What are the best sales apps for salespeople? All it takes is a quick search of the app store to see there certainly is no shortage of apps to choose from. Sorting the best from the rest, however, can be as difficult as herding ping pong balls.
Since technology can change on a moments notice, what are the best apps for salespeople today probably won’t be the best apps tomorrow, making any list dated by the time I finish typing it. Also, there may be some industry specific apps that may be “must haves” in your field that I am not aware of.
As such, I thought it best to list the types of apps all sales people need and what criteria to consider when evaluating them. More specifically, here are the 5 apps every sales rep must have to be successful in sales:
Best Apps for Salespeople #1 – Calendar
The technology most sales people use every day is an electronic calendar. If you access your calendar using different electronics like your smart phone, your tablet and your laptop, it’s important that your calendar automatically syncs across all your devices just like your email app does. That way no matter how you view it, you know your calendar is always the most update version.
Your calendar app should be able to show a whole week on one view. This allows for better time management planning, including how to minimize travel time and maximize sales time. For more details on how to do this, check out How Sales Reps Should Organize Their Time from the B2B Sales Connections Free Download Centre.
Some calendar apps also allow you to enter reoccurring appointments like weekly sales meetings. Enter the event once and it populates all the applicable dates in the future. This is a huge time saver.
Also, some calendar apps allow you to manage your reminders and reoccurring to-dos on the appropriate day in your calendar, as opposed to a list in a separate app. This way, you can see everything you have to do in addition to everywhere you have to be on a given day. It is very handy to have tasks like “Call Prospect A” or “Pick Up Dry Cleaning” show all on the day you need to complete them. With this feature, you even use your calendar as your Follow Up File, telling you whom to contact on what date. When everything that requires your time is all in one place with such a feature, it makes it easier for you to plan and manage your time.
Lastly, if you have someone like a sales assistant who books business or personal appointments for you, your calendar app should be able to be shared so they can do so from their own devices. When I was going through cancer treatment a few years back, this was a critical feature for me and my family to manage all my medical appointments.
Let Your Prospects Book Their Own Appointments!
Taking this a step further, with the right online scheduler add on, you can even have clients and prospects book appointments right into your calendar at a mutually convenient time without ever having to contact you first. This is a huge time saver and virtually eliminates that dreaded “are you available on such and such day” game of email tag. Granted, online booking apps like simplybook.me are technically separate apps, however, when they interact automatically with your electronic calendar as they should, it’s really all about managing your time.
For all the reasons mentioned above, I use Google Calendar, along with Calendly as my online scheduler. They’re also free!
Best Apps for Salespeople #2 – Expense Tracker
Every sales rep needs to accurately track and submit their expenses; if not for your company’s accounting department, then for sure for your accountant who does your year end taxes. If you don’t want to pull out a calculator and total all your receipts, there are many apps available to help you do that. A couple to check out are Smart Receipts and Expensify.
The app you choose is largely a matter of personal preference and budget, however, in my opinion, the best ones are those that allow you to take a picture of the receipt with your smart phone and categorize it in the user definable categories that match your physical receipt file folder system. This way, the app totals will balance to your paper receipts to the penny, which is a huge time saver in the long run, especially if you are ever audited.
Be Sure to Keep Your Physical Receipts Too!
If you’re like most business owners, entrepreneurs or salespeople, you probably have a shoebox full of gas, parking and restaurant receipts. Even if you are using an expense tracker app, you still should file the physical receipts, for no other reason in case you are ever audited.
I am by no means an accountant, but here is a filing system that was recommended to me to organize paper receipts for sales representatives. Create a file folder for each of these categories: Automobile (gas, parking, washes, insurance etc.), Charitable Donations, Home Improvements (if you claim part of your home as an expense), Internet Service Charges, Meals, Medical, Office Supplies, Other, Postage, Telephone/Cellular and Utilities.
Put your receipts in the appropriate file at the end of each day. For your mileage log, just enter your car’s odometer reading in your smart phone calendar at the start and end of each work day. Simple, quick, and easy. More importantly, when it comes time to submit your taxes and file your receipts at the end of the year, all the sorting is done!
Best Apps for Salespeople #3 – Customer Relationship Manager (CRM)
A properly set up CRM program, whether it be cloud based or set up locally in your office, is one of the best things anyone in sales can do to have the biggest impact on their results. The first year I automated my CRM, my sales increased 20%!
While choosing a CRM app is largely a function of preference and budget, whatever program you choose should have the ability to be customizable to suit you, your industry and your customers’ buying cycle. The ability to add user-defined fields, customize drop down lists, make certain fields mandatory for data entry, and search the database across multiple fields are all important features to ensure you app is quick and easy for you to manage it.
Most importantly, above all else, your CRM app should have the ability to sort the database according to you next sales contact date. This is critical. You may have a huge database of 20,000 contacts, but unless you know who is most likely to buy and therefore who you are supposed to contact today, all you really have is a glorified phone book!
If you collect a lot of business cards from clients and prospects, a great add on to your CRM is a business card scanner app like Camcard. This allows you to take a picture of someone’s business card and then the app records all the data right into the contact fields. Not only does this create a contact database right on your smart phone which can be handy when you are on the road, but you can also upload the files directly into your CRM. This is a huge time saver over having to manually type contacts into your database.
I go into great detail on how to evaluate and set up your CRM in our free white paper, How to Design a CRM Program available for instant download from the B2B Sales Connections Free Download Centre.
Best Apps for Salespeople #4 – Video Chat
More and more salespeople are selling to customers who are located out of town these days. This is especially true since travel restrictions were put in place following the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020. The best app for these reps is a video chat or conference and screen sharing app like Skype, Zoom, or Join Me.
We all know that face to face sales calls are more effective than just selling over the phone. Video chats allow you to do that without the time and expense of business travel. They really make it seem like you are in the same office as the person you are talking to, even though you really are several time zones apart.
Before you turn your video on, however, be sure you are dressed appropriately as if you were actually sitting face to face you’re your customer. Also, make sure your background that is within the camera angle looks clean and professional as well.
Ensure that your video chat app has the ability to quickly and easily share your computer screen. This way, you can present slide decks and proposals in exactly the same way as if you were in your prospect’s office. Also, if you sell to groups or if you need to meet with several people at the same time, your video chat program should also be able to host webinars or online group meetings.
Best Apps for Salespeople #5 – Cloud File Storage
Do you travel? Ever need to access your files from different locations using different devices? Do you collaborate on various work projects and files with colleagues? Then you would find it very useful to use a cloud file storage app.
The first consideration for the best cloud storage app is that you can view the thumbnails of all your files on every device without have to download them. This is especially important when your devices all have different hard drive storage limits. You can still find any file you need when you need it, it just doesn’t take up storage space unless you download it.
Secondly, you should be able to work on files offline, without internet access. Granted, almost every road side gas station seems to have WIFI these days, however on the one time that you are working on that important presentation for your biggest customer is when you will be in a dead zone.
Lastly, as with most of the apps discussed, your cloud file storage should sync your files across all your devices. If you collaborate with colleagues, it should also sync files across all users. That way, you are always on the same page whether updating the file in your office or checking last minute details on your smart phone or laptop at the airport.
Microsoft’s Office 365 is a cloud based system that does this, as is Google’s GSuite. Both include a word processing app, presentation slide creator, a spreadsheet app, among others.
The Bottom Line
As sales professionals, we all use technology in one way or another, every day. When used properly, the right apps can be the greatest tools in helping us achieve success. And if they help us to sell more and succeed, then those are the best apps for salespeople!
Having said that, apps are just tools. They won’t replace you and they won’t sell for you. No matter which ones you use, you best tools are your sales skills that help your customers get to where they want to go. Remember as Spencer Johnson & Larry Wilson once said, “I have more fun and enjoy more financial success when I stop trying to get what I want and start helping other people get what they want.”
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
Schedule a free sales coaching strategy session with Susan here.
Do you have a question about sales? You’re not alone. Most salespeople have questions like this on how they can sell more. For the right answers, check out my book, Ask the Sales Coach-Practical Answers to the Questions Sales People Ask Most.
