Top 5 Powerful Apps for Salespeople

Rob  00:09

All right, welcome back, everybody. This is The Slow Pitch, we are going to talk today about the top five apps for salespeople. Now, let me start this out with saying, you know, anybody can just put together a list of apps and say there’s a top five and blah, blah, blah. But these are my top five. And here’s what I mean by that. These are the top five apps that I use, there’s really no particular order of that, which ones are the number one, which ones number two, I will tell you when I get going here, which ones I use the most frequently. But these are the ones that I use all the time to manage my sales process that are outside the normal, everyday use stuff. For example, everyday you stuff to me is things like Microsoft Outlook or Google Gmail, if you’re going to use that setup, whatever your email program is, I wouldn’t count that as an a top five app, right? Well, I won’t count Google Calendar, which I use all the time I use every day, every minute of the day almost. It drives my day, right? I’m not going to use something like that, or I talk about something like that. And another one that I wouldn’t bring it up or put into this mix of apps is like a CRM system. Everybody has their own preference. Sometimes the the company has picked one out for you, you have no choice in the matter. You know, all that being said, those are the things that are already in place, I’m assuming for anybody who’s in sales, or who’s trying to set up sales. That being said, what I’m looking at are things that will make my life easier as a salesperson. And that’s why this is my top five apps for salespeople.

V/O  01:36

This is The Slow Pitch Podcast.

Rob  01:40

So one of the first apps that came to mind when I started put this list together was the app Calendly, you probably have seen Calendly. But I feel like Calendly didn’t exist almost two years ago. Like that’s maybe it did, it probably did, it’s probably been around for a long time. That being said, let’s put it this way, the Calendly. Here’s why I like it, you can create templates of suggestions or slots. So for example, in my Calendly program, now, again, I pay for this particular app, because it is that good to me, it’s worth that a few dollars at a cost, there’s a free version, you can use it. That being said, I have one option for people to click a link, if I decide to share this link with somebody, it’s a it’s gonna be a 30 minute phone call. And I have very specific time slots that I’m allowing them to choose on my calendar. That’s how this works. Calendly. If you haven’t heard of it, basically what it does is it will take your calendar, integrate with your calendar typically do Google Calendar. And it’ll say, Okay, here’s where your time slots that are available and only show people those available slots. And that’s it, it doesn’t tell you tell them anything about what’s going on in your calendar, they can’t see it, they only see what time is available for them. It doesn’t mean there’s something has to be scheduled there. They just this is what’s available based on what you’ve told it that they can allow to schedule. So I’ve set up one for phone call. One, that’s a 30 minute phone call, it only will happen between 10am and three o’clock, on certain days of the week, let’s say then there’s another one where it’s somebody who wants to be a guest on the show. Let’s take some time. And let’s have a conversation about what you’re going to bring to the show and that kind of thing. And so we might have a four to 6pm slot for something like that. I might have a client review meeting, which is one of those meetings where I go through and do a review and say how do we do bla bla bla bla bla, I allow them to pick up to 45 minutes time, Monday through Friday, based on my availability; there might be a 15 minute quick call. This is one of those things where I know we’ve got some information to go through somebody that I need to talk to. And we just schedule it based on my availability, they select the time that’s available that’s available on my calendar, that’s also good for them. Right? If I have to have a 45 minute exploration conversation, a very early conversation before the sale process even starts. Are we even a good fit? That’s a conversation starter. That’s one of those meetings that can only happen between this time and this time on certain days. What if I want to say Alright, we’ve gone through the steps. Now I want to review the estimate with you to make sure that we have everything correct on the estimate. That’s going to be on any day of the week, but it’s only going to be for 15 minutes. It but very specifically says in there. It’s an estimate review meeting and at the end of the meeting, we expect to have some sort of answers. Whether it is a no-go we’re not going to work together, or yes, we are going to work together. It’s very clearly stated in there that says this is what’s going to be expected in this meeting. And of course when we get to the meeting, I will actually say those words or remind them that’s what the that’s what the meeting is all about. So that’s why I like Calendly it just really allows the everything to happen kind of automatically. And then they also if they have to move things they can easily cancel and move things I love that program.

Rob  04:50

The next one on my list is ToDoist. ToDoist is the productivity app that basically is a task tracker right here’s task I need to do put on my list, put it on my list, put it on my list. It’s not just a productivity, task master kind of an app. Here’s why I like it. It’s very focused, there’s very little clutter on that page. And it’s an app on your phone as well. And so is Calednly… the level of satisfaction that takes I’m just clicking off, I did this job is another thing that adds to the value of this because here I am, I’m at this got done. Now I can check it is done and completed. And I can track how many did in a day, I have, I have a goal of completing five tasks every day, because I’ve learned that people can only do about six things, really six good things in any one given day. So I put myself at five, because I know there’s always one other thing that always pops up that I got to get done today. And so that’s why I have that list of minimum of five a day that I have to complete. That’s the goal, and then certain number every week that I need to get done in the week. And I actually have that set at 30. That said, I can also prioritize my tasks. So I can say this is a really important task. Or I can make this a very low important task. Meaning if I get to it, I get to it. But if I don’t, I don’t. That’s that’s kind of one of those situations. And then I can also sort things and say, these are my top priorities. These are the ones that are urgent, got to get done. And they’re they’re due in the next 24 hours. So now I can see kind of stuff that’s coming up for tomorrow as well as today. But prioritize within that. My here’s number one priority stuff. Number two set priority stuff as well. The other thing to look at is with ToDoist is you can set up buckets, which I call buckets, they’re actually called projects on the app itself. So if you set up buckets of things to do, that are related to tasks in particular projects in particular. So for example, I have a bucket or whatever you want to call it for The Slow Pitch, these are tasks that I need to do for the podcast. And then I have sales tasks. And I have this other task list. That’s for my stuff at home. And so all these different lists that I know that I can track. And it doesn’t matter what list they’re in, if I put a due date in there, they pop up on that day, this is going to get done that day. And I plan that out accordingly. So that’s why ToDoist is really helpful for a salesperson, because here’s how I use in in sales. When somebody says, Alright, let’s connect in three weeks, because timing is not right to like go any further in this process. So I know that we’ve had that conversation, we’ve identified some pain, they’re not ready to have the estimate, because they can’t make any decisions right now or they haven’t looked in somebody else. What I do is I give myself a task list due in three weeks I give a specific date to based on what we’ve had talked about. And and then I make it remind me on that day and that particular day pops up in my task. Oh, you had a call Joel Joel back and say, Okay, where are we at with this? Should we meet? Or should we push us off in other three weeks? Basically, it’s no pressure, right? It’s on my list. I don’t have to worry about it. I have to think about it. And remember, it doesn’t show up on my calendar. It just pops up and says it’s due today. And that’s my list of things to do today. That’s why I like ToDoist for salespeople.

Rob  07:53

The next one is Evernote. Evernote, to me is a fantastic documentation management system. Here’s what I mean. I can use my iPad, or I can use my computer. And I can type out notes or write out notes physically with my pencil, my Apple Pencil, I can write notes in Evernote, and it will be able to read my text later. It sees what it is and says okay, here’s a word if I need to search a word, I can find it. Number one. Number two is that if I don’t have my iPad with me, and I’m somewhere and I’m writing on a piece of paper, a legal pad, and I take all my notes there, I can go back, scan it into my Evernote and put into my sales folder. And here I am I can see all the stuff and it can still read my my handwriting. To me that’s phenomenal. Plus it manages all the other paperwork that you want to keep. So if you ever run into this situation where like what do I do with this piece of paper? What do I do with that piece of paper, you just create a folder system that doesn’t go anywhere. It just lives on Evernote and you can upload so many for free every month. Rarely do I ever need to to use the paid version because I have to only upload certain number of pieces of paper or a certain amount of stuff every every month. But if you do have you have that totally fine, it grows with you. That’s why I like Evernote. It’s great for sales notes. And then you can also attach a reminder to that note if you need to. Again, you don’t have to if you don’t want to use ToDoist. You can always put a note reminder, like with a date and a time. It’ll remind you in Evernote as well. I just I think the the best part is it’s it syncs anywhere. So if I’m somewhere and I’m traveling and I think okay, what did I say to that person? Are they they’re talking about something and when I when they call me and I can look it up on my Evernote and say okay, yeah, that’s right. That’s what they said, because it’s very quick and easy. And I see that my phone or my iPad, my computer everywhere.

Rob  09:47

The next app that I like is VidYard. VidYard is a video program. Much like your regular…let’s call this regular camera that’s on your phone, but allows you to attach it to a message or an email with a link or within the the messaging system itself. And basically what you allow it allows you to do is communicate to somebody via video. So imagine, we know that we have a meeting coming up in two, three days. We set it up last week, what if I knew my meeting was tomorrow? What if today, on my task list pops up? It says, Hey, confirm the meeting. I don’t have to confirm the meeting, if they set it up through Calendly. Because it automatically does it for me, it’ll remind them that my meeting is coming up with them. But what if I, what if they didn’t set it up that way, and we we didn’t set up anything that the calendar would remind them or I just want to confirm some things before we go there. Here’s what the best part about VidYard is, I can send a quick message that says, hey, I’m just, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting. Just as a reminder, these are the things we’re going to talk about, here’s what I expect to happen by the end of the meeting. And if they don’t, that’s okay. But I just want to make sure that we’re all on the same page, bah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right. And I can just quick and easy message 30 seconds, and I can get it out there and say and send it to him. What’s cool is I can see that they opened it, I can see that they viewed it in its entirety. And I can know that. Alright, they got the message, they don’t have to reply. I know they saw it. Okay, so that’s where I use it in terms of sales. But now take it a step further, you close the deal. And now you need to introduce the rest of the team. So you walk around with your cell phone, if you want, you can use your computer, you can use your cell phone, you walk around with your cell phone, you shoot a quick little video, hey, I’m just wanting to say thank you. And we’re so excited to get started with you. I want to introduce you to the team. Here’s Joe, Here’s James, here’s this, here’s that whoever’s on the team, who’s gonna be working on your project is want to say hi, everybody wave the wave and say, we’re looking forward to meeting with you. I know we have a meeting next week to set everything up and get started. That’s the kind of stuff that you can do. It’s a high touch kind of vehicle that really works well with sales. You can also do it as a hey, thank you for the meeting that we just had, I appreciate it. What I learned was, we have this, this and this. And I know that our next meeting is on this date in the future, I look forward to it. And it was it was a fun meeting, and I enjoyed speaking with you and learn a little bit about what we’re, we’re working towards. And let’s let’s meet again next week, whatever whatever your message might be, it’s a quick reminder of no thank you, after your meeting. To me, that’s a very personal message nobody else is doing. And that’s why I like it.

Rob  12:19

And the last app, or the last thing for salespeople that I would recommend, and you’re going to hate me for it is Zoom, I know you’re going you’re rolling your eyes right now you’re like Zoom, really, I don’t understand. First of all, Zoom can be free. And for whatever is a 40 minutes, 45 minutes, whatever it is, I pay for, because I have the flexibility to do a bunch of different things with it. But more importantly, here’s what I like about it, it saves time, if I have a feeling in an initial conversation on the phone, that this person, I don’t know that they’re really, they’re really able to do what they say they can do financially, timewise, energy-wise all of it, or they’re not ready for it, I might set up a Zoom meeting, have a conversation, people are so used to Zoom now, they don’t think twice about it, right. So that’s one of the reasons. But more importantly, you can have somebody that I think is going to go forward and have this meeting, it saves me time, if I have a meeting, that’s 30 minutes away drive time because of traffic, instead of having to do all that I can have a Zoom meeting and save that drive time of an hour. That’s helpful for both them and me, right. So that’s one thing. Second thing is I can see their reactions when we’re having a conversation. If they wince, or they they act like oh my goodness, I can’t do that or they look away or I can see things that I couldn’t see on a regular phone call. That’s really important. And last piece of reason why that’s that’s helpful, or I like this app is because it’s personable, it’s where we are having a real conversation. And it’s one of those things that whether you like it or not, and it’s you know, it’s frustrating to be on a Zoom call. But when it’s you and one other person on the phone on the Zoom call, you have a there’s a bit of an emotional connection there. Because you’re able to ask questions and go back and forth with the answers. Right? They answer you respond all that’s very interesting. Can you tell me a little bit more about that, and then you you continue down that road with them, and they feel very engaged with you. That’s why I like Zoom. Try doing that on the phone without reading anything that they’re saying, visually. That’s where you get the advantage with a Zoom call. So in sales, all five of these items will help you save time, be more productive, and really have some value in getting another sale through one way or the other. But what I do want to do is remind you in no way shape or form will any one of these apps help you make more sales or close more sales. That is strictly up to you, your activities, your actions, what you say how many questions you ask, and how much you learn about that person’s pain. Before you can get to that point of making any sort of recommendation, or writing an estimate. That said, Remember, technology will never drive sales. I will say that again until I’m no longer here. Technology will never drive sales. Technology is a tool that will help you become more productive, and will help you get to an additional meeting. And or will help you track different things to make sure you’re on track. No way, shape or form, will technology close a sale. If you rely on technology to close a sale, you should quit now, because it’s never going to happen. Never ever going to happen. So with that, if you have an app that you think is even better than what I’ve given you, I would love to hear it. Please email us and let us know. So we can look at that and see if we can integrate that into what we’re doing as well. Until next time, get out there and sell some more and do the activity.

V/O  16:07

Thank you for listening to The Slow Pitch. Do you have a question about sales call or text your question at (608) 708 SLOW. That’s 608-708-7569 or you can email them to Questions@TheSlowPitch.com Slow Down and Close More.

Rob  16:57

Thanks as always, for listening today. If you like this podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. We really appreciate it. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at The Slow Pitch. We were mixed today as always by Johnny Polakis and we were produced by High Gravity Studios. Music credits and other notes are in the show notes section on TheSlowPitch.com And we’ll be back with another episode soon.