Sales is often the lifeblood of a business. From the top on down, if your sales department isn’t delivering what you need, the rest of your company will suffer. But as more companies downsize they are finding it harder and harder to find the right mix of sales staff and technology to make the grade.

Many sales staff are finding they are stretched to the limit and unable to continue to give the high-quality support that keeps customers happy. You may discover they get behind in generating leads, forget to follow up with a prospect or simply don’t make those all-important touch base calls to current clients. When push comes to shove something has to give and it is usually the person.

But there are some great tools out there that can help your sales staff meet their goals, reach out to their clients and increase their organization and efficiency. Simple tools that help them collaborate such as the all popular Slack can make a huge difference for your sales team. Here are a few others to consider when looking at how technology can make your sales staff the experts they want to become.

Dynamics from Microsoft

You really can’t beat Microsoft for value and quality when it comes to software and this product is a good example of it. With the Dynamics 365 Sales Application they can collaborate, check their updates, complete customer reports and even create easy to use follow-up processes within the app. When you find that your team is becoming scattered and that teamwork is getting harder to do as everyone is always on the road, this is the app to turn to for help.

LinkedIn

Yes, you would be surprised how many business folks don’t think of this as an organizational tool, let alone one that is perfect for networking for leads. While most of us are aware of it and probably have our profile on it, do you know that it hosts a multitude of tools on the site?

Everything from using the networking groups for creating leads to connecting with prospects to help answer questions or even offer solutions to current clients. The key here is to learn to use the site to its fullest capacity.

Scannable

Have you ever been at a business luncheon and then looked at the business cards you acquired after? While there may be a few that stayed in your mind, chances are most of them draw a blank. This handy little piece of software allows you to scan cards and notes, so you recall just why you wanted that connection. Made by the same folks that gave us Evernote, so you know it will be simple to use.

Attach

Every salesperson has a collection of great slides, PowerPoints and PDFs that are part and parcel of their sales presentation. But as you know quite well, not every piece is right for each presentation. Keeping track of them can be tricky, unless you have this handy little tool. It documents where that piece is now, where it has been and even who has seen it. Perfect for that sales superstar that is always on the go.