Assess your sales software [tips from experts]

“It’s not just about reports and dashboards anymore,” Aragon Research CEO Jim Lundy told a crowd of sales leaders during a panel at Dreamforce.

He’s right. The modern sales software stack is so much more than that. We have software for sales enablement, activity management, engagement and even “account-based everything.”

But too much technology can suck up a big chunk of your budget. And you’re probably looking to slim down your spending in the new year.

Luckily, Jim’s Dreamforce panel also featured great advice for evaluating sales software from these experts:

• Jim Benton, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, ClearSlide (@jim_benton)
• Dustin Grosse, CEO, ClearSlide (@Dustin_Grosse)
• Joseph Dressler, SVP of Advertising Sales, LiveIntent (@therealJLD)
• Ken Jisser, Member, Board of Directors, AA-ISP (@KenJisser)
• Valerie Williamson, SVP, Global Head of Technology, The Economist (@Valtoid)

Watch the full broadcast on Salesforce Live, or check out our highlights below to gauge what you need in your sales software stack for 2017.

8 quotes on evaluating your sales software

1. “CRM is a system of record, and you have to use that. But it doesn’t solve the selling problem … I think there’s been a lot of overhype and overpromising with the system of record, because it’s not solving the selling problem.” – Jim Lundy, CEO, Aragon Research
2. “Activity management is extremely important for managing sellers: Are they managing their time effectively? And are they spending their time in meaningful ways.”  – Ken Jisser, Co-founder, Replystream
3. “I think we all talk about point solutions being one click away. A seller can go out on the road and quickly take out their cell phone and press this one button and everything’s recorded the right way. I think … as sales leaders, you’ve customized every one of those solutions just a little bit, which means it’s no longer one click away. So I think the hype of ‘It’s so easy to use. It’s so simple that even people who don’t understand technology can get all this stuff done really easily’ becomes not as true.” – Joseph Dressler, SVP of Sales, LiveIntent
4. “Sales is a team sport, and we’re still focused on the individual, lone-wolf side. As we let people use individual tools, it’s not really fostering the team sport. So the more we’re on a single platform, and we know what our reps are doing and they can learn from each other … I think we’re going to see a lot more focus on a consistent way to all go to market together.” – Jim Benton, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, ClearSlide
5. “Younger generations (millennials) … are used to working together in teams, getting lots of support, demanding lots of support. And if you don’t have a toolset that provides that, you’re not going to be able to appeal to those guys.” – Dustin Grosse, CEO, ClearSlide
6. “A big challenge for sales teams today is that they are now becoming the marketing organization. They’re an extension of that, and so you need to be able to arm them with the stuff out there that’s going to allow them to do what they’re hired to do, which is sell. But give them the tools and the content that allows them to tell that message and do their job to the best of their ability.” – Valerie Williamson, SVP, Global Head of Technology, The Economist
7. “Salesforce is the system of record. So when you’re evaluating these tools, make sure how they record the data in your system of record is done in the way that you need it to, so that you can truly measure its impact and its performance and whether it’s helping you. Not all these tools do integration in the same way and record data in the same way, so you want to make sure the sales engagement platform you decide on fits in line with your current processes and how data is recorded.” – Ken Jisser, Co-founder, Replystream 
8. “Tools are only effective if your sellers can use it. So ease of use has to be there. And you have to know your sales team and how to operate — from an enterprise sales team, which is really advanced, to a junior inside sales team that might be doing the same thing over and over again.” – Joseph Dressler, SVP of Sales, LiveIntent

Looking for more expert advice on sales software? Check out these tips from top influencers: