CRM Software for Sales

A market map with 10,000 companies is impossible to prioritize. These are the 300 to know. I was a VP of Product in sales tech. And I was frustrated with the maps I found. So I've been studying the space and speaking with experts. Here's the players you need to know: — ONE - Core: Revenue Operating System This is your CRM, your system of record - where your sales operation begins. I break this into 3 segments: Enterprise Platforms → Built for large organizations with complex workflows and high-volume deals → Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP Growth-Stage Solutions → Designed for growing businesses that need scalable tools but with flexibility to adapt → HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, SugarCRM Modern CRMs → Startups and fast-scaling companies looking to move fast without rigid systems rely on modern CRMs. → Attio, Affinity, Close.io, Copper, Freshsales. — LAYER TWO - Engagement & Intelligence These tools power outbound outreach, automate sequences, and provide real-time data on prospects: → Outreach, Salesloft, VanillaSoft, Groove Engagement tools ensure your team hits the right prospect at the right time. — LAYER THREE - Revenue Acceleration These platforms shorten deal cycles: → Gong, Salesloft, Chorus.ai, Ebsta With real-time feedback and actionable insights... — LAYER FOUR - Data & Enrichment Your outreach is only as good as the data backing it. These platforms ensure you’re reaching out to right prospects. → ZoomInfo, Apollo.io, Clearbit, Lusha, Hunter io, Cognism — SATELLITE CLUSTERS - Modern GTM Stack These tools enhance parts of the GTM journey. AI-Enhanced Tools → Automate and personalize content creation at scale. → Writer, Grammarly, CopyAI, Jasper Product-Led Motion → Identify sales-ready leads through product engagement. → Pocus, Intercom, Breyta Sales Enablement → Equip sales teams with training, resources, and playbooks to perform at their best. → Seismic, Spekit, Allego Conversational GTM → Convert prospects directly through real-time chat. → Drift (now part of Salesloft) — SATELLITE CLUSTERS- Emerging Categories These are adjacent categories sales teams often still use. Product Analytics → Track user behaviors post-sale for better upsell and retention opportunities. → Amplitude, Mixpanel Customer Success → Ensure long-term customer retention and success beyond the initial sale. → Gainsight, Catalyst, Totango Workspace Integration → Enable seamless collaboration across sales and operations. → Notion, Slack, Airtable, monday.com Revenue Orchestration → Connect workflows across different systems to streamline revenue operations. → NektarAI, Tray.io, Workato, Boomi — This took a lot of time. Reshare ♻️ if you loved this post. What tools would you add?

𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 - 𝗜‘𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲!! ☁️💙 [𝗔𝗱/𝗔𝗻𝘇𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗲] Many companies like to talk about AI painting big pictures of what might come next. Salesforce takes a different approach: they build! For more than a year now, Salesforce has been rolling out AI agents that are already running inside companies around the world. In yesterday’s keynote, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲, shared new use cases that made it easier than ever to understand how these agents really work in daily operations. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁? Imagine opening your laptop and finding a small team of digital helpers already inside. Each one is an expert… one knows your customers very well, one your workflows, one is your data expert. They don’t just answer your questions or react to commands but fix things before you see them and make work feel more fluent, faster, personal & fun. Marc Benioff described this evolution clearly: “𝘈 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰.” 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀: –> up to 30 % faster service resolution and 40 % lower response time in customer operations –> productivity gains between 20–35 % across early adopters –> now used by 12,000+ companies from retailers to logistics firms –> interoperability with AWS, Microsoft & OpenAI, so it fits into existing tech stacks –> built-in governance and transparency layers, critical for regulated industries 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀: 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗮 – An AI “shopping chef” that knows your taste. It connects recipes, products, and past purchases turning every visit into a personalized experience that feels more like a conversation than a normal shopping experience. 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗘𝘅 – AI agents read and route thousands of logistics documents in seconds catching exceptions, rerouting shipments, and reducing manual work across global operations. 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮 – An AI assistant follows you from online to in-store. What you like in chat appears ready in the boutique creating one seamless, personalized customer journey. 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗹 – AI agents automate supplier onboarding verifying documents, sending approvals, and cutting setup time from 60 days to under 20. Faster partnerships, faster production. Each example shows how AI can move beyond experimentation, into real outcomes & that‘s what we need more now: REAL IMPLEMENTATION! Tomorrow continues with more 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥 I was able to meet and we all probably know more for his music than for his tech… STAY TUNED!! 💙🦾 Do you already use AI Agents in YOUR business? –> If yes, what for? –> If not, which tasks would you 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 to hand over to an agent friend?

Hey Salespeople: Here is a collection of current use cases for AI in sales & CS: ** GenAI in Sales ** --> Draft messaging for personalized email outreach --> Generate post-call summaries with action items; draft call follow ups --> Provide real-time, in-call guidance (case studies; objection handling; technical answers; competitive response) --> Auto-populate and clean up CRM --> Generate & update competitive battlecards --> Draft RFP responses --> Draft proposals & contracts --> Accelerate legal review & red-lining (incl. risk identification) --> Research accounts --> Research market trends --> Generate engagement triggers (press releases; job postings; industry news; social listening; etc.) --> Conduct role-play --> Enable continuous, customized learning --> Generate customized sales collateral --> Conduct win-loss analysis --> Automate outbound prospecting -->Automate inbound response --> Run product demos --> Coordinate & schedule meetings --> Handle initial customer inquiries (chatbot; voice-bot / avatar) --> Generate questions for deal reviews --> Draft account plans ** Predictive AI in Sales ** --> Score leads & contacts --> Score /segment accounts (new logo) --> Automate cross-sell & upsell recommendations --> Optimize pricing & discounting --> Surface deal gaps / identify at-risk prospects --> Optimize sales engagement cadences (touch type; frequency) --> Optimize territory building (account assignment) --> Streamline forecasting (incl. opportunity probabilities; stage; close date) --> Analyze AE performance --> Optimize sales process --> Optimize resource allocation (incl. capacity planning) --> Automate lead assignment --> A/B test sales messaging --> Priortize sales activities ** GenAI in CS ** --> Analyze customer sentiment --> Provide customer support (chatbot; voice-bot / avatar; email-bot) --> Draft proactive success messaging --> Update & expand knowledge base (incl. tutorials, guides, FAQs, etc.) --> Provide multilingual support --> Analyze customer feedback to inform product development, support, and success strategies --> Summarize customer meetings; draft follow-ups --> Develop customer training content and orchestrate customized training --> Provide real-time, in-call guidance to CSMs and support agents --> Create, distribute, and analyze customer surveys --> Update CRM with customer insights --> Generate personalized onboarding --> Automate customer success touch-points --> Generate customer QBR presentations --> Summarize lengthy or complex support tickets --> Create customer success plans --> Generate interactive troubleshooting guides --> Automate renewal reminders --> Analyze and action CSAT & NPS ** Predictive AI in CS ** --> Predict churn; score customer health; detect usage anomalies, decision maker turnover, etc. --> Analyze CSM and support agent performance --> Optimize CS and support resource allocation --> Prioritize support tickets --> Automate & optimize support ticket routing --> Monitor SLA compliance

~30% of my pipeline comes from Closed Lost opportunities. So when an opportunity is Closed Lost, don’t let it go cold. If you have a sales engagement tool, set up an automation rule to auto add the primary contact into a Closed Lost Cadence, if not, just do this manually. Here’s an example cadence: 🔹 Step 1 (30 days post-CL) → Manual email (personalised) Summarise their focus, why the deal was lost, and let them know you’ll stay in touch. 📩 Example: "Hey Billybob, really enjoyed working with you and learning more about [initiative], like increasing conversion rates from 12% → 15% and driving $100K pipeline per AE. Appreciate other priorities took precedent, but I’ll stay in touch until timing makes sense". 🔹 Step 2 (55 days post-CL) → Automated email (deposit) Share a relevant resource. 📩 Example: "Pipeline is a challenge for most teams - thought this 30MPC webinar on account segmentation might be useful". 🔹 Step 3 (80 days post-CL) → Evaluate next steps Any team growth? Leadership changes? Priority shifts? No change → Stay in Closed Lost cadence. Key changes → Move to a prospecting cadence & re-engage. 🔹 Step 4 (105 days post-CL) → Phone call + LinkedIn touch (check-in). 🔹 Step 5 (130 days post-CL) → Automated email (new product update). 📩 Example: "See how Salesloft Rhythm incorporates AI into workflows to prioritise prospects most likely to convert into meetings [link]". 🔹 Step 6 (155 days post-CL) → Call (check-in). 🔹 Step 7 (180+ days post-CL) → Final review & decision No movement/changes? Pause outreach or move to a light nurture cadence. New priorities? Add to outbound cadence with a tailored approach. The goal? Stay relevant without being intrusive - so when timing aligns, you’re already on their radar. Are you keeping tabs on your Closed Lost Opps, or letting them slip? #sales #cadences #closedlost

Sales cycles grew an average of 27 days this year: - Cycles in H1 2023 were an average of 134 days (4.4 months) - Compared to the 107-day (3.5 months) average in H1 2022* *data from the excellent Capchase report, 'B2B SaaS Sales Cycles in 2023' Which is (obviously) a big problem. Because a 25% jump in cycle times is *the same thing* as having just 9 months to close 12 months of revenue. Like getting your 2024 quota… …then being told to hit that target in September. Not December. In other words: A whole quarter was stolen from most sales teams this year. Which is why 84% of leaders in the study said shrinking cycles is a priority. So, what’s the secret to cutting cycles times? Well it’s not about applying more force or pressure. It's about applying a little “WD-40” to cut out friction in the *buying* process. The trick is knowing where to apply it. _______ 1/ Update your pipeline stages to focus on specific *buying* behavior. 2/ Create specific exit criteria for moving deals from stage → stage. 3/ Look for the longest stage-to-stage time. 4/ Ask: what’s happening in the buying org? What's preventing them from moving forward? 5/ Pinpoint the doubt / uncertainty / confusion that's happening. 6/ Intentionally address the answer to # 5 in the prior stage. 7/ Repeat # 1 - # 6 above from the longest → shortest stages. _______ Here's a visual of what this could look like. Notice two big ideas: - You can’t troubleshoot what you can’t isolate. - Slowdowns are about what happens inside the buying org. Which are two big misses in most sales process design: - Stages are too clumped up, without clear exit criteria. - Stages are based on a seller's activity, not buying behaviors. And if you're an AE reading this, thinking, "Uhh, great, but I can't change our CRM stages..." that's okay. You can still take and apply the concept to the process *you* choose to design and run inside your own accounts. Which is the difference between deals closing in '23, vs. pushing to '24.

I met a sales team that tracks 27 different metrics. But none of them matter. They measure: - Calls made - Emails sent - Meetings booked - Demos delivered - Talk-to-listen ratio - Response time - Pipeline coverage But they all miss the most important number: How often prospects share your content with others. This hit me yesterday. We analyzed our last 200 deals: Won deals: Champion shared content with 5+ stakeholders Lost deals: Champion shared with fewer than 2 people It wasn't about our: - Product demos - Discovery questions - Pricing strategy - Negotiation skills It was about whether our champion could effectively sell for us. Think about your current pipeline: Do you know how many people have seen your proposal? Do you know which slides your champion shared internally? Do you know who viewed your pricing? Most sales leaders have no idea. They're optimizing metrics that don't drive decisions. Look at your CRM right now. I bet it tracks: ✅ When YOU last emailed a prospect ❌ When THEY last shared your content ✅ How many calls YOU made ❌ How many stakeholders viewed your materials ✅ When YOU sent a proposal ❌ How much time they spent reviewing it We've built dashboards to measure everything except what actually matters. The real sales metric that predicts closed deals: Internal Sharing Velocity (ISV) How quickly and widely your champion distributes your content to other stakeholders. High ISV = Deals close Low ISV = Deals stall We completely rebuilt our sales process around this insight: - Redesigned all content to be shareable, not just readable - Created spaces where champions could easily distribute information - Built analytics to measure exactly who engaged with what - Trained reps to optimize for sharing, not for responses Result? Win rates up 35%. Sales cycles shortened by 42%. Forecasting accuracy improved by 60%. Stop obsessing over your activity metrics. Start measuring how effectively your champions sell for you. If your CRM can't tell you how often your content is shared internally, you're operating in the dark. And that's why your forecasts are always wrong. Your move.

Teams who take a “boil the ocean” approach to outbound will fail. Here’s how to fix it and build sequences that actually drive results: Step 1: Focus your team on accounts most likely to buy now, invest at a premium, and become long-term customers or referral sources. This means moving beyond “anyone who fits the ICP” and zeroing in on high-priority targets. Step 2: Create deeper, more meaningful segments from that refined group. Traditional segments are great for organizing territories but fall short for crafting sequences that resonate. Instead, you need segmentation that helps your team speak the language of specific sub-groups. Use multiple layers of data—firmographics, intent signals, and contact-level insights—to break your TAM into smaller, actionable groups. Step 3: Launch micro-campaigns that target those precise segments with messaging designed to feel tailor-made. When you take this approach, personalization becomes scalable because it’s rooted in segmentation. Your reps don’t waste time on one-off customization, and your messaging feels 99% relevant to the prospect. I've been teaching this process as #ValueBasedSegmentation for the better part of a decade. It’s the key to building sequences that drive higher CTRs, replies, and engagement without tedious manual effort. ➡️ With this approach, you’ll: - Improve email performance - Write copy that prospects actually care about - Give your team a clear roadmap for focused outbound 📌 How are you helping your team build relevance into their outbound sequences?

🥤Just explored an incredible customer story at Dreamforce that perfectly illustrates what "becoming an Agentic Enterprise" actually means in practice. PepsiCo - yes, the company behind Lay's, Doritos, Gatorade, and Pepsi - is deploying Agentforce across their global operations. And the scale is staggering. 🎯 THE CHALLENGE
👥 100,000+ employees using Salesforce to manage: * 🛒 120,000 field sales reps keeping shelves stocked * 🏪 1M+ small retailers (mom-and-pop shops, bodegas, gas stations) * 🚚 25,000+ delivery routes * 🚛 One of North America's largest private fleets ⚠️ Problem: Big retailers like Walmart get daily visits. Small retailers don’t — but they represent huge volume. Missing one day of shelf presence = significant revenue loss. 💡 THE SOLUTION
Agentforce deploying across 100+ contact centers to give smaller retailers instant assistance through online portal or phone (Agentforce Voice). 🧩 The stack: * 📊 Data Cloud — Unifies data across all systems, zero-copy architecture * 🤖 Agentforce — Handles basic inquiries with access to real-time catalogs, inventory, promotions * 🚚 Consumer Goods Cloud — 120,000 field reps get planograms, route planning, metrics * 📞 Service Cloud — B2B portal for retailers * 📱 Marketing Cloud — Personalized retailer communications * ⚙️ Field Service — Managing fleets and equipment * 🔗 MuleSoft — Integrating enterprise systems 💬 THE QUOTE
Athina Kanioura, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer:
"Embracing an AI-first world means reimagining an enterprise where humans and intelligent agents don't just coexist, they collaborate." 📈 THE IMPACT * ✅ Agentforce handling nearly all basic inquiries ("Where's my order?" "Why short shipment?") * 🙌 Human teams freed for high-value relationships * 🤝 Better retailer engagement (feedback becomes faster, simpler) * 🚀 20 future use cases identified — personalized recommendations to AI-generated planograms 🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS
This isn't a pilot. PepsiCo (320,000 employees, $92B revenue) is one of the first major CPG companies deploying Agentforce at scale. This is what the Agentic Enterprise looks like in traditional, asset-heavy business: * ✅ 100,000+ employees empowered by unified platform * ✅ Digital labor scaling support to millions of retailers * ✅ Human workers elevated to strategic work * ✅ Data unified across apps and geographies * ✅ Integration as competitive advantage 🙌 Not replacing 120,000 field reps. Augmenting them. Giving small retailers who couldn't get daily visits the same service as major accounts. ⚡️ That's the digital labor economy in action. When a company this size goes "all in" on Agentforce, it validates this isn’t just tech hype. It’s the future of complex global operations. Check out my interview with Tracy Matis VP Transformation and CX at PepsiCo. #Salesforcepartnership

3 Salesforce automations tech companies should implement today (If they want to scale without the busywork): Manual tasks are killing your growth. If you’re still assigning leads, chasing follow-ups, or leaving renewals to chance - you’re moving too slow. Here’s how to fix it: 1) Automate lead assignment When a new lead comes in, speed matters. Don’t waste time manually routing leads to your team. Set up automation to assign leads instantly based on: • Territory • Deal size • Product interest Your reps should know exactly who owns the lead - the moment it enters the system. 2) Automate follow-up tasks Manual task creation is a silent time killer. Your CRM should automatically trigger follow-up tasks when: • A new lead is assigned • A deal moves stages • A prospect replies No more guessing. No more forgetting. Just clear next steps, every time. 3) Automate renewal reminders Retention is revenue. Your CRM should automatically flag upcoming renewals to your team, so nothing slips through the cracks. Better yet: • Trigger upsell tasks based on customer activity • Automate renewal workflows to keep deals moving Retention revenue is the fastest win for scaling tech companies. Your CRM should make it automatic. The more you automate, the more time your team spends on what matters: closing deals and keeping customers. Don’t let manual tasks slow you down. P.S: Subscribe to my newsletter — I share proven ways to turn your CRM into a growth engine. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gBukTtJN

One of the crucial investments while setting up a digital marketing function is CRM. What are the factors to keep in mind while finalizing one? Will share that in the post later. But before that, why CRM ? Just like SEO, Customer Relationship Management software should also be part of long-term strategy. It helps you to reach out to your to-be or new customers in an efficient manner. These are some of the benefits of a CRM software or system - - Centralized database of information - Better customer service - Increased sales - Improved customer retention & reactivation - Higher productivity and efficiency - Improved customer segmentation - Automated sales & analytics reports Below are the important factors before you go ahead with one - - Identifying Needs - How big is your database , MAU , DAU ? - There is cost factor based on data being stored or managed by the system. - Is it needed for certain channels only ? For eg - For emails or social media management only ? - Is it for better sales pipeline or more lead generation ? - Is is about increasing productivity or scale ? Chalk out all of this before going ahead with next steps. - Identify The Features Needed - Does it have complex customer journey creation capabilities? - Does it have AI-based tools & recommendations ? - Does it have detailed reports & analytics as per each channel ? - Does it have ease of saving & updating data. - Does it have sales pipeline visualization or forecaster ? - Does it integrate with other systems easily There can be a lot more features as per the different business needs. - Marketing Channels Available - As customer can move across channels, does it have capabilities to track it across channels? - Can it send communication across channels as per user activities? - Different channels can be Email, SMS , Whatsapp, Mobile App Notifications, Web Push, Google & Meta ( For Remarketing ) Identify which channels you will need at what scale. - Accessibility & Learning Curve - Can multiple teams use it easily? - Is it difficult or easy to learn the tool ? - How much time it can take to learn it ? - Are there enough resources & help available to learn it quickly? - Customer Support & Scalability - Is the customer support readily available? - Will the tickets be resolved quickly ? - As the businesses scale, so does issues & personalised requirements. - Can customer success team manage your additional requirements & scale. - Can the system grow & scale as your business grows ? - Cost Effective & Benefits - As the business scale, data increases cost also increases. - As channels increase, cost also increases - Its important to estimate the cost before for at least next 1-2 years. CRM system implementation takes time even before its scaled to its full potential. You won't be changing the CRM system frequently. Hence, its important to review the pointers thoroughly before you pay for one. #digitalmarketing #crm #customerrelationshipmanagement