A man wearing a headset sits in front of a laptop.
Digital software can help you with many aspects of sales prospecting, from data gathering to cold-calling. — Getty Images/fizkes

If your business relies heavily on sales and cold outreach, then the right prospecting tool can be a lifesaver. The following five tools will save you time and allow you to approach new leads with confidence.

[Read more: How to Motivate Your Sales Team]

Apollo.io

Everyone wants to make a good first impression, and Apollo.io makes that possible. The software helps you find leads and gain a wealth of data so you can approach potential customers in the right way.

The prospect searcher helps you identify companies that fit your ideal client, and you can use the database to verify email addresses and phone numbers. The database contains over 200 million contacts and is updated every three months, so you don’t have to worry about receiving outdated information.

Most importantly, you’ll receive firmographic data about all of your prospects. This includes details like VC funding, the total number of employees, the companies’ revenue and the types of technology they use. That way, you can approach each client from an informed perspective.

Mention

Once you identify new leads, it can take a while before that person is ready to become a customer. This is especially true for B2B companies, where the sales cycle is much longer. That’s where using a social media and web-monitoring tool like Mention can help.

Mention makes it easy to monitor what’s going on with your prospects. You can keep track of new press releases and mentions in forums and blog posts, and uncover trends in your leads' social media updates.

Plus, you can use Mention to draft, schedule and publish social media posts of your own. That way, you continue to build relationships with your audience and move potential customers through the sales cycle.

[Read more: Top B2B Sales Tools for Remote Companies]

Many sales reps spend a lot of time just trying to get people on the phone.

Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder helps you discover new leads by tracking your current website visitors. This is a great way to find warm prospects that are already familiar with your company.

To get started, you simply install Leadfeeder’s tracking software and connect it to your Google Analytics account. From there, you’ll be able to see what pages your website visitors are viewing. This gives you insight into the behavior of your target accounts so you can qualify them in your CRM.

Even if most of your website visitors never fill out an interest form or sign up for your email list, you can still use Leadfeeder to find prospects. As long as the prospect uses a company IP address, Leadfeeder can track their information while remaining GDPR-compliant. Once you have the contact information, you can begin to identify who the decision-makers are at that company. This will help you start to identify an outreach plan for your prospects.

ConnectAndSell

If you rely heavily on cold-calling as a sales strategy, then you’ll want to check out ConnectAndSell. This technology ensures sales reps 10 times the number of live conversations they have every day.

Many sales reps spend a lot of time just trying to get people on the phone. According to ConnectAndSell’s website, 41% of calls require at least two additional layers of navigation. So instead of selling, you’re spending a good chunk of your time just trying to find the right person to talk to.

ConnectAndSell uses a network of highly trained agents to begin the call on your behalf. Once the prospect gets on the phone, the call is automatically rerouted to you, and you’ll receive powerful analytics about every call to guide your decision-making process.

Datanyze

Datanyze helps you gather more data about your prospects before you reach out to them. The company uses a variety of sources to pull together information about your leads so you can adjust your outreach accordingly.

You can use Datanyze to identify new target accounts, find their contact information and gather important insights about each company. From there, you can export your new contacts and save them in your CRM.

Datanyze will also alert you to real-time buying signals from all of your prospects. That way, when a prospect is ready to invest in a solution like the one you offer, you’ll be ready to act.

[Read more: How to Move From In-Person to Online Sales]

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

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