5 Ways to Evaluate Your Go-To-Market Tech Stack

Whether you’re looking to streamline your current go-to-market tech stack or onboard new tools, this “pocket guide” can help you evaluate your strategy and plan your next steps effectively

From top of funnel to prospecting to customer success, how many tech tools is your company using to drive business? 

Do you know the exact number?

In 2023, the industry for go-to-market tech tools is more crowded than ever. Only two years ago, 67 percent of sales and marketing professionals used between 4 and 10 digital sales tools daily. And the perceived necessity for a more robust tech stack has only grown since then.

How many tools is your company using to drive sales and customer experience? If you’re not sure, there’s no better time to find out—and to evaluate if you actually need all of them. 

1. Identify the Problem: Pinpointing the Pain Point

Before purchasing any tool, you must identify your problem. 

• Why do you need this tool in the first place? 
• What is the pain point that you need to solve?

This might mean taking a step back to go through your process manually to pin down those pain points.

If you are considering buying software that records conversations, ask yourself: Why do I need call recording software?

Maybe you’re thinking: “I want my team to record calls. I ask them to record the calls and then put them on a drive. But that’s not happening. I need help automating.”

Or: “I need sales calls recorded for coaching purposes, so my team can hear in real time what’s working and what needs improvement.”

But those are different pain points.

And the specificity of your pain point matters. If your pain point is automation—you have a big sales team who are inconsistent about saving call recordings to a drive—that’s one thing. But if you want those recordings because you don’t have enough manpower to be in the calls to coach your team, then your pain is coaching. Not recording.

So, think about what specific problem you are trying to solve. What are you ultimately going to do with that software? Answering that can help you identify why you need X tool to do it—or not.

2. Learn from the Past: Leveraging Past Solutions

Has this been a pain point for you before? If so, think about other solutions you’ve tried. If you’re still experiencing the problem, then those solutions haven’t worked. But it doesn’t mean you can’t learn from that experience.

Think about the recording software example.

Have you asked your reps to record their calls with your current software platform? Check! Do they do it? No.

That’s not a software issue. That’s a process and compliance issue.

If you’ve tried to solve the problem by asking reps to record the calls, you don’t just want a different call software. You want a new tool to make the process automatic to bypass overwhelmed sales reps. If it’s a team coaching issue and you’ve failed in the past because of a lack of manpower, how will this tech tool change that? Will it allow one sales leader to provide more targeted feedback more efficiently?

By identifying what your issue is and how you’ve already tried (and failed) to solve it, you will gain a clear sense of what you need. 

3. Measure Success and ROI: Evaluating Effectiveness

Every vendor’s website shares numbers about how their tool improves metrics for other customers. But you’re not “other” customers. If you spin this tool, how will you measure whether it’s a success for your b2b saas business?

Start a conversation between your procurement manager and the members of your sales team. After all, they’ll be the ones using this tool. Plan to gather soft feedback and hard feedback. It matters if your reps like using the tool and have a positive experience engaging with it. 

Of course, it also matters that the tool delivers.

Think seriously about whether or not you want to sign a year-long contract for an unproven tool. Don’t just throw darts at the board; look at the vendor’s claims, determine how you’ll calculate the validity of those claims, and negotiate with the vendor. If the tool doesn’t do what they claim it should within a quarter, you don’t want to be stuck with a year-long subscription.

If your automated call recording software promises to give every rep on your team 2 hours back every week, that’s something you can measure. But you need to take the time to see if your reps really do save 2 hours/week. Even more importantly, what are they doing with that extra time?

4. Consolidate Your Tools: Streamline Your Tech Stack

Chances are you currently have a pile of tools in your toolbox. In fact, you may already have one that performs the exact task you need to solve your problem. Make a list. Your team might be drowning in multiple platforms for forecasting, prospecting, contracting, demos, etc. 

If this is the case, your should start with an internal audit and condense your tech stack so you don’t end up with overlapping tools. You may very well find that you only need to work with one vendor. Rather than playing pain point whack-a-mole with vertical tools, explore the full capabilities of your existing CRM. 

If your tech stack is oversaturated and underutilized, you’re not alone. Only 37 percent of sellers feel that their company takes full advantage of their CRM. Delve into the tools you use, talk to your vendors about what you want to achieve with the software, and consolidate.

Don’t buy new tools that you don’t need.
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5. Align with Your Process: Integrating Tools for Efficiency

Your process must come before tools. You can have all the tools in the world, but without a set process for how to best utilize them, they’ll continue to gather dust on the (metaphorical) shelf and fail to provide your expected ROI.

After all, tools aren’t magic. They’re a part of your process.

Let’s revisit our recording software example.

Even if your tool can record, transcribe, and analyze sales calls, you need to set up a process for when and how this feedback gets delivered to and internalized by your reps. Will a sales leader interpret that feedback for a personal coaching session? When will that happen? How much time will that take?

When you buy the fanciest software on the market, you’re spending a lot of money. But throwing money at the problem of rep coaching won’t magically solve it. Do you have enough managers to share that data? To coach your reps? To measure if the software is making a difference?

Tools are not the solution to a lack of process. So, make sure your tools fit into your process. Not vice versa.

Do you want to investigate the tech World more? Discover How AI Is Transforming Sales in 2023 and explore its potential to enhance customer connections, streamline operations, and drive revenue growth.

Bonus Question: Who’s in Charge? Establishing Ownership

You need to be clear about who is involved and what their roles are.

Establish:

• Who are the users? The admin?
• Who conducts onboarding and training?
• Who negotiates the terms of renewal?
• Who measures the results?

A lack of clear ownership over the process means your new tool won’t be used well. And at the end of the day, it’s simply bad business to waste your money building a bloated tech stack with no clear ownership.

Know Your Pain, Optimize Your Process 

The go-to-market space is crammed with dozens of vendors selling overlapping tools competing for the same use case. And let’s be real—they all make exaggerated claims. Deciding which tool to use isn’t easy. 

But finding the best tools for your business doesn’t have to be arduous.

Identify your processes and understand your specific pain points. Know how you will measure the success and impact of each tool. And if it’s not solving the problems you need it to, then it’s time to reevaluate.

Discover the top GTM strategies from B2B experts at RevCon: our must-attend annual conference on October 18-19, 2023!