There are so many reasons to streamline your sales processes in 2024. If you want to remain competitive, you’ll need to learn to leverage sales generator tools to become more efficient and increase the ROI of your pipeline activities.

By eliminating unnecessary steps and automating manual tasks, you can boost team efficiency and free up employees to focus on revenue-generating activities like building relationships and engaging with qualified leads.

Tech companies (especially startups and smaller teams) face increased pressure to streamline their sales funnel because the market is particularly competitive.

Once a “nice to have”, AI workflows are now critical for survival in the sales environment, which is why there are so many automation tools to choose from.

Popular tools include:

• Sales generators: Also known as lead generation tools, sales generators find and capture potential customers by automating the process of attracting, qualifying and converting leads.

• Virtual sales assistants: AI sales assistants can help with sales tasks and task automation, as well as outreach.

• Sales AI software: Refers to programs that use AI to perform tasks like analyzing huge datasets and predictive modeling.

In this article, we’ll look at these options in detail and compare some of the best AI sales generators and virtual assistants on the market in 2024.

Tech Companies: The Biggest Sales Challenges in 2024

Lack of Time

According to Salesforce, sales reps spend 64% of an average week on non-selling tasks such as manual data entry and CRM management.

While these tasks are important, they can easily be automated using sales AI software applications, which are usually cheap and easy to use, freeing up valuable team members to focus on closing deals and building important relationships.

Employee Churn

The average turnover rate for sales employees is far higher than in all other industries, sitting at around 35% per year – while the ideal churn rate for most organizations is around 10%. This is obviously a huge issue and one that can prevent you from scaling.

There are a few ways sales AI software can help address employee churn. For one, time invested in training a virtual sales assistant will never be wasted, as the AI will grow and adapt to your business thanks to advanced machine learning.

Using AI sales software for manual, repetitive tasks will also reduce employee burnout and free up time for career advancement opportunities and training – all of which results in better employee retention.

CRM Management

CRM management is repetitive and time-consuming. It’s not what highly motivated, ambitious sales reps want to be doing with their time, and it’s not the best use of their skills.

What’s more, 70% of CRM data deteriorates and becomes inaccurate every year, which can slow down sales processes, lead to bottlenecks in the funnel and even affect your reputation. Automating the management of your CRM can solve both of these problems and keep you compliant with GDPR.

Outbound Sequencing

Due to time inefficiencies and lack of data insights, human sales reps often fail to engage at the right times, and in the right way, leading them to miss out on valuable sales opportunities.

AI sales generators use predictive modeling to identify the best times to reach out to your sales prospects through outbound sequencing. They can also automate contact using a virtual sales assistant – so your sales team can be available 24/7 without anyone working overtime.

What’s the Solution? Virtual Sales Assistants vs Sales AI Software

We’ve mentioned a few solutions that can help to streamline your sales workflow. Let’s look at two of them – virtual sales assistant and sales software – in a bit more detail.

Virtual Sales Assistants

AI sales assistants offer heavy customization options for early market testing – so you can see what approach works best with your ICP. This option also requires direct founder/executive involvement, so you can keep a close eye on your sales activities without investing too much of your time.

Virtual sales assistants will also work well for established sales companies with specialized needs, helping them to manage top-tier leads with white-glove treatment. They’re especially helpful for post-SDR stage activities, such as demo scheduling, closing and follow-ups.

Sales AI Software

Automation software is ideal for scaling companies dealing with lots of manual sales tasks. It allows companies to perform bulk prospecting and follow-ups with minimal manual effort, offering end-to-end qualification and outreach processes. Sales AI software is also a great option for companies who want to maximize outreach volume without sacrificing quality because of its easy integration with human teams.

The Best Sales Generator Tools in 2024

HubSpot Sales Hub

This tool focuses on CRM integration, pipeline tracking and follow-up automation. It’s great for small businesses who want a lightweight, user-friendly tool to help them automate key processes, particularly in the follow-up stages.

HubSpot Sales Hub has limited intent-based insights into AI features, making it too simple for large enterprises or those with complex sales needs.

Pricing: $97-$170 pm/per seat

ROI: Moderate

Outreach.io

Great for managing follow-ups and fast prospecting, Outreach.io focuses on outbound sales engagement and offers advanced sequencing and analytics. It has a bit of a learning curve, so may require significant training for small teams.

Pricing: Custom pricing, starting at $100 per month

ROI: High, especially for small-medium sized teams

Apollo.io

Apollo’s sales generator focuses on contact enrichment and sales email automation. It’s a cost-effective choice for sales teams focused on lead generation and who want easy CRM integration. It offers fairly limited strategic insights compared to AI-heavy solutions, but is good for small teams who want simple, easy-to-use tools.

Pricing: $49-$119 per month

ROI: Good, especially for companies focused on outbound lead generation.

Topo

Our sales AI software offers a comprehensive outbound solution that combines automation with strategic human oversight for the best results.

Topo’s AI SDRs are like virtual sales assistants – they can be custom-trained according to industry and will offer real-time insights into intent signals and ideal outreach timing. Topo also integrates seamlessly with CRMs for easy maintenance and management.

Pricing: 10 times cheaper than hiring an SDR, starting at $750 per month

ROI: Very high, especially for teams wanting to scale new markets or verticals

Why Choose Topo: A Practical Workflow Example

In comparison to Topo, all the other tools need humans in the loop for the outbound execution.

With topo? You don’t neet that.

Here is an example of a Topo sales workflow

Lead generation & scoring – we’ll analyze industry-specific databases and identify high-potential leads.

Signal detection & timing – we’ll detect strong intent signals and identify optimal outreach times.

Real-time updates – we’ll connect to your CRM and provide real-time updates and dynamic exclusion lists.

Email outreach – we’ll send contextually relevant emails using warmed-up domains, overseen by you.

Human strategy layer – you’ll oversee everything, allowing you to benefit from high-level strategies without the time-sink, so you can scale faster.

Case Study: Sales AI Software in Action

A SaaS company wanting to expand into a new market vertical used one of Topo’s tailored campaigns to automate their sales processes, resulting in a 25% increase in lead conversions – an impressive statistic!

Topo: The Best Sales Generator Tool for Tech Companies Looking to Scale

Topo provides a balanced approach to automation, combining AI execution with human strategy. Our sales generator tool will streamline your entire sales funnel while also maintaining a high quality of outreach.

We also offer extensive customization options for new markets and ICPs and are cost-effective – 10 times cheaper than hiring an SDR.

If you’re a small tech company looking to scale without heavy investment, book a demo today to see how Topo can transform and elevate your sales processes, leading to higher efficiency and better ROI.