How to Choose the Best Sales Technology to Drive Growth | Velosio

Today, salespeople aren’t living out of a Rolodex or knocking on doors. They rely on the latest generation of cloud technology for day-to-day operations. But how effectively are they utilizing that technology? For many sellers, the answer is “not enough.” They aren’t leveraging sales process automation to its full potential—or, in some cases, they’re barely using it at all.

There are many effective sales automation software packages on the market today. While many sales teams already have licenses, just having access isn’t enough. All too often, teams struggle to integrate sales tech into their workflows. This may be due to unique workflows, customers with unique demands, or a mismatch between software features and team demands. Whatever the reason, the team has failed to adopt the software, and the potential is wasted.

As businesses face economic uncertainties, sellers must prioritize maximizing time spent with buyers and nurturing leads. This requires optimizing their sales processes and daily routines to achieve better outcomes. And that means finding sales automation software that helps you work the way you already work, only more effectively.

In this article, we’ll explore what sales technology is, why it’s often underutilized, and how the right tools can empower your team to close more deals.

What Is Sales Technology?

Sales technology is a broad set of hardware and software tools designed to enhance sales team productivity and streamline workflows. These solutions help sellers save time, generate meaningful buyer insights, and improve overall performance. A core tool is a customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Other technologies, such as sales intelligence apps and communication tools, use AI and data analytics to deliver insights and improve forecasting. Among these, CRMs are often the centerpiece of a sales tech stack. But what exactly is a CRM, and how does it accelerate sales growth?

What Is a CRM?

A customer relationship management (CRM) system is software designed to help businesses manage and improve interactions with current and potential customers. At its core, a CRM centralizes customer information, tracks interactions, and automates many different workflows carried out by sales and related business teams. Because CRMs have such wide-ranging features, they’re often used to integrate projects that bring together sales, marketing, and customer support teams.

A CRM provides a 360-degree view of customer relationships, enabling sales teams to understand customer needs better and personalize interactions. The goal is to build stronger relationships that improve the quantity and quality of deals.

One of the most widely used and effective CRMs is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. It is one of only a few market leaders to offer a deep and customizable feature set. Since it is part of the wider Microsoft software ecosystem, it is easy to integrate into many sales teams’ existing processes, which might already be designed to work with Microsoft products.

Why Does a Sales Team Need a CRM?

When properly integrated into a sales team’s operations, a CRM can make them more efficient and effective.

Automated tracking of sales in the pipeline

Traditional sales forecasts often rely on backward-looking or overly optimistic data—In other words, they’re often inaccurate. Sales automation CRMs leverage predictive analytics to assess deal health and provide real-time insights for sellers, managers, and associated teams. Managers can track opportunities available across the entire team, prioritize and communicate key actions, and coach sellers on how to move deals forward, no matter where they are in the world.

A CRM handles the busywork

Sales teams often spend a significant portion of their day on administrative tasks like logging customer updates, creating proposals, and sending routine emails. Sales automation tools can streamline these repetitive tasks. For example, they can convert data from forms or business cards into CRM records and automatically log buyer-seller interactions. AI-powered CRMs can even analyze calls for buyer sentiment, summarize those calls, and provide actionable insights for the seller or their manager.

Simplified buyer interactions

CRMs, like Dynamics 365 Sales, simplify buyer interactions by providing a unified platform that centralizes customer data and communication. They equip sales teams with real-time insights into customer behavior, preferences, and buying histories. These factors help you provide more personalized and meaningful customer engagements, even when your teams use automated communication tools.

A CRM records and replicates winning sales tactics

CRMs and sales analytics tools help uncover what makes top performers successful. Because everything is digitally recorded, you have a complete record of every interaction by every seller with every customer. Managers can use CRM AI to analyze these interactions to identify patterns they might not have otherwise seen and find seller actions or events that most dramatically improve your chances of closing a deal.

Best Practices for Selecting The Sales Technology that Fits Your Team’s Needs

So as we’ve seen, sales automation software in general, and CRMs in particular, are incredibly effective tools for the sales teams as long as they meet your unique needs. In other words, the challenge isn’t really in using them; it is in selecting the one that’s the best fit for the way your team works.

Here are 3 Best Practices every sales team should follow to help make the most informed choice about their CRM purchase.

1) Measure How your Team Works

You will never 100 percent automate the sales process. You’re not trying to replace your staff, and you should not try. Buyers don’t want to interact with an AI at every touchpoint, they want to interact with a person. Start by assessing your team’s performance.

● Review their achievements.
● Evaluate sales behaviors.
● Pinpoint areas where growth is needed.

Consolidating your sales team profiles should give you a good sense of your team’s strengths, challenges, and general workflow. Are you well above average at converting cold leads? Do you spend too much time on email communication? These insights will help guide your purchase.

2) Evaluate Your Existing Software Toolset

Now that we’ve analyzed the people, it’s time to evaluate the tech ecosystem in which they operate. Inefficient processes can slow down even the most talented teams. Take time to identify bottlenecks, resource shortages, or challenges like outdated workflows or poor data sharing. Use these insights to determine where a new CRM can provide the greatest impact.

3) Compare Your Shortlist of Sales Tools

The right sales tools can significantly impact your team’s performance. When evaluating your shortlist of finalist CRMs, compare the following features against how you’ve identified your team and existing technology already fit together:

● Marketing Automation: Automate lead scoring, email campaigns, and analytics to help sales teams focus on qualified opportunities and improve targeting.
● Sales CRM and Pipeline Management: Centralize lead tracking, monitor pipeline health, and automate follow-ups so your team can focus on advancing deals.
● Lead Management Tools: Automate lead scoring and routing to ensure the best opportunities are quickly passed to the right team members.
● Email Automation: Scale personalized outreach with templates, scheduling, and tracking features that save time while improving engagement.
● Sales Forecasting Tools: Analyze past and current data to predict trends, allocate resources effectively, and support informed decision-making.

Start Evaluating New Sales Automation Technology Today

While technology can improve efficiency and effectiveness, it’s not a magic fix for every challenge a sales team faces. The most successful salespeople use technology strategically, prioritizing authentic customer connections, active listening, and tailored problem-solving.

Now is the perfect time to evaluate your sales technology. Pinpoint where time is wasted, or opportunities are missed, and identify tools to bridge those gaps. At the heart of an effective stack is often a robust CRM, like Dynamics 365 Sales, which centralizes customer management, streamlines sales processes, and automates routine tasks—allowing your team to focus on what truly matters: building relationships and closing deals.

How to Identify the Right Sales Technology to Accelerate Growth