10 Best Sales Engagement Platforms in 2021

In a perfect world, salespeople would only have to interact with potential customers one time. The exchange would go something like this: 

“Would you like to buy our product?”

“Yes, yes, I would. Do you take credit cards?”

While that is an oversimplification, it would be nice if all leads were ready to buy immediately. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, which means that sales engagement is necessary. 

Sales engagement is the process of interacting with potential customers to move them through the sales funnel. In some cases, two or three interactions are enough to spur action. In other instances, a salesperson might have to engage more times to move the needle. 

It can be overwhelming to manage interactions with tons of customers at once. That’s where sales engagement tools come in. They allow your reps to stay on top of many leads simultaneously. However, with so many program options, it can be hard to choose the right one for your business. 

So, with that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 best sales engagement platforms. We’ll even show you the features to pay attention to the most. Here’s what you need to know. 

The 5 Characteristics of the Best Sales Engagement Software

You should already know what you want to accomplish with these tools, but here are the five top components that matter. 

User-Friendly

Although salespeople are skilled at talking to customers and closing deals, not all are adept at technology. When choosing any program, sales or otherwise, you need to be sure that there is a relatively low learning curve. 

User-friendly programs are those that virtually anyone can master within a few training sessions. Complicated systems will be too challenging for your team to utilize effectively. 

Robust Personalization Features

Nowadays, consumers are savvier than ever, making it easy for them to spot a canned sales pitch a mile off. Customization and personalization are critical for engagement, as they show the prospect that they matter as an individual.

So, your sales engagement platform should enable your reps to craft unique, personalized messages and content for each customer. 

Integrates With Other Platforms

No matter the size of your business, chances are that you use various systems to perform different tasks. While sales engagement is vital, it is only one piece of a larger puzzle. 

If your new program doesn’t integrate with others, it’s hard to maintain momentum within the sales funnel. Switching from one platform to the next will create inefficiencies and drive your reps crazy. 

Omnichannel Sales Sequence

Gone are the days where a phone call was the only way to communicate with a prospect. Modern technology provides so many communication channels that it’s hard to keep up. 

Your sales engagement software should allow your reps to talk to prospects and customers on the channel they prefer most. Whether it’s email, live chat, SMS messaging, or the classic phone call, each channel is valuable and necessary. 

A/B Testing

No matter how much experience you have in sales, you won’t develop the perfect engagement system right away. A/B testing enables you to use multiple pitches and content to see which one gets the most attention. 

If your sales engagement software doesn’t allow A/B testing, how will you be able to improve your methods? 

10 Powerful Sales Engagement Tools for Your Team to Consider

There are far more than 10 sales engagement tools out there, but don’t waste time sifting through dozens of websites and pitches. Instead, we’ve curated this list based on our intimate knowledge of the sales process. These 10 programs are designed to improve your bottom line. 

Reply

One of the most valuable pieces of information you can get from a lead is an email address. However, it can be difficult to verify that you have the correct address, particularly if you’re trying to locate a specific person. 

Reply makes it easy to generate leads by searching LinkedIn or Salesforce for those valuable emails. Once you make contact, Reply allows you to use multiple communication channels, including WhatsApp and LinkedIn messenger. 

This platform also uses artificial intelligence to help you connect better with leads. Instead of scoring individuals yourself, the system does it for you. Since Reply adapts on its own, your reps can focus on closing deals, not ranking leads. 

Another benefit of Reply is that it uses Zapier to connect with other programs your reps may be using. Integration is easy to set up, and you can avoid silos within your sales funnel. 

Finally, this program offers substantial tracking and analytical tools so you can see which channels work the best. From there, you can customize your approach with new leads and engage them faster. 

RevenueEngage

This platform is actually part of RevenueGrid, which is a full-service sales platform. So, if you like the tools and features of RevenueEngage, you can potentially migrate to the rest of the system so that everything stays in one place. 

The primary selling point of RevenueEngage is its automation tools. You can set up various drip campaigns and messages and generate automatic triggers. For example, specific replies can either move a prospect to a different list or stop engagement altogether. 

Best of all, RevenueEngage also uses AI to adapt to your customers by itself. You can craft a blend of automated and manual engagement to ensure that your reps don’t miss out on any opportunities. 

This platform works with Salesforce but doesn’t integrate as much as Reply. Since this is part of a larger sales system, RevenueGrid prefers you use the whole thing, not just one piece. 

Mailshake

Prospecting can take up a lot of time, particularly when your reps are dealing with cold leads. Mailshake uses automated tools to warm up those leads so that they are ready to talk to a person. 

This platform excels at drip campaigns that encourage engagement. Whether your prospects are ice-cold or recently dropped off your radar, utilize Mailshake’s tools to keep them in your funnel. 

As with most sales engagement platforms, Mailshake utilizes AI to free up more time for your reps to close deals. This system enables A/B testing and omnichannel outreach, making it a viable option for businesses of all sizes. 

Another highlight of Mailshake is its integration with social media platforms. Since social media can be an excellent place for lead capture, it’s helpful to integrate with sales engagement. This program also works well with other CRM and communication tools. That’s music to the ears of sales teams that hate cold outreach. 

DealHub

When it comes to sales engagement methods, landing pages can work wonders. The best way to use these pages is to customize them to fit a particular user’s needs. DealHub excels at this part of the sales funnel by allowing you to create unlimited “deal hubs.”

These hubs are easy to customize and enable your reps to use tons of great content. Prospects will move through a personalized engagement funnel, meaning that they are much more likely to make it to a buying decision. 

Because DealHub allows you to use varied content, you can see which pieces get the most attention. For example, if you have sales videos that capture more leads, you can incorporate them into more hubs. 

Finally, this platform is easy to understand and use, so your reps should be able to master it relatively quickly. 

Outreach

While some sales engagement platforms focus on a specific part of the engagement process, Outreach handles virtually every aspect. This program is all-inclusive and has strategies and tools for inbound and outbound sales, as well as account-based marketing. 

Outreach’s comprehensive solution can be a bit intimidating at first, and there is a learning curve attached. However, since it has so many products within the platform, your reps can easily customize their sales methods. 

This software integrates with most major platforms, including Gmail, Zoom, Salesforce, and Adobe. 

Groove

If you use Salesforce for customer relationship management, integrate with Groove. This sales engagement platform specializes in automation and customer-facing tools that move leads quickly through your funnels. 

Because Groove syncs with Salesforce, you can use it for both engagement and deal-making. This platform is an all-in-one tool that nurtures leads from the first contact to when they buy. 

As we mentioned, automation is the name of the game with Groove, and it works wonders. Reps can automate everything from phone calls to drip emails to follow-up messages. This program also makes it easy for agents to collaborate on particular accounts by sharing data and processes. 

Hippo Video

In case you’re unaware, video marketing is one of the best ways to capture attention. While images and text have their place, video is so much more engaging. Because of its potential, Hippo Video specializes in incorporating video clips into your communication channels. 

While you need existing content to use Hippo Video effectively, the platform allows you to spread your message across all channels. Integrate videos into landing pages, emails, and social media messaging. 

Best of all, this program enables you to add CTAs, branding, and other effects to your existing content. From there, you can analyze your processes to see which videos get the best reactions at specific points in the funnel. Over time, you can refine your delivery to ensure better results. 

SalesLoft

Although there are tons of sales engagement platforms available today, the market was much less saturated back in 2014. This was the year that SalesLoft began, and it helped pave the way for much of the competition. 

Since SalesLoft was first (comparatively speaking), it knows all of the tools and tricks that work best for sales engagement. Every component we discussed earlier is present, from personalization to integration to omnichannel communication. Sometimes, the original is still the best. 

HubSpot Sales

Your sales team should already be familiar with HubSpot, so using the site’s sales engagement platform should be a breeze. The primary selling point of HubSpot’s Sales Hub is that it is easy to master. Startups and small businesses will appreciate the low learning curve and abundance of engagement tools. 

Another advantage of Hubspot is that it scales with your team. As you grow and expand your operations, you don’t have to worry about friction holding your reps back. Overall, this platform is an excellent introduction to sales engagement and works well as a CRM tool. 

PipelineDeals

While sales pipelines are valuable for your business, they can easily get overwhelming. Trying to manage multiple pipelines can get frustrating and complicated quickly, meaning that your reps will fall behind. 

PipelineDeals mitigates this problem by giving a birds-eye view of all pipelines. Even better, it automatically generates tasks and to-do lists. The result? Your reps pay attention to the right leads at the right time. 

While this platform doesn’t have as many features as other programs on this list, it works well for segmentation and email messaging. As a bonus, it integrates with other software. Use it as a guideline and experiment with different tools to continue engaging your prospects.  

Choose Your Engagement Software

With so many excellent platforms to choose from, it can be challenging to make a final decision. Here are some tips to ensure that you’re getting the best option for your team: 

• Know Your Sales Process. Engagement tools are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some platforms work best for certain processes, while others may not. You need to understand how your sales funnel works before you can insert a new tool into it. 
• Get Feedback From Your Team. Your sales reps know where they are falling short and which tools will help them the most. Don’t assume that something will work. Ask your team which features they value and decide from there. 
• Utilize Free Trials. Fortunately, most sales engagement tools allow you to try them before you buy. Take advantage of these trials to see how well they integrate with your current process. If a tool is too clunky or complicated, you can cross it off the list. 

Contact Selling Revolution Today

Finding the right sales engagement platform is one thing; knowing how to use it effectively is another. Selling Revolution understands your business’s challenges, and we know how to help you build a better sales team. Schedule a 20-minute introductory call with us today to see how we can supercharge your sales engagement strategy.