You’ve consulted Part 1 of this guide and determined that your organization is in need of new sales tools. Now it’s time to source the right tools that will meet your needs. In this second section of our four-part guide, you’ll learn which resources you can consult to see the available options, and the six steps you should follow prior to making your final selection.

Beyond Vendors: Resources to Source Sales Tools

After years in the industry, most MDs develop relationships with vendors who provide sales software or mobile devices for use in the field. When a new tool emerges, your trusted vendors will likely inform you if they think it could be of interest to your team. However, to find the best possible tool for your unique needs, you may need to explore other avenues, such as:

• Trade shows: Events like Sales Innovation 2016 (held in May at the ExCel Center London) put MDs face to face with distributors and vendors to see their products first-hand.
• Trade magazines: Industry journals and trade magazines often profile new sales tools and the teams that have implemented them. Many trade publications, both online and print, contain vendor resource guides. FreeTradeMagazines.com is a good place to start.
• Enterprise reports: Like Consumer Reports for businesses, impartial sources like SmartSellingTools.com collect data and rank products into lists.
• New employees: New hires can be valuable assets of their own — they hold knowledge of the systems used at their previous workplace. New employees can provide reviews of sales tools, including pros and cons, personal preferences and overall usefulness.
• Networking: Leverage all of your networks – including your personal network and that on social media, to get a feel for the tools that others are using, what’s working, what is overrated, and what tools are poised to be the next disruptive technology.

Project Planning 101: The 6 Steps to Take Before Selecting a Tool

A new sales tool can streamline operations and help the team close more deals — but implementing a new tool can also be disruptive and counterproductive. To avoid that, thorough preparation is key during selection.

You should:

1. Assess the current process and identify what needs improvement. Create a list of must-have features or criteria that will ensure you only select a tool that will truly meet the needs of your team.

2. Understand the implementation cycle of the tool. Before you can prepare an implementation plan for your company or your team, you need to completely understand the restrictions and conditions imposed by the tool itself. This allows for a smooth implementation, reducing chances for mistakes and miscommunication to occur, which can result in frustration and a loss of productivity.

3. Determine the likely effect on current productivity. Learning how and when to use a new tool can be time consuming and confusing – especially if the new tool is complex or requires a lot of training or time-consuming protocols. You likely don’t want a tool that will drastically affect your salespeople’s ability to sell – and sell efficiently.

4. Assess the likelihood of team buy-in. Conduct an honest review of the general attitude of the team and compare it to what you know of the tool, its value, and its implementation cycle. If you can anticipate their concerns, circumvent any obvious problems, or at least proactively answer their questions, you’re more likely to gain their support and streamline the implementation process.

5. Develop a method. You cannot implement a tool and then haphazardly review it. In order to measure its merit, you’ll need to proactively develop a method to test, launch and ultimately measure the success of the tool, as well as a process to train the team on its uses.

6. Plan to integrate rather than replace, if possible. Continuity is good. When possible, it is better to build on an old CRM instead of installing a new one. Pop-up cross-sell tools — which allow salespeople to sell additional services or products to current customers — should be integrated into existing software instead of starting from scratch.

In an ideal world, organizations would have the resources to form project teams dedicated solely to vetting new tools, running focus groups, launching beta testing and creating implementation strategies. Most sales teams, however, are simply too lean for that luxury. It is up to the MD, then, to assess if the team needs a new tool, to find the right one, and to implement it in the right way. With the preliminary work complete, the next challenge is to roll out the new initiative. The third instalment of this guide examines how to successfully deploy your new sales tool.