You need to make sense of your sales data. How can you find the right analytics tool?

1 Know your objectives

Before you start looking for an analytics tool, you need to know what you want to achieve with it. What are the key metrics and indicators that matter to you and your team? How do you want to track, visualize, and communicate them? How do you want to use the insights to improve your sales process and results? Define your objectives clearly and prioritize them according to your business needs.

2 Compare features and benefits

When determining which analytics tool to use, you should consider its features and benefits. Data integration is important since you need to be able to connect to your existing data sources, such as CRM, email, phone, social media, etc. Data quality is also essential since you need accurate and reliable data that is stored securely. Additionally, the tool should have advanced and flexible analytical capabilities that can handle complex queries, calculations, and models. Furthermore, the dashboards, charts, and reports generated by the tool should be user-friendly and customizable so that you can create and share them with your team and stakeholders. Finally, the insights delivered by the tool should be actionable and relevant so that you can use them to make data-driven decisions and monitor progress.

3 Test and evaluate

The best way to find out if an analytics tool works for you is to test it yourself. Most analytics tools offer free trials or demos that allow you to explore their features and benefits in action. Use this opportunity to evaluate how the tool meets your objectives, how easy it is to use and integrate, how well it performs and scales, and how much value it adds to your sales development process. You can also ask for feedback from your team and other users who have tried the tool.

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?