How do you use project management and chat tools to communicate with your sales and technical teams?

1 Choose the right tools

Choosing the right tools for your needs is the first step when it comes to sales engineering. You should consider factors such as the size and complexity of your projects and teams, integration and compatibility with other tools and systems, features and functions that support your workflow and goals, security and reliability of the data and communication, and cost and ease of use. Popular project management and chat tools among sales engineers include Asana, Trello, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Additionally, you may need to use specialized tools for specific tasks like CRM, proposal, or demo software.

2 Set up your projects and channels

Once you have chosen your tools, it's time to set up your projects and channels. This involves creating a consistent structure for organizing tasks, files, messages, and meetings. For instance, you could create a project for each client or opportunity and assign roles and responsibilities to the team. Additionally, you could create a channel for each project and invite the stakeholders involved. Sub-channels or threads can be used for specific topics or stages like discovery, proposal, demo, and negotiation. Labels, tags, filters, and statuses can be used to categorize and prioritize tasks and issues. Templates, checklists, and workflows can also be employed to standardize and automate processes.

3 Communicate effectively and efficiently

For effective and efficient communication between sales and technical teams, it is important to use the right tools and methods for different types of communication and follow some best practices. Chat tools should be used for quick and informal communication, such as updates, questions, feedback, and brainstorming. Project management tools should be used for detailed and formal communication, like requirements, specifications, deliverables, and deadlines. Video conferencing tools are ideal for complex and interactive communication, like presentations, demos, and negotiations. Email should be used for external and official communication like contracts, invoices, and confirmations. Notifications, reminders, and alerts can help keep everyone informed and accountable. Lastly, emojis, GIFs, and memes can add some fun and personality to your communication.

4 Collaborate and coordinate with your teams

The final step is to collaborate and coordinate with your sales and technical teams. This means working together to achieve your common goals and overcome your challenges, such as sharing knowledge, skills, and expertise, providing feedback and suggestions to improve solutions and performance, resolving conflicts quickly and constructively, celebrating wins and milestones, reviewing results and lessons learned, etc. Utilizing project management and chat tools to communicate with your sales and technical teams can help you save time, reduce errors, increase productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction. In conclusion, by following these steps you can optimize your sales engineering process and deliver value to your clients.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?