Top 5 Applications for Inside Sales

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When Mapquest came out, I was one of the first users. 

Same thing with Jigsaw (thanks Garth Moulton & Al), Hoopla, and SalesLoft! 

So when I was asked by Abe Smith, VP of Badgeville this week at dinner, “if you were stranded on a desert island somewhere and only had 5 technologies you could choose, what would they be?”

My reply:

  1. Hoopla/Gamification – Gamifying inside sales behaviors adds tremendous value, and it’s FUN!
  2. SalesForce.com/CRM – You’ve gotta have a great CRM.
  3. ConnectAndSell/Sales Acceleration – If I ever left ConnectAndSell, there is no way I could go back to manual dialing.  Enabling my BEST reps to make 6-8X more calls/conversations vs. hiring brand new Lead Gen Reps who are less versed in business is a no brainer.
  4. ZoomInfo/Lead Database – I used to recommend Jigsaw (now Data.com) until the SalesForce acquisition.  Since then, data quality seems to have dropped off, and they have made a business decision to try to embed D&B in more deals making it much more expensive.  ZoomInfo has more data, and more up to date data, and cost is reasonable.
  5. *PAUSE* This is where I ran through all those “nice to have” tools and couldn’t immediately come up with another MUST HAVE’s!  Certainly SalesLoft or Social123, or ToutApp/Yesware, or WebEx or Join.Me, or dozens more…  The next day another colleague reminded me of Marketing Automation.  Sure, I would agree, if there is a 5th, that’s probably it!  

These are the Burmeister Top 5 for 2014.  Until the new “Mapquest” comes along with another game changer, these are my five!

What would be your #5?  Please post here – I’d love to see / hear about what’s making your inside sales team more productive in 2014!