Automation tools for Salesforce free up sellers’ time by eliminating mundane tasks. When they don’t have to engage in prospect data entry, contact management, task management, or other administrative duties, sales reps are able to focus their attention on the customer and on deal conversion.
While there are native automation tools in Salesforce, including its add-ons like Sales Cloud and Einstein, in this article we’re going to talk about auxiliary softwares that complement the CRM tool’s existing functions and take them to new levels.
What are salesforce automation tools?
Salesforce automation software integrates with customer relationship management (CRM) software to help businesses streamline sales processes and increase revenue.
In addition to automating tasks, effective Salesforce automation tools also offer sales forecasting, pipeline management, reporting, team collaboration, and other functionalities that improve sales team productivity.
To read deeper into the benefits of sales automation, check out Revenue Grid’s complete guide here.
Features of sales automation tools
There are key features that all sales force tools for automation should have.
- Contact management: A complete dashboard of contact information, profiles, interactions, and other relevant data complete with additional insights and automatic data capture.
- Lead management: Presents reps with the right lead info at the right time, automatically scores and routes leads to the right people and captures and fills in relevant info about the leads.
- Opportunity management: Track, score, and forecast sales opportunities with this vital automated function that puts sales data to work; the right tools will even auto-assign tasks and trigger action alerts.
- Reporting & Analysis: Every automation tool needs a good dashboard with customizable reports so that sales teams can view real-time insights on performance and competitors or get the big picture at a glance.
Software will have additional features to help other sales-adjacent departments, such as marketing and content automation.
Each automation tool is unique, so let’s delve right in and see what the top tools have to offer.
Revenue Grid
Revenue Grid integrates smoothly with Salesforce while offering an array of features suited to any sales challenge as well as AI-based Revenue Intelligence.
Test Revenue Grid Salesforce automation tool
Features
- Revenue Grid is a Salesforce email automation tool that auto-captures data from calendars and emails and puts it into Salesforce CRM.
- AI-guided selling and deal guidance trigger the next-best actions for sellers based on proven sales activities.
- Allows for third-party data storage, enabling more security and customizable syncing.
- Team analytics track sales team performance and help leaders coach reps.
- A customizable pipeline visibility dashboard gives real-time insights into deals to track shifts and spot any risks before they go south.
Pros
This all-encompassing software has all key base automated selling features plus a lot of extras and seamless integration with Salesforce.
Cons
With how many functions the productivity tool offers, there is a definite learning curve – but RG has a customer service team waiting to answer any questions.
Price
Define which features your team needs then request a quote here.
Hubspot
Hubspot is another CRM integration tool that is particularly popular with marketing teams due to its additional marketing features.
Features
- Sales management software gets new hires up to speed and helps establish effective sales playbooks.
- The reporting feature also has a custom report builder and pipeline analytics.
- Marketing Hub (free and paid versions) helps with ad management, building forms, and landing pages, email marketing, and inbound marketing strategies.
- Offers additional hubs for content management, customer service, and operations.
Pros
Users say it has an intuitive interface that is easy to learn.
Cons
Like Salesforce add-ons, Hubspot’s different hubs are separate and can become costly when added up with their full features.
Price
Hubspot offers a basic CRM tool for free but to receive full use of the features additional hubs are for purchase.
Marketing Hub paid versions start at an additional 45$, $800, or $3200 USD per month per user. Sales Hub has versions for $45, $450, and $1200 USD per user per month.
Salesforce CRM
You can’t say you’ve fully covered Salesforce automation tools without touching on their namesake!
Features
- Salesforce is a well-known and trusted brand that integrates with most other sales programs
- Sales Cloud automated tool features lead, contact, opportunity, and territory management as well as processes automation.
- Einstein add-on uses AI for predictive insights.
Pros
Most teams are already at least somewhat familiar with how to use Salesforce CRM.
Cons
Salesforce CRM is, well, just customer relationship management – the automation part comes with additional services.
Price
Companies can choose the Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited formats which cost $25, $75, $150, and $300 per user per month, respectively. Einstein AI is another $50 USD per month per person.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales CRM and pipeline management software.
Features
- Visual and customizable sales CRM including automation, insights, and reporting.
- Connects to 250+ services and tools with one-click integration.
- Coming soon: Email marketing campaigns with customizable email templates and contact filtering.
Pros
The technology is simple to learn and not an expensive option.
Cons
Pipedrive doesn’t have as many features as the above products.
Price
Pipedrive comes at four price points: Essential for $12.50 USD per user per month, Advanced for $24.90, Professional for $49.90, and Enterprise for $74.90.
Microsoft Dynamics 365
That’s right – even Microsoft has gotten in on the sales automation hype.
Features
- Sales insights and Relationship Insights analyze a large amount of CRM data to emphasize opportunities.
- Run marketing campaigns via email marketing, web content, and events.
- Streamline customer service with multi-channel service points and AI-powered bots.
- Project Service Automation with robust project planning capabilities and dashboards.
Pros
Dynamics 365 boasts ideal integration with other Microsoft platforms like Office 365 and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Cons
It has a high price tag for startups or small businesses.
Price
Dynamics 365 is $210/month per user; other features are additional. The Customer Service plan is $115 and the Project Service Automation plan is another $95 per user per month.
Zendesk Sell
Our final top pick is by Zendesk, a company known for both its customer service software and sales CRM.
Features
- Email integration with templates, notifications, and automated tracking.
- Power dialer with custom dial list that automatically cycles based on customers and leads.
- Workflow automation with sales triggers to automate tasks specific to each rep.
- Pipeline data visualization with advanced statistical analysis and forecasting.
Pros
Users appreciate the customizability and affordability.
Cons
There are more advanced reporting options out there.
Price
Zendesk has four price points: Team version is just $19/month per user; Professional is $49; Enterprise is $99; and Elite is $199 per user.
Which is right for your team?
No one else can tell you which software is better for your Salesforce workflow automation. Evaluate your needs and which automation features would be most beneficial for your organization; then, start with a demo and see how it goes.
