3 Tools that improved my productivity in the pandemic

Hi Sellers,

Tobi here. I know the past year was tough. We had to worry about a global pandemic and then our jobs without the most critical element of it - Travel. In this week's newsletter, I'm going to share with you 3 tools I used to connect with my buyers and improve my sales productivity.

But first, in the beginning...

Like you I was very frustrated, how was I suppose to be effective at my new role (changed jobs 2x in 2020, I'll tell you all about it in another post) without being able to visit customers. I was stuck, unmotivated and confused on how to deal with the current reality. I had never sold in a pandemic and I knew my bosses, although understanding weren't going to take poor performance lightly. I needed to figure out a way to get out of this funk.. I needed some kind of structure.

So I did what every good account manager should, picked up the phone, started talking to customers again. I wasn't going to let the pandemic win, how could I? I had to figure out a way to perform in this new normal.

These tools helped me create structure around my day & stay connected with my accounts. They added intelligence to my sales efforts and positioned me as a thought leader to my buyers - earning their respect and most importantly time.

Showpad

is a sales enablement platform I trained on when I started in my new role. It gives sellers and marketers alike the tools to personalize buyer interactions, to effectively engage & deliver increased value with each sales conversation.

It integrates with the existing CRM and CMS (content management system) to allow sellers to better prepare, share and engage buyers with rich marketing content.

It also has an insight tool that allows for tracking customer engagement with the content. The insights create a feedback loop that form the basis of my next customer interaction, while helping marketers determine what types of content that hit the best with buyers.

Showpad | Sales Enablement and Marketing Platform Leader

Figma

During the pandemic, I took on social media coordinator role for a buddys skin care startup. Check it out here It completely changed my whole perspective about design. I've used it to do just about everything, design logos (the B2BSG logo was designed with Figma), design content - IG Posts, Flyers, Brochures or pretty much anything custom. It has an easy to use UI and with a few hrs of YouTube tutorials, was able to get set-up & start designing.

I've shared some good Figma content creators on YouTube that would help you get started.

Figma in 40 Minutes

Vimeo

This was recommended to me by a friend (see what I did here). Vimeo allows you screen record sales presentations & proposals to share with buyers. This is a high engagement tool that gives buyers the feeling of being in the room with me.

I typically walk through my proposals, highlight relevant technical requirements, tighten up the scope and confirm payment terms. This minimizes buyer confusion and can be shared with other internal project stakeholders. With limited business travel, this is a great way to engage buyers and move the sale forward.

Vimeo Record | Free Screen & Webcam Recorder

These tools not only improved my productivity, I was able to double my quota and have started building funnel towards next year. I honestly don't see how I can sell without these tools moving forward.

I implore you to try them and comment on your experience.

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