Today’s sales reps have access to more data than ever. With a few clicks, you can pull financial and operational data from companies around the world, making it easy to find leads. However, without proper sales tools, teams struggle to turn this information into actionable insights and lucrative deals.
Sales intelligence solutions are changing the game. These platforms go beyond compiling data by providing helpful context and insights for sales reps to use in their day-to-day workflows. They help reps build targeted outreach strategies that are more likely to drive revenue.
In this article, we’ll break down how these sales intelligence tools work and explore some of the top platforms currently on the market.
What Is Sales Intelligence, and Why Is It Essential For Your Business?
Sales intelligence is the practice of collecting and analyzing data about your sales prospects and target markets. Sales teams use this information to tailor messaging and increase their chances of closing a deal.
A sales intelligence platform is a digital tool that compiles data and identifies helpful insights. These platforms identify market trends, notify you of relevant buyer signals, and find contact information for key decision makers.
Today’s B2B sales teams don’t always have time to conduct manual research. Sales intelligence software uses AI technology to monitor the market automatically. This way, sales professionals stay informed, without getting bogged down by manual work.
8 Types of Sales Intelligence Software
B2B sales intelligence tools gather different categories of data to support sales strategies. Here are eight of the most common types of sales data.
Company data: To qualify a lead, you need basic information about their organization, such as their industry, annual revenue, and operating locations. Company data helps you determine whether a lead is viable.
Contact data: To get in touch with leads, you’ll need accurate, updated contact information. Many sales intelligence platforms help you find phone numbers, email addresses, and LinkedIn profiles for key decision makers.
Technographic data: This is information about the types of technology a company uses. Sales intelligence tools can provide information about a company’s software tech stack and their hardware infrastructure. This information helps you determine whether a lead’s existing technology is compatible with your products.
Event triggers: These are company-specific events that indicate a prospect might be ready to buy. Common sales event triggers include new hires, a new round of VC funding, and new product launches.
Intent data: Many sales intelligence tools search for specific actions that indicate buyer intent. For example, if a prospect makes a search for your product type or visits your website, that’s a sign they’re thinking about buying soon — making it the perfect time to reach out.
Behavioral engagement data: This data shows you how and when prospects are engaging with online content, whether that’s specific website pages, social media content, or lead magnets. Behavioral data helps both sales and marketing teams understand what messaging works best for their target audience.
Deal intelligence: This data provides information about a lead’s business relationships. This could include current and past vendor agreements, investments, and business partners.
Market data: In addition to company-specific information, many sales intelligence tools also provide details about broader industry trends. This data provides essential context to inform your sales strategy.
What Are the Best Sales Intelligence Tools? Top Picks and How to Choose
Here are the top platforms that provide actionable insight and help B2B sales teams improve lead scoring and close deals effectively.
Rox
Rox uses AI agents to accelerate the sales cycle. The platform integrates with your existing tech stack to centralize and enrich your account data with helpful insights.
Rox also helps with lead generation by monitoring the web for relevant buyer signals and notifying you of opportunities in real time. When you’re ready to connect with leads, Rox’s AI agents help you draft personalized outreach and follow-up messages.
AI agents learn about your business model and your goals, so you get intelligence that’s relevant to your operations. As sales reps identify leads and prepare for meetings, Rox provides contextual information for stronger, more effective pitches.
Rox offers a free Starter plan, as well as a $50/month Core plan. Enterprise-level organizations can contact Rox for custom pricing. Try Rox today for automated intelligence that leads to sales success.
UserGems
UserGems is a sales intelligence tool that uses AI to manage outbound leads. It helps you fill your sales pipeline with contact management, lead scoring, and automated messaging. The platform also helps you track buyer signals for tailored, timely outreach. It’s effective for lead sourcing, but doesn’t offer support for the rest of the sales cycle.
Dealfront
Dealfront helps you source leads by identifying organizations that match your ideal customer profile. The platform also helps track specific buying signals and launch activation campaigns using targeted social media and display ads.
Dealfront is a powerful platform for lead qualification and account-based marketing. Plus, it offers robust CRM integration. However, it’s complex, with a strong learning curve, and data quality can vary between countries.
HubSpot Sales Hub
Sales Hub is a comprehensive sales tool that integrates with the broader HubSpot system, making it convenient for existing users. Sales Hub uses AI to help you find and research leads, send automated email sequences, and prepare for meetings. It’s helpful for tracking your entire sales cycle, but the intelligence provided isn’t as comprehensive as some other platforms.
Sales Hub pricing starts at $90/month/seat for the Professional plan, scaling up to $150/month/seat for the Enterprise plan.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s built-in intelligence platform. It helps you filter LinkedIn’s database to find leads, learn more about their operations, and send outreach messages at the right time.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator integrates with a platform that many sales reps already use. However, it takes time to configure, and automation features are limited compared to other platforms. Pricing starts at $119.99/month for Sales Navigator Core and $159.99/month for Sales Navigator Advanced.
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is an AI-powered sales intelligence platform that sources leads and tracks buying signals. It also helps you build sales automation workflows to engage the right contacts. It’s a comprehensive tool with features for sales, marketing, and even hiring teams. However, ZoomInfo can be expensive for small organizations, with pricing only available upon request.
Apollo.io
Apollo.io is a sales automation and intelligence tool that helps you quickly find qualified leads. This platform excels in providing updated contact information and company details.
Apollo also uses data enrichment to keep your CRM accurate, as well as inbound lead intelligence and management features.
Apollo.io is helpful for growing sales teams, but the interface can feel cluttered or overwhelming for new users. It offers a free platform, as well as paid plans ranging from $49 to $119/user/month.
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Salesforce Sales Cloud helps teams track the entire sales cycle from start to finish. It uses AI to create detailed customer profiles for each lead, so you can prioritize your outreach efforts effectively. Since Sales Cloud integrates with Salesforce’s CRM, you can continue to track your progress as you close deals, and even find upsell opportunities for existing clients.
Salesforce Sales Cloud is effective for managing large volumes of data, but software configuration and training can be complex and time-consuming. Pricing ranges from $25 to $175/user/month.
Demandbase
Demandbase is an account-based marketing and sales platform that uses automated sales intelligence to help you land high-volume accounts. It automates account research using news and online engagement, helping you identify best-fit prospects and launch tailored marketing and advertising efforts.
Demandbase is helpful for sourcing leads at scale and automating outreach campaigns. However, the interface can be slow and complex, and occasionally sources contact details that are outdated or redundant.
Features To Look for in Sales Intelligence Software
When comparing sales intelligence software programs, focus on features that support both sales and marketing teams. The following can help teams build stronger sales strategies and close deals faster:
AI-driven actionable insights
Real-time prospect and account research
Conversation intelligence and analysis
Comprehensive, updated contact data
Personalized outreach capabilities
Automatic generation of contextual emails
Common Challenges in Implementing a Sales Intelligence Solution and How To Mitigate Them
If you’ve never used a sales intelligence platform before, implementing one could come with a few challenges. Here are the most common issues and how to avoid them.
Too Many Accounts, Too Little Time
If you’re handling a large volume of accounts, you may not have time to read through intelligence updates for each one. To mitigate this, look for a B2B sales intelligence software that uses AI to prioritize notifications based on your business goals and ideal customer profile. This way, you can focus on the prospects that are most likely to turn into sales.
Research Balance
Finding the right balance of company data can be tricky. Superficial information alone about company size and industry won’t cut it, but excessive granular details are too much to sort through every day. Look for an intelligence platform that allows you to tailor automated research based on your preferences.
Overlooking Sales Intelligence During Key Sales Stages
When you’re not used to working with sales intelligence, it can be tricky to know how to incorporate it into your operations. Teams may resist new automation workflows. To mitigate this, build defined workflows that incorporate sales intelligence early in the lead qualification and outreach processes. Also invest in training to highlight how actionable insights improve outreach and help close deals.
Transform Your Sales Process With Rox
Sales intelligence software helps you find leads that align with your ideal customer profile, plus it provides valuable insights to help you close deals faster.
Rox’s AI agents support your sales process with tailored intelligence and automated outreach strategies. The platform monitors industry activity to catch key buying signals in real-time, then helps you build a tailored sales strategy to convert your prospects. On top of that, it integrates data from your CRM and other legacy SaaS platforms, creating a centralized platform for your entire revenue engine.
Try Rox today for automated sales intelligence that helps you turn leads into long-term customers.
