn engagement particularly valuable:
- Multiple ad impressions and clicks from the same account
- Engagement patterns across different ad copies
- Content interaction with ads or posts
- Company page visits combined with ad engagement
The magic happens when you see repeated patterns: A prospect who clicks on your ads multiple times, visits your company page, and engages with your content is showing clear buying intent.
3. Third-party Data Sources
These signals offer a broader view of buyer behavior and are combed from technographic, firmographic, and engagement signals to piece the buyer intent together.
Here’s an example:
1. Technographic Data
Technographic data gives a clear view of the tech stack your potential customers are using, including the tools, software, and platforms that they depend on.
This can be the blueprint for upselling your own tool or product.
When you see companies using CRMs or tools that your product has native integrations with- it’s an opportunity to seamlessly plug in your product into their existing workflow.
Pay attention to:
- Which core systems they're heavily invested in (CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot)
- Whether they’re existing free trial users and the size of their company (for budget readiness)
- How sophisticated their current sales tech stack is
- What their competitors in the same technographic segment are adopting
Ultimately, It's an opportunity to show them how your product could seamlessly plug into their existing workflow and amplify their ROI.
How to Market Based on Intent Signals
Let's get practical about turning these intent signals into marketing gold. Here's how to craft campaigns that respond to different levels of intent:
1. Segment and Personalize
Think of intent signals as your prospect's digital body language. Just as you'd adjust your conversation based on someone's verbal and non-verbal cues, your marketing should adapt to digital intent signals.
Here’s an example:
For High Intent Prospects:
- Skip the basics and go straight to the meat – detailed case studies, custom ROI calculations, and specific solution demonstrations
- Enable your sales team with intent data so they can have more relevant conversations
- Create personalized content based on the specific features or use cases they've shown interest in
For Medium Intent Prospects:
- Focus on differentiation – why you're the best choice in the category
- Provide comparative content that positions your solution effectively
- Offer "try before you buy" experiences like interactive demos
For Low Intent Prospects:
- Build awareness through thought leadership and educational content
- Share industry insights and trend analysis
- Keep them in the loop with newsletter content and general updates
2. Choose the Right Channels to Engage Prospects
Here's the thing about B2B buyers today – they're already 75% through their buying journey before they ever want to talk to sales.
That's why your channel strategy needs to align with their intent signals.
When someone's showing strong buying signals – like extensively testing your product demo or comparing you with competitors on G2 – that’s when you need to act fast but smart.
For a prospect with high intent, you could:
- Use targeted LinkedIn ad campaigns that speak directly to their use case
- Reach out with personalized email sequences
- Equip your SDR team with context-rich insights about the prospect's journey
- Use retargeting with bottom-funnel content like customer success stories and ROI studies
Think about it –Your prospect might start their research on G2, move to your website, and then check out your LinkedIn presence. Your job is to be present with the right information across every channel they might use for research.
3. Customize Content based on Prospect Interest
Here's where some B2B brands get it wrong- they treat content as a one-size-fits-all solution.
But your prospects are telling you exactly what they need through their intent signals.
Here’s how you can align the right content based on prospect interest:
For Business Decision Makers:
When intent signals show focus on business impact (like time spent on pricing pages or ROI calculators):
- Highlight ROI case studies from similar companies in their industry
- Create business value assessments tailored to their company size
- Share market analysis showing the cost of delayed decisions
- Provide competitive intelligence reports
For End Users:
When intent signals indicate product usage research:
- Offer interactive product tours
- Share workflow automation examples relevant to their role
- Create comparison guides focusing
- Develop adoption guides and best practices
If someone's heavily researching your integration capabilities, sending them a general product brochure isn't helpful. But a detailed integration guide comparing your API flexibility with competitors? Now, that's valuable.
4. The Timing Factor
Content customization isn't just about what you send – it's also about when you send it.
“If you've reached a buyer at the right time with the right content, you'll typically see win rates improve- as you were the first to shape their decision criteria,” says Paul Gilhooly from G2.
For high-intent signals like demo requests or pricing page visits, your speed to lead should be shorter.
However, for medium- and early-stage intent signals such as blog post engagement or newsletter subscriptions, keeping them in the loop with the right content is essential.
The goal isn't to overwhelm prospects with content – it's to provide exactly what they need when they need it.
What are the Benefits of Intent-Based Marketing?
- Higher Conversion Rates: By focusing on prospects showing genuine interest, you naturally increase conversion probability.
- Optimized Marketing Spend: Resources are directed toward accounts most likely to convert.
- Shorter Sales Cycles: When you engage prospects at the right moment with relevant content, decisions happen faster.
- Better Sales-Marketing Alignment: Shared intent data helps both teams work together more effectively
What are the Limitations of Intent-Based Marketing?
While powerful, intent-based marketing isn't without its challenges:
- Data Quality: Not all signals accurately reflect true buying intent.
- Integration Complexity: Combining data from multiple sources can be technically challenging.
- Signal Interpretation: Different industries and products require different intent frameworks.
How Storylane Can Make Intent-Based Marketing Work for You
For over 56% B2B brands, data quality is among the top challenges when using intent signals.
This is why having data sources that you can trust and validate is key when it comes to intent signals.
And what better than first-party data that lets you know what product features your audience is most interested in, their engagement rates, and even firmographic data?
With Storylane, you can get demo intent data that helps prioritize accounts, letting your sales reps target the right accounts at the right time.
Curious how Storylane fits in your tech stack? Start a free trial or book a demo today to know more!
Best AI SDR Tools To Add To Your Tech Stack in 2024
If your SDRs are still spending hours crafting emails and manually researching prospects - it’s probably costing you time (and deals).
Instead, with AI tools, you can automate the heavy lifting and have your sales reps focus on what actually matters: shortening sales cycles and closing deals.
Whether you're looking to delegate repetitive tasks or automate your workflows, there's an AI tool designed for that.
So we did our research by tapping into user reviews and asking our own sales reps to curate this list of top AI SDR tool recommendations.
Let’s dive in!
AI SDR tools: What You Need to Know About Them
Before we even dive in, we need to understand what these tools are and how they actually function.
An AI SDR is a tool that automates part of or your entire sales outreach process, saving significant time and effort on your sales reps' end.
But here’s the thing about AI SDRs. They’re only as good as the context they have.
This is what Brian Yam from Paragon emphasizes as well, noting that “Not a lot of context available to the AI SDR. It has no context on the prospects beyond what the data enrichment providers have - usually just a company description and some basic LinkedIn profile data at best”.
This is why, to make the most of your AI SDR tool, contextual data sources are paramount. Here are some recommendations:
- Data from your CRM, such as HubSpot
- Interactive demo engagement
- Knowledge base and other sales training data
- Market intelligence, such as technographic data
- Communication platforms such as Intercom and Gong
By integrating with these tools, AI SDRs can tap into the same knowledge base as human reps, but with recall and access to every detail.
For instance, here’s a demo that a prospect might view:
Through real-time data integration, AI SDRs are constantly learning and adapting – imagine an SDR that instantly incorporates the prospect's demo interactions (such as repeated views or specific sequences they are interested in) into their outreach.
This way, you train your AI SDRs to craft hyper-personalized messages while staying perfectly aligned with the context.
Now that we’ve set the stage for what AI SDRs need to truly reap benefits, here’s our recommended list.
Top 7 AI SDR Tools to Speed Up Your Sales Workflow
1. AI SDR: To Scale Personalized Outbound Strategy
AI SDR uses artificial intelligence to automate and enhance outbound sales efforts with personalized messages and follow-ups, allowing SDRs to work smarter and more effectively.
Key Features:
- Advanced Personalization: Creates highly targeted messages by analyzing prospect behavior, firmographic data, and engagement patterns
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Identifies prime opportunities using algorithms and behavioral analysis
- Intelligent Sequence Management: Create multi-channel follow-up sequences so smart prospects might think you never sleep
- Automated Meeting Coordination: Streamlines scheduling through AI-powered availability matching
- Performance Analytics Dashboard: Provides actionable insights to show you exactly what’s working and what isn’t
Pricing:
AI SDR’s pricing starts from $9000/year for unlimited leads and seats.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Connect AI SDR's personalization capabilities with Storylane's interactive demos to deliver customized demo experiences based on prospect insights
- Use Storylane’s account reveal feature to automatically present relevant product solutions based on prospect characteristics and engagement patterns.
2. Topo.io: To Master Audience-Based Outreach
Uses audience-based AI training to create targeted outreach campaigns, helping SDRs engage prospects with audience-specific messaging strategies and tactics.
Key Features:
- Real Audience Learning: AI model trained on authentic prospect interactions
- Smart Segmentation Engine: Creates dynamic prospect groups based on behavior patterns
- Engagement Analytics: Tracks and analyzes prospect interactions across channels
- Content Optimization: Refines messaging based on proven engagement patterns
- Multi-Channel Orchestration: Coordinates consistent outreach across platforms
Pricing:
Starts at $9000/year for the AI SDR agent
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Topo.io's audience insights to customize Storylane demo experiences for specific prospect segments.
- Use Topo.io's audience segmentation to direct prospects to relevant demo experiences
- Customize feature highlighting based on industry engagement patterns
3. 11x: For Data Driven & Prospect Signal Based Outreach
A data-intensive platform that analyzes thousands of data points to guide SDR decisions and actions, enabling teams to prioritize the right prospects with the right approach. The platform also offers AI agents that can be used to automate the outreach process.
Key Features:
- Deep Data Analysis: Processes thousands of prospect data points for enhanced targeting
- AI agents: Jordan is an AI phone rep that qualifies prospects, updates your CRM, schedules meetings, and sends emails, while Alice is a digital SDR for multi-channel engagement and automated functioning
- Intent Recognition: The agents identify buying signals across digital touchpoints
- Behavioral Pattern Mapping: Creates detailed prospect engagement profiles
- Personalized Sequence Design: Creates custom outreach paths based on prospect behavior
- Real-Time Optimization: Adjusts strategies based on engagement patterns
Pricing:
11xai’s pricing only includes the Alice AI agent for now, with the option to contact sales for a quote.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use 11x's intent signals to trigger perfectly timed demo experiences based on prospect behavior.
- Use the platform's behavioral data to customize demo content and user flows.
- Create automated demo-sharing sequences triggered by specific intent signals.
- Incorporate demo engagement data back into 11x's analysis engine for improved targeting.
4. Artisan AI: To Automate SDR Workflows
Artisan focuses on workflow enhancement and automation to streamline repetitive sales development tasks while maintaining personalization.
Key Features:
- AI agents: The platform offers AI agents such as Ava, an AI BDR, Elijah for customer success, etc.
- AI BDR agent: Ava automates majority of the BDR workflow and takes over researching and finding leads to hyper-personalized cold email outreach
- Smart Task Prioritization: Create campaigns with target ICPs and use AI to optimize daily SDR activities
- Intelligent Process Automation: Creates sophisticated workflows for routine SDR tasks
- Automated Follow-up Management: Creates and manages intelligent follow-up sequences
- Integration Ecosystem: Seamlessly connects with major sales and marketing platforms
Pricing:
Artisan's pricing is based on agents, tasks that can be automated and the volume of leads. Contact sales for a quote.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Artisan AI's workflow automation with Storylane to create outreach sequences with interactive demos
- Implement smart triggers that share specific product features or demos based on prospect engagement
- Create automated follow-up sequences based on demo interaction data
5. Jason AI by Reply: To Automate Sales Conversations
Jason AI is an AI SDR agent by Reply.io that enhances SDR workflow by automating sales outreach, booking meetings, and helping teams communicate more effectively with prospects across all channels.
Key Features:
- AI agent: Jason AI builds your target ICP based on suggestions, searches public databases, and automates your outreach sequences
- Real-Time Conversation Analysis: Provides instant insights during prospect interactions
- Automated meeting scheduling: The agent books meetings for you based on your availability in real-time and your contacts’ preference, preventing double bookings
- Cross-channel outreach: Jason AI handles multiple outreach platforms LinkedIn messages, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp- in one place
- AI response handling: Use the agent and copilot or autopilot modes to send responses and keep clients interested and moving through the sales process
Pricing:
Jason AI’s pricing starts at $3018/year for 1000 active contacts/month
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Jason AI's conversation insights to guide prospects through personalized Storylane demo experiences
- Use demo-based account reveal data to enrich the agent's outreach sequences
6. Luna AI: To Optimize Engagement Timing
Luna.ai is primarily an AI SDR focused on cold email engagement, but what makes it worth considering is the ability to predict optimal engagement timing and prospect responses, enabling reachouts and follow-ups when prospects are most likely to engage.
Key Features:
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Uses AI to identify high-potential opportunities
- Engagement Time Optimization: Trained on best practices to determine best times for prospect interaction
- Lead database: Luna comes with a lead database with 275 M+ accounts, with the option to import leads from your CRM
- Email infrastructure: Multiple email-sending accounts, dedicated IP addresses, perfect email health (DKIM, SPF, DMARC), and ongoing email warmup- all with Luna's SDR agent
- Multi-Channel Analysis: Tracks engagement across communication channels
- Response Prediction: Forecasts likelihood of prospect engagement
Pricing:
Luna Ai’s pricing has a lower entry barrier with a free plan for 100 leads and paid plans starting at $1440/year for 300 leads.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Luna AI's predictive analytics to time demo sharing for maximum impact
- Use engagement predictions to customize demo content and delivery methods
- Create automated workflows that align demo sharing with predicted high-engagement periods
7. Salesforge: ToAccelerate AI-Powered Email Outreach
Salesforge uses AI to automate and scale multi-lingual programmatic emails, making outbound prospecting more efficient while preserving personalization at scale.
Key Features:
- AI-driven Outreach: Salesforge automates lead generation, email personalization, and outreach sequences, using AI to craft messages tailored to each prospect.
- Automated Lead Research: The AI agent automates lead research by analyzing public data, creating hyper-personalized outreach based on prospect information.
- Reach your prospects: Stay out of spam by using our warm-up email infrastructure, using machine learning and GPT-4 to build unique, multilingual email content
- Auto-Sending and Scheduling: Automatically schedules and sends outreach messages at optimal times to increase engagement.
- Unified Platform: Whether you’re forwarding emails or booking a meeting right there and then, use a unified platform to manage all mailboxes
Pricing:
Salesforge’s pricing starts at $960/year for 10,000 active email contacts.
🔧Storylane Integration Tip:
- Use Salesforge’s AI-driven email outreach in conjunction with Storylane to embed interactive demos within personalized email sequences
- Trigger follow-up campaigns based on prospect interactions with Storylane demos, improving engagement and response rates
Why use Storylane along with an AI SDR tool?
Think of Storylane and AI SDR tools as your dream sales duo - where interactive demos meet AI-powered, intelligent automation and outreach.
Here's how they work together:
- Trigger automated follow-ups based on how prospects engage with demos
- Personalize both demos and messages using real engagement data
- Scale your reach with custom demos organized in DemoHubs
- Time your outreach perfectly using demo interaction signals
- Qualify leads smarter by tracking how they explore demos
- Speed up sales cycles with instant demo sharing and follow-up
By combining AI SDR tools with interactive demos, you'll boost both efficiency and personalization in your outreach.
Ready to see it in action? Book a demo or start your free trial today!
9 Must-Have SDR Tools To Boost Sales Performance
Having the right tool is non-negotiable in a Sales Development Representative's (SDRs) arsenal.
From prospecting to pipeline management, having the proper tech stack can positively impact an SDR's efficiency and success.
So we did our research, asked our own SDRs, and looked at user reviews to finalize nine essential tools that every SDR should consider adding to their arsenal.
Let’s dive in!
Top 9 SDR Tools to Include in Your Tech Stack For 2024
1. Storylane: For Interactive demos and Account Reveals
Storylane is an interactive demo platform helping SDRs create engaging, interactive demos. It also has features such as account reveal and DemoHubs for buyer education to reach and engage the right prospects.
Key features:
- Personalized Demo Builder: Easily create tailored, interactive demos for each prospect in under 10 minutes, without coding skills
- DemoHub: Curate a list of personalized demos and create DemoHubs to share it with prospects
- Account reveal: Deanonymize demo viewers to the account level
- Engagement Analytics: Track viewer interactions by DemoHubs or individual demos, time spent on each section, and overall engagement metrics
- Interactive Elements: Add clickable hotspots, guided tours, and custom CTAs to make demos more engaging
- Collaboration Tools: Allow team members to work together on demos and share feedback in real-time
- Security: Enterprise-ready with ISO 27001 and SOC2 compliance on all shared assets
Pricing:
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $500/year.
What users say:
Users highlight how Storylane helps them create interactive product demos quickly and the features it tags along. Reviews also appreciate its versatility for sales, training, and change management. While some note a slight learning curve, they also emphasize the platform's easy-to-learn UI and responsive support.
2. AI SDR: To Improve SDR Outbound Strategy
AI SDR uses artificial intelligence to automate and enhance outbound sales efforts with personalized messages and follow-ups, allowing SDRs to work smarter and more effectively.
Key features:
- AI-Powered Personalization: Generate tailored outreach messages based on prospect data and behaviour patterns
- Predictive Lead Scoring: Identify high-potential leads using AI algorithms to prioritize outreach efforts.
- Automated Follow-up Sequences: Create and manage multi-channel follow-up campaigns with AI-optimized timing.
- Smart Meeting Scheduler: AI assistant that handles meeting scheduling based on both parties' availability
- Performance Analytics: Get detailed insights into outreach effectiveness and AI-generated improvement suggestions
Pricing:
AI SDR’s pricing starts from $9000/year for unlimited leads and seats.
What users say:
While AI SDR can help increase response rates and save hours on manual tasks, some users also report a steep learning curve and lack of integrations with CRM tools such as Salesforce
3. Clay: For Data Enrichment
Clay is a powerful data enrichment tool that helps SDRs gather detailed information about their prospects and accounts, helping streamline the research and outreach process.
Key features:
- Multi-Source Data Enrichment: Collect and consolidate data from various sources
- Test product-market fit: SDRs can use Clay to check whether prospects are a good fit, and pull the best emails per company
- Custom Outreach: Creates tailored messages based on prospect data
- Real-time Data Updates: Clay scrapes the web to keep prospect and account information fresh with change notifications
- Advanced Filtering and Segmentation: Easily create targeted lists based on enriched data points for more effective outreach
- CRM Integration: Seamlessly sync enriched data with your existing CRM system for a unified view of prospects
Pricing:
Clay’s pricing has a free plan available with paid plans starting at $1608/year
What users say:
While users commend the automation that Clay offers throughout the workflow, along with the AI assistant capabilities, users also report occasional inaccuracy of data, along with chances of the UI being complex for new users.
4. Gong: For Conversation Intelligence
Gong records and analyzes sales conversations to provide actionable insights and coaching opportunities for SDRs.
Key Features:
- Call Recording & Transcription: Automatically capture and transcribe all sales conversations, making it easy to review and analyze key moments
- AI-Powered Analysis: Helps SDRs identify patterns in successful calls and highlight areas for improvement
- Deal activity: Get a visual map of all interactions with prospects, including emails, web conferences, and calls
- Competitive Intelligence: Track mention of competitors and analyze how to handle competitive discussions effectively
- Best Practice Library: Build a searchable repository of successful sales conversations for new SDR onboarding
- Coaching Dashboard: Provide managers with detailed insights into SDR performance and coaching opportunities based on actual conversations
Pricing:
Gong’s pricing starts from $1600/year for 49 seats. Pricing depends on the number of users.
What users say:
While Gong is a customer favourite for being easy and intuitive, some users mention a learning curve and scope to improve on features such as action items and call summaries.
5. Revenuehero: To Accelerate The Sales Process
Revenuehero is a sales acceleration platform designed to streamline and optimize the entire sales process for SDRs and account executives.
Key features:
- Intelligent Lead Routing: Automatically assign leads to the most appropriate SDR based on expertise, capacity, and performance
- Meeting Scheduling Automation: Eliminate back-and-forth emails with an AI-powered scheduling assistant integrated with your calendar
- Qualification Chatbots: Deploy conversational AI on your website to qualify leads 24/7 and book meetings directly into SDRs' calendars
- Pipeline Velocity Analytics: Track and analyze deal progression with insights on bottlenecks and opportunities for acceleration
- Integration Hub: Connect seamlessly with your CRM, email, and other tools in your tech stack for a unified workflow
Pricing:
Revenuehero offers tiered pricing starting at $25/user/month, with custom enterprise plans available.
What users say:
While users praise the customer service and the easy-to-use interface, there is an attached learning curve with less documentation around it, leaving users dialling in support over self-serve.
6. Seismic: To Empower Your Sales Enablement
Seismic is a sales enablement platform that equips SDRs with the right content and tools to engage prospects effectively.
Key features:
- Content Management: Centralize and organize all sales collateral, making it easy for SDRs to find and share the right content at the right time.
- Personalized Content Automation: Automatically generate tailored presentations and proposals based on prospect data and preferences.
- Content Analytics: Track how prospects engage with shared content, providing insights for follow-up strategies.
- Guided Selling: Provide SDRs with step-by-step guidance on which content to use at each stage of the sales process.
- Mobile Accessibility: Access all sales enablement resources on-the-go through a user-friendly mobile app
Pricing:
Free plans available with paid plans starting at $384/year
What users say:
Users mention how Seismic helps sales teams find and use the right content as well as engage prospects with deal rooms and related features. But there is also scope of improvement within the reporting functionality and the UX.
7. HubSpot: To Streamline Pipeline Management and CRM
HubSpot offers a robust CRM platform with powerful pipeline management tools, which can be tailored to support SDR workflows and productivity.
Key features:
- Visual Pipeline Management: Easily track and manage deals through customizable pipeline stages with drag-and-drop functionality
- Automated Data Entry: Reduce manual data input with email and calendar integration, automatically logging activities and communications
- Task Automation: Set up automated task creation and reminders based on deal stage or prospect actions
- Reporting Dashboard: Access real-time reports and analytics on pipeline health, individual SDR performance, and forecasting
- Email Tracking and Notifications: Get instant notifications when prospects open emails or click on links, enabling timely follow-ups.
Pricing:
Has a free plan with paid plans ranging from $45/month for starter plans to $3,200+/month for enterprise solutions.
What users say:
Users highlight HubSpot's sales software for its CRM capabilities, email tracking, and automation features. However, some mention concerns about pricing for small businesses and a potentially steep learning curve.
8. LinkedIn Sales Navigator: For Prospecting & Lead Generation
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a prospecting tool that helps SDRs find, understand, and engage with potential customers on LinkedIn.
Key features:
- Advanced Lead and Company Search: Use targeted filters to identify ideal prospects based on role, industry, company size, and more.
- Lead Recommendations: Receive AI-powered suggestions for new prospects that match your ideal customer profile.
- Real-time Sales Updates: Get notified about important changes and events at target accounts, such as job changes or company growth.
- InMail Messages: Reach out directly to prospects, even if you're not connected, with a higher response rate than traditional cold outreach
- Analytics: Get insights such as outreach performance, open and engagement rates to optimize efforts
Pricing:
LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers tiered pricing, starting at $79.99/month per user when billed annually.
What users say:
SDRs use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for its lead generation capabilities, advanced search filters, and real-time insights while praising features such as integrations and the ability to directly connect with prospects via InMail. However, the pricing can be steep, especially for smaller businesses, and tag along with a clunky interface at times.
9. Assetmule: To Share Interactive Sales Assets
Assetmule is a platform that helps SDRs create personalized, secure templates to share sales assets, content and collaborate with prospects throughout the sales cycle.
Key features:
- Customized Microsites: Create branded, prospect-specific assets and templates to showcase relevant content and proposals.
- Content Engagement Tracking: Monitor how prospects interact with shared materials, including time spent on each asset.
- Secure Document Sharing: Share sensitive information with granular permission controls and watermarking capabilities.
- Collaborative Tools: Enable real-time communication and co-editing features within the digital sales room.
- Integration with Sales Tools: Connect with your CRM and other sales tools for seamless workflow and data synchronization.
Pricing:
Assetmule offers a free plan with paid plans starting from $600/year.
What users say:
Users praise AssetMule for its ability to create personalized, interactive sales assets with traceable templates and engagement tracking. On the other hand, some users note a slight learning curve when learning about templates and assets.
How to Choose the Best SDR Tools
Here’s our checklist on how to select the right tools for your SDR based on specific needs and processes:
1. Integration capabilities: Ensure the tools can seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack, especially your CRM
2. Scalability: Go for tools that can grow with your team - no one likes outgrowing their favorite gadgets
3. Ease of use: Opt for interfaces that don't require a PhD to navigate. The easier, the better
4. ROI potential: Evaluate the potential impact on key metrics like response rates, meeting bookings, and pipeline generation
5. Customer support and training: Consider vendors who offer top-notch backup and resources. You'll thank yourself later
Why Storylane is a Must-Have SDR Tool
In 2024, where buyers have multiple touchpoints before even reaching out to a sales rep, interactive demos can help shorten that gap.
It's because these demos essentially let the user try out the product at their own pace while sales reps get insights on what features of the product they’re interested in.
The result? An increase in product-qualified leads, improving pipeline quality, and making sales reps' lives easier.
Wondering how interactive demos can help your sales team? Try it out for free or book a demo today!
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