B2B Sales Consultants and Trainers are busy, there's no doubt about that. You're traveling more, spending face-to-face time with customers (which is a good thing!), and you're rarely in the office, wherever that is.
The internet is home to many, many great resources, applications and tricks of the trade. Sales consultants who make use of these resources are able to save themselves headaches, execute faster and have everything at their fingertips. Executing faster and better directly translates into better performance for your portfolio and for your firm.
Be on top of your game by using these 7 essential resources used by B2B sales consultants who are in-the-know.
Dropbox
Dropbox is an “in the cloud” storage drive, where you can save any file type, exactly like on your own computer. Free accounts come with 3 gigabytes of storage, which can be easily upgraded to more for a fee. There are two different ways to upload files into Dropbox. The first is to log in to your account and click “upload,” where you can upload whole folders at once, or single or multiple individual files. The second way is to add a Dropbox onto the desktop of your computer. Using this method, you can access files for download by clicking on the box, or you can drag and drop files to the box on your desktop and they will sync automatically.
You can share files and folders with others on Dropbox, allowing you to send the huge presentation file with the videos to your client, or to receive the zipped folder with all of your product catalogues. The next time you find yourself wishing you had that file on your tablet, wanting to share something with the potential client you just met at the bar, Dropbox has you covered.
Price: Free
Basecamp
Basecamp is an online project management tool, which comes with a free sixty day trial. Most project management tools are software-based, requiring expensive licenses and installation on each of the devices you want to utilize. Basecamp skips that part and is hosted in the cloud, allowing you to grant access to any or all of your team members, or clients. You can create to-do lists, upload files of all different types (including CAD files), add dates, communicate in forums or comment on files, assign tasks and view a Gantt style calendar. Individuals can have tasks assigned, and it also provides a forum for real-time feedback.
For example, if you work in interior design wholesaling, you can post photos to your Basecamp project from your phone, while walking through your warehouse, and your client can comment on whether or not they like it. Their responses are tracked in the project, so you always have a record of their reaction, in case design specifications change in the future or if your client’s client wants a different choice.
Price: Free trial, $20 a month thereafter
Join.me
Do you ever wish you could easily and cheaply host a conference call, where you were able to share your slide deck with your clients? Join.me is the tool that you need! To host a meeting, simply sign up for an account, starting with a Basic account which is free. The Basic version allows you to share your screen by using a downloadable app. You set up your meeting and send a code to your client, who heads to join.me and puts the code in on the front page. The free version includes VOIP calling, while upgraded accounts allow for conference calling via phone line.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so use join.me to add pictures to your words and amplify your pitch!
Price: free and premium models
Evernote
Do you sometimes wish that you had a notepad that stayed with you everywhere you went, but that recorded more than what you can capture with a pen and paper? Perhaps you come sort of close with your phone, but then when you forget your phone in the car, all you have is your laptop? In steps Evernote. Evernote is a way to capture videos, images, audio clips, to-do lists, articles, plane ticket details and more. Clip things and save them to Evernote, from your phone, your tablet or your computer. Evernote syncs across all platforms, so you can find that wine label from your last client dinner and send it to your assistant to go pick one up for your client who just closed a deal.
Price: free
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is another online project management tool, one that allows integration with a variety of other online applications, including Google Drive, Dropbox and Amazon Web services. Touting itself as extremely intuitive, Smartsheet offers a free 30 day trial. Smartsheet permits unlimited collaborators, a stop light system throughout, indicating whether projects are on or off track, integration with iCal or Google Calendar, file sharing, alerts, threaded discussions, Gantt charts and more.
Smartsheet is a comprehensive project management tool that provides excellent visuals and built-in reporting features, including auto-emailing of reports, saving to PDF and saving to Excel.
Price: free trial, $14-39/month thereafter
Google Drive
Google Drive is another “in the cloud” storage solution, for documents. You can create Google forms, spreadsheets, presentations, documents and drawings right in Google Drive, or you can upload most Office document types and have them converted. Google Forms are a fantastic way to create your own surveys, take registrations or food preferences for events and track interest in your offers, all for free.
Google Drive holds up to 15 Gigabytes of data, with an option to upgrade to more storage. All Google Docs save in real time, saving you from accidentally closing the thing you worked on for ages without hitting save. Google Drive documents also give you the option to keep yourself as the only person able to view the document, share the document with specific email addresses only, or with anyone who has the appropriate link. One interesting tip is that links will still follow if you move a document into a folder, for example if you move a presentation from “In Progress” to “Presented to Client” the link you sent your client will still function properly.
Price: free
Tripit
If you hit the road a lot, or even a little, for business or for pleasure, you need to check out Tripit. Tripit is a way to combine all of your trip details into one, succinct itinerary. Set up an account and set it to automatically scan your email account for trip related details. Alternatively, you can forward relevant emails straight to Tripit, where it will process them and pre-populate all of its fields. The fields include everything from confirmation numbers to discount codes and frequent flyer numbers. You can compile directions, maps, restaurant bookings, car rentals, hotel rooms, flights and activities. Tripit will pop in weather forecasts, include check in and check-out times, organize everything in chronological order and make it printer friendly. Name your trip and if you want to manually add in anything, you can do that as well.
You can share your trip with others, also allowing them to add details and bookings. Use Tripit to plan trips for yourself, for your team, or for your own vacation.
Price: free
The internet is full of fantastic apps that enable you to be the best at what you do. These 7 essential resources are a must for B2B Sales Consultants and trainers.
