What are some popular tools out there for driving sales leads?u00a0 Once you get leads from these tools, how are you structuring your sales processes to convert them to qualified leads and ultimately customers?
Here are the tools we at Tint use to drive sales leads. The sales process should be obvious after you learn the tools. Each one has its place in the sales cycle. Our tools and process allow us to achieve sales efficiency that many larger companies would envy. I hope that we can help your sales assistant by sharing our methods :)As Tint's first hire, my main goal was to bring in 100k by the end of 2013.u00a0 With the tools listed below, I was able to bring in $128,914 by NYE of 2013.u00a0 Now that we are on pace to hitting 2MM by 2024. my next goal is to streamline our sales team to set our sales vision higher: How to hit 20MM.u00a0 Now, I am firm believer of the saying u201cunder commit, over deliveru201d but I also believe in setting high expectations that even if Iu2019m shy of the goal, Iu2019ll still be happy with the results.For example in November, I committed 50k to Tim (our CEO) but with 37 web-to-lead inquiries given to me, I was able to get 36 leads to show up to an appointment, which helped me close 21 accounts in 30 days.u00a0 I closed the month with $43,300 and was happy with results.u00a0 My key performance metrics include a 97% show ratio and 58% closing ratio. This is an average key performance metric for Tim and I, and we are now strategically working to scale it.u00a0 However before we do,u00a0 I would like to share the 11 tools for our sales success:Basic Marketing Tools for Lead Generation:Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+Context, Blogging & ContentWord-of-mouth/ReferralsEmail Newsletters & Promo CodesSEO & Blogs w/ Content MarketingPowered by Tint logo for free usersu00a0u00a01) Olark is an effective way to talk to your customers for sales and support in real-time on your site.If the web visitor doesnu2019t fill out a form, they usually send a quick question with Olarku2019s chat box. Because we focus so much on customer happiness, our web visitor will instantly get connected to our CEO, Tim Sae Koo.u00a0 He will immediately answer sales questions or help with support inquiries. Youu2019d be surprised at how many closed customers you can achieve by just answering a few questions when the lead/visitor is most interested with your product. If he isnu2019t around, the inquiry will go straight to sales@tintup.com which our sales team can immediately answer.u00a0 9 times out of 10, Tim and I are able set appointments through Olark. If more than 12 hours pass and we still havenu2019t responded to an inquiry, then the lead loses interest. Time kills deals and Olark is a great solution to nurture your leads, in real time, and let them know that they are very important.2) Hubspot is an inbound marketing software platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.When a visitor/lead visits www.tintup.com, we use Hubspot to create forms and CTAs that track, score and nurtures leads.u00a0 Hubspot has tons of features that we werenu2019t able to use because we only signed up for a 30 day free trial. But for the most part, we used their a/b testing landing pages, CTA, and Signals.u00a0 Signals is Hubspotu2019s real-time notifications that tell you when and how to follow up with your leads and customers.u00a0 The 30 day trial did generate an additional $30k for Tint though!u00a0 Although, the results are great, we are eager to learn more about other similar softwares like Pardot, Kissmetrics, and Marketo.u00a03) Mailchimp is an easy and effective way to send better email newsletters to your customers.Since we never use our blog to advertise ourselves or announce new features (because we believe our readers want to learn more than hear our news), we use Mailchimp to send out our new feature releases, promotions, and our blog posts we write. Itu2019s super easy to import your email lists, set up a template for your email campaign, and time your send outs by bulk or time zone. The email newsletters we send out is a great way to ensure that our customers know we are still working hard for them and communicating with them in mass what weu2019re up to. We will also segment lists by what plans our customers are so we can send out targeted promotions to them or get them back onto our site to see new developments weu2019ve released.Sales Tools u2024 Lead Opportunity Stages:Vetting & QualifyingSetting the AppointmentFollowing Up or Closing CallVerbal AgreementClosed WonClosed LostDo not call list4) Rapportive is a Gmail plugin to vet who youu2019re communicating with and if they are a decision maker you need to close.Ever wonder when a lead comes in if they are just a random person in a company doing research or an actual decision maker? Rapportive is your key to determining who youu2019re speaking with and the kind of actions you need to take. Itu2019s all super easy to find out as well. After installation, all you need to do is hover over the email address that emailed you and the sidebar of your Gmail will show you the full name, location, title, and social networks from the person youu2019re speaking with. With that information, you can change your tone/urge to set up a demo to close a deal quicker.5) Boomerang is a Gmail plugin to manage your email responses and remind you when to answer.When I open my gmail, I would typically have around 50 unread messages ranging from inquiries to leads belonging in all of the above u2018opportunity stages.u2019u00a0 My inbox can get overwhelming rather quickly and that is why I use multiple tools to nurture leads.u00a0 It took awhile for me to get used to Boomerang because Iu2019m such a Salesforce advocate but as soon as I applied the tool, I was able to cut down my workload by 2 u00bd hours.u00a0 At my last job, I was conditioned to log all my notes/emails to salesforce and create events, and tasks to remind me who to follow up and which leads need attention u2024 these tedious steps would add 1-2 minutes/lead to my 60-100 lead/day routine.With Boomerang, I can efficiently work all my stages. Whether itu2019s to set an appointment, to send a summary & proposal, to follow up with a lead, or to set an automatic reminderu2024 it is easy to set up with only 2-3 clicks all within my Gmail. Imagine what you would have to do if 7 clients all asked to follow up with them after 1 week during different parts of the weeku2026I now have a tool that I can set emails to remind me to answer back in 2 days, or 12pm on Thursday afternoon, no more guessing games and no more leads falling through the cracks.u00a06) Cirrus Insight helps you keep Salesforce in sync with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts.When a lead completes a form on our website or emails us directly, we create an account on Cirrus Insight and convert the lead into an u2018opportunity.u2024 I use this add-on as much as I use Gmail. It made Salesforce easy to teach and keep up with.u00a0 I no longer have to copy and paste everything into salesforce, I can simply u2018log a callu2024 through u2018activitiesu2019, set an appointment through u2018eventu2024 and respond to emails using Salesforce templates through the u2018quick send and addu2024 plugin.u00a0 Iu2019ve watched Tim receive 50 emails (support & inquiry) and respond to all 50, log complete notes on sfdc and get tons of confirmed appointments before he goes to lunch at noon.u00a0 The best part about this plugin is its ability to sync your google calendar and Salesforce calendar every 30 minutes.7) Yesware is an email productivity service for salespeople.If Boomerang and Cirrus insight had a child, it would be Yesware.u00a0 I just installed Yesware this month and it has similar features like email management, and SFDC/Gmail synchronization.u00a0 What I really like about Yesware is being able to send emails at later time.u00a0 For instance Fridays are the worst follow up days because everyone is getting ready for the weekend.u00a0 However, I also have a lot of time on Friday and so Iu2019ll write my follow up emails and schedule them to be delivered on Monday at 8:30am, which will help me get seen first thing in the morning.u00a0 Another feature I like about Yesware is there templates.u00a0 Once my templates are setup, it takes 2 clicks to load them and send.u00a0 With Cirrus Insight, I will need to click on the icon, then choose the template folder, then choose a template, then look for a contact, then look for an account and send.u00a0 Yesware saves me another 2-3 minutes which I can substitute for my tea break.8) Salesforce is best known for itu2019s customer relationship management product.Salesforce help me keep track of all my leads, where they are in the decision making process, and help me generate reports on performance metrics. Salesforce is important because it will streamline all the information gathered about an account and a lead from beginning to end.u00a0 If a lead has support issues, or unpaid balances, your marketing, sales, operations and account management teams should be able to get the full story just by looking at the Salesforce notes.u00a0 If an account manager has to ask for more details from your salesperson about a client, this means notes are incomplete.u00a0 Incomplete notes will create inefficiencies, miscommunication, wasted time and ultimately, money lost.Salesforce will also give management valuable insights to the type of employees in your company.u00a0 It will help you find and gauge the A players from the B players.u00a0 Most importantly if your data is clean, Salesforce will help you streamline, track retention rates, churns, lifetime value of a client and projections.My Salesforce calendar is synchronized with Cirrus Insight, which is connected to my Google Calendar. I also have my Gcal set up with text notifications to give me real time reminders on appointments.u00a0 Salesforce help me nurture my pipeline and it help me forecast my numbers.u00a0 A lot of the tools Iu2019m suggesting can actually be customized through Salesforce however I found that the more apps you need within salesforce, the more fees are added.u00a0 Also, my eyes donu2019t get burnt out looking at the same page all day and I appreciate the emotive variety of each tool.u00a09) Join.me, GoToMeeting or Skype u2024 VOIP Conference Calls & Screen-sharingOnce I set an appointment, my go to screen sharing app is Free Screen Sharing and Online Meetings because it is easy to send and pretty to look at.u00a0 My prospect doesnu2019t need to download a file like Skype or GoToMeeting, which is time consuming.u00a0 They only need to take 3 steps:Click on the Free Screen Sharing and Online Meetings linkClick on the phone icon to connect via internetConnect a headsetSome clientu2019s prefer GoToMeeting or Skype.u00a0 I donu2019t like GoToMeeting because it feels archaic, itu2019s interface is bulky and sending an invite takes too much time.u00a0 I donu2019t like Skype because I have to send an invite or wait for an invite to get connected which is inefficient. While Skype canu2019t do conference calls for free and half my calls are conference calls.u00a0 Both these tools require an installation and a signup.u00a010) Stripe is a company that provides a way for individuals and businesses to accept payments over the Internet.Once a demo is complete, we expect to close the business within 1-14 days.u00a0 I can use Stripe to create promo codes and track real time revenue. Not to mention managing (full or partial) refunds, recurring subscriptions, and custom payments. Tint also uses Stripe for self-service signups located on our pricing page: www.tintup.com/pricing.u00a0 The Plus and Pro signups go through our stripe account.u00a0 Our self serve page generates about more than half of our revenue every month.11) Zapier enables you to automate tasks between other online services (services like Salesforce, Basecamp, Gmail, Mailchimp, Olark, Hubspot and Stripe).I use this tool to synchronize Stripe with Salesforce so our self serve clients are also in our Salesforce database to keep track of all our customers. Zapier hasu00a0 hundreds of other recipes you can create that will make your life easier and save you time from connecting apps together (like send all Gmail emails into Evernote automatically). We always strive for clean data because they tell the best stories.u00a0 We would love some suggestions or successful tools to help us consolidate and maintain clean data.u00a0Account Management Tools & Circling back to Lead Generation:Orientation CallHappy Client ProgramTint Support & Best PracticesSave Calls, Credit, Collection & InvoicingCase Studies, UpsellsWorking with brand advocates12) Ballpark for invoicing and referral programs.I typically use Ballpark to send invoices and accept payments.u00a0 However, they also have referral programs that I think we should definately use and they released a feature with Stripe for credit card payments.u00a0 It seems like they have tons of features that I have not used yet and so I will be downloading the Ballpark app to take advantage of all these awesome features.13) Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you whatu2019s being worked on, whou2019s working on what, and where something is in a process.Trello is our drawing board, our to-do list, the board that keeps us accountable and innovative.u00a0 Everyday we talk about urgent challenges, tasks we completed, and what we are working on.u00a0 We are constantly looking for ways to improve, to strengthen our culture and our product.u00a0 Trello helps us stay true to one of our core philosophy, u201cTransparency is key.u201du00a0 We are able to see what project each person is in charge of and what they have accomplished.u00a0 We are able to work together closely and give feedback to improve on our methods, which I find incredibly valuable for a startup company. This is where you can put sales goals on individual cards so your team knows what you are aiming for and can give you feedback on your steps. You can read more here on how we organize our Trello.14) Intercom is your best friend for account management and talking with customers.Tint uses intercom for u201cChurn, Retention and Re-Engaging Customers.u201du00a0 One of our current challenges is to increase our monthly recurring revenue.u00a0 And to reduce our churn, we want to make sure we talk with our customers so they know weu2019re here to help and are up to date with new features, blog posts, etc. Intercom makes this SUPER easy by allowing us to communicate with our customers when they are in the Tint app. This is smart because this is when they are focused on our app and willing to chat with us. We are still learning to use Intercom effectively to create strong relationships with visitors and customers alike through automated messaging to scale our touchpoint communications.Read more at our blog post here: http://www.tintup.com/blog/14-sales-tools-tint-used-to-reach-1m-revenue-in-1-year/
