So often, your focus as a small business owner is on making the sale. And then making the next one. However, there’s a lot to be gained by slowing down and taking a little more time in the process.
Sales tracking is a crucial aspect of running a successful business. It’s all about data. It’s the key to making informed decisions that spur growth and profitability. If you’re not tracking your sales, then you’re missing important data that should be informing your efforts. By doing so, you can identify areas for improvement, as well as your strengths, and sell more effectively in the future.
While sales tracking is essential to your future growth, not all metrics are worth your time. Knowing the most important is essential. Of course, the “most important sales metrics” vary depending on industry, niche, and other factors, but those metrics most frequently cited as “important” include the following:
With a better understanding of the metrics to track, let’s take a look at the tools that help you do that.
Chances are good that you know the Zendesk name. It’s been around for a long time and is one of the better-known customer service solutions out there. Zendesk Sell is a full-blown CRM designed specifically for tracking sales and it delivers plenty of power and utility. You can track leads, manage contacts, delve into granular reports, and change your sales strategies all from a central location. It also integrates with Zendesk’s main ticketing service.
HubSpot is another popular name you’ve probably heard of before. HubSpot’s Sales Hub Tracking Software integrates with the company’s CRM offerings and provides access for your entire team to explore critical sales-related metrics. It features customizable permissions and lots of integrations and provides access to each deal in your pipeline, complete with relevant information. This tool also integrates with HubSpot’s automation features, as well as other technologies you’re already using.
Pipedrive is more than just a sales tracking tool. It’s a sales empowerment suite. This software gives you the ability to create complete sales pipelines for leads, helping turn more of them into customers. It’s also rich in automation so your team can spend more time doing what they do best and less time on mundane tasks, all while eliminating errors. Dive deep into your sales activities with rich analytics, reach out to leads through the platform’s email option, and explore your successes and failures with detailed reports.
Designed for large and small firms alike, Bitrix24 is a sales call tracking tool. Its purpose is to create a virtual office that enables communication and collaboration between your people, no matter where they might be. You can host HD video calls, conferences, and more. It also supports lead generation from web forms, website chats, emails, social media communications, and phone calls to name just a few. Of course, there’s robust reporting to help you drill down into relevant data and make necessary changes to your sales tactics.
Unlike some of the other options discussed here, Insightly is not a full CRM. It’s a powerful tool for tracking sales and connecting the dots across your efforts. One of Insightly’s strengths is the ability to liberate data from silos and give you a unified view of your sales efforts. It’s also designed to help your sales team drive prospects where you want them and communicate with them via their preferred method, whether that’s email, phone, social media, or something else. You’ll also find lots of automation here that can reduce manual effort and errors.
Looking for a lightweight but powerful sales-tracking app? Keap could be just what you need. You’ll find lots of automation here to help streamline processes and reduce time spent on mundane tasks, but it excels at customer follow-up via email and text. You can drill down into customer behavior, explore preferences, and dial in your sales strategies. Keap also integrates with most of the popular tools on the market today, so it should play nicely with your tech stack.
We couldn’t create a list of sales tracking apps without at least mentioning Salesforce. It’s probably the best-known option out there, although it might be too robust for some small businesses operating on a tight budget. With that said, if you need to track sales, Salesforce gives you the ability to do so in any number of ways, from opportunity management to sales forecasting. You’ll find automation, revenue planning, sales engagement, and territorial planning capabilities, too.
The point of sales tracking apps is to improve performance and convert more leads. Make sure that you can be there when those leads reach out. Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can cover your phones 24/7 so that you never need to worry about missing a call. We can also handle other tasks to streamline lead intake and vetting, set appointments, and provide you with call intelligence and metadata to further refine your sales-related communications.
To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.