OVERVIEW

A sales stack is a collection of software solutions that support a sales organization’s efforts to
generate revenue faster. To help organizations learn how others use sales software, we
conducted our first Sales Tech Benchmark Survey in 2017. This report is based on our 2019 Survey
which was conducted as a follow-up and compares the findings of the two surveys.

In both surveys, we identified the most commonly used sales technologies, the average number
of sales tools, typical per-user spending on SalesTech and more. This report summarizes the
findings by the following funnel stages; Top of Funnel, Middle of Funnel, Bottom of Funnel,
Management & Reporting, and Skills Development & Onboarding.
 KEY FINDINGS
TABLE OF
CONTENTS SURVEY RESULTS

RESULTS BY FUNNEL SEGMENT

Top of Funnel
Middle of Funnel
Bottom of Funnel
Management & Reporting
Skills Development

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

APPENDIX
KEY FINDINGS
KEY
FINDINGS
INTRODUCTION
Participants from the survey were almost
exclusively B2B with a handful designating
themselves as both B2B and B2C.
Respondents from the high-tech industry
accounted for the highest group with 42%
of the responses. Financial Services
represented 9.3% while Manufacturers
represented 8.7%. The remaining 40% were
from a variety of industries including
healthcare, advertising, and telecom. In
the following 2 pages, we summarize our
key findings.
KEY SUMMARY

FINDINGS The average number of sales tools in use is 4.9 (up from
4.5 in 2017).
The median number of sales tools is 9.
In 2017, only 2 of the 26 sales tool categories were used by
more than half of the respondents (CRM and Online
Meeting tools). Two years later, 6 of the 27 tool categories
are used by more than half of the respondents (CRM,
Online Meetings, Lead List/Database, Social Selling,
Account Targeting, and Skills Training & Reinforcement).
And another 4 are used by more than 47% (E-signature,
Knowledge Sharing, Account/Opportunity Management,
and Lead Engagement).
Among the 10 tools with the highest adoption, E-signature
earned the highest combined rating of satisfaction and
value to the organization (a score of 8.36 out of a possible
score of 10).
At 47%, E-signature was by far the highest adopted Bottom
of Funnel (BOFU) solution. It was also the highest ranked in
both satisfaction and perceived value.
KEY
SUMMARY
FINDINGS Of all the funnel segments, Top of the Funnel (TOFU) is
driving purchase considerations for 2020 the most.
Only 3% of respondents plan to reduce their spending on
sales tools in 2020.
Two thirds of the respondents spend $150 or more per
user/per month on sales tools. This is a complete reversal
from 2017 when two thirds spent less than $150 per
user/per month.
In 2017, nearly half (47%) of those who didn’t use Sales
Enablement were considering it for 2018. This year’s survey
bears that out. Sales Enablement jumped in usage from 6%
to 40%.
Sales Enablement enjoys the highest satisfaction rating
(4.6 out of 5) along with the highest total
satisfaction/perceived value rating (8.8 out of 10).
Average satisfaction of all sales tools is 3.74 (up from 3.57
in 2017).
SURVEY
RESULTS
PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS USING
EACH TECHNOLOGY TYPE 2019
PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS USING EACH TECHNOLOGY
TYPE 2017 vs 2019
2017 2019
We asked respondents to rate their satisfaction
with each solution in use on a scale of 1 to 5 (5
being the most satisfied). We also asked them to
rate the value of each type of solution to the
organization – again, on a scaled of 1 to
5. Overall, respondents are happy with their
solutions. The charts on the following two pages
show the combined scores of satisfaction and
SATISFACTION/
value for each category of tool in use and by
funnel segment. Here are a few key take-aways: VALUE SCORES
Not one solution scored lower than a 7 out of a
total of 10.
Sales Enablement was awarded the highest
sat/value score at 8.78 while E-signature and
Buyer Portals tied for second highest score at
8.36 points out of 10.
MOFU has the highest combined score while
BOFU has the lowest combined score.
SATISFACTION & PERCEIVED VALUE
TOTAL SCORE BY CATEGORY
SATISFACTION VALUE
SATISFACTION & PERCEIVED VALUE
TOTAL SCORE BY FUNNEL
SATISFACTION VALUE

TOFU - Top of Funnel

MOFU - Midle of Funnel
BOFU - Bottom of Funnel
MGMT - Management & Reporting
SKILLS - Skills Development & Onboarding
Sales Tech usage is fairly consistent among
companies of different sizes. However, there
were some noticeable variances of usage by
company size. 
SALES TOOL
Companies with 500 or more employees were
much more likely to use Sales Enablement, Skills USAGE BY
Training & Reinforcement, and Sales
Performance & Compensation solutions. COMPANY SIZE
Companies with fewer than 500 employees
were more likely to use Prospect Engagement
solutions than their counterparts at larger
companies.
SALES TOOL USAGE BY COMPANY SIZE
1 - 499 500+
 SPENDING ON SALES TOOLS
2017 VS 2019

MORE THAN $150/MONTH

LESS THAN $150/MONTH
34%
35%

2017 2019

MORETHAN
MORE THAN$150/MONTH
$150/MONTH
MORE THAN $150 / MONTH
65%
65%
66%

LESS THAN $150/MONTH

66%

In 2019, those percentages flipped.

In 2017, 66% of respondents spent
65% now spend a monthly per-
a monthly per user total of less
user total of more than
than $150/user/month.
$150/user/month.
SPENDING PLANS
FOR 2020

WILL YOU SPEND MORE OR LESS

Very few respondents plan to spend less in 2020.

47% will spend more while 50% will reportedly spend about the same. That
mirrors what respondents said in 2017 about their spending plans for 2018.
HOW HEAVILY EACH FUNNEL SEGMENT
WILL DRIVE SPENDING FOR 2020 1
TOP OF THE FUNNEL

WHAT'S DRIVING THE SPEND? 2

We asked respondents to order the funnel
MIDDLE OF THE FUNNEL
segments based on how heavily they'll drive
their purchase decisions in the next 12 months. 3
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) tools are MANAGEMENT & REPORTING
driving spending consideration for
2020 the least, while Top of the 4
Funnel(TOFU) tools continue
to take the lead for what is SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & ONBOARDING
driving the most spend
for the year ahead.
5
BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL
RESULTS BY
FUNNEL SEGMENT
 TOP OF FUNNEL

Top of Funnel solutions are used for identifying and communicating

with cold leads for the purposes of building pipeline
TOP OF FUNNEL CATEGORIES

ACCOUNT TARGETING DIALERS SOCIAL SELLING

Identifying best fit accounts. Often Calling telephone numbers Sharing relevant content,
used with Account Based Marketing automatically. interacting directly with potential
& Selling. buyers, and doing pre-call
research via social media networks.

LEAD ENGAGEMENT LEAD LIST/DATABASE

Communicating at scale with Searching, filtering, and building

early-stage, unqualified leads. account and contact prospect lists.
TOP OF FUNNEL There are 12 categories of Top of Funnel

TOOL USAGE tools. We asked about the usage of 5 of

the 12 categories.

For each category the respondent chose,

Account Targeting we also asked which was their primary
solution. While the 'Nancy Nardin
Dialers SalesTech Landscape' includes a total of
207 Top of Funnel sales tool vendors, we
offered only a handful of vendors in
Lead List Building/
each of the 5 categories and gave the
Database
option to write-in which tool they used if
it wasn't listed. See vendors included as
options in the survey in the Appendix.
Lead Engagement

Social Selling
SALES TOOL
USAGE

TOP OF FUNNEL

Percentage of respondents using Top

of Funnel Sales tools
 2017 2019

CHANGE IN TOOL
USAGE

TOP OF FUNNEL

There was exceptional growth in the

usage of each of the 5 Top of Funnel
categories.
TOP OF FUNNEL

1175%
TOOL GROWTH

FROM 2017 TO 2019

BIGGEST CHANGE

Account Targeting usage from 2017 to 2019 grew a

whopping 1175% from 4% to 51%. This was the largest
jump in the study.
TOP OF FUNNEL TOOL GROWTH FROM 2017 TO 2019

Account Targeting grew a whopping

1175% from 4% to 51%

Lead List/Database usage grew by 41% from 46% to 65%

Dialer usage grew by

120% from 10% to 22%

Lead Engagement usage grew 345% from 11% to 49%

Social Selling usage grew

500% from 10% to 60%
 SATISFACTION VALUE

TOP OF FUNNEL

SATISFACTION VS. PERCEIVED

VALUE

Respondents who used Top of Funnel

tools were asked to rate their
satisfaction and perceived value of
the tool to their organization on a
scale of 1-5, with 5 being rated the
highest satisfaction (or value) and 1
being the lowest.
 MIDDLE OF FUNNEL

Middle of Funnel solutions are used to engage with prospects to move

them through the pipeline to the proposal stage
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL CATEGORIES
ACCOUNT/
OPPORTUNITY
MANAGEMENT
Creating and executing on plans to
win accounts and deals, often with
multiple stakeholders.
CRM
System-of-record solution that
contains prospect and customer
records. Used for executing on the
sales process, forecasting, and
tracking prospect and customer
interaction.
BUYER PORTALS CONVERSATION
INTELLIGENCE
Sharing information and
collaborating with prospects on Analyzing recorded calls with
their own personalized, private prospects and discovering who
webpage (portal). needs coaching, as well as gaining
insights that lead to better
outcomes.
MEETING SCHEDULERS
Automatically identifying meeting
availability and facilitating
automatic scheduling of meetings
with prospects. Often includes a
personal meeting page.
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL CATEGORIES CONTINUED
MODERN
PRESENTATIONS
Creating presentations with
advanced features like voiceovers,
along with presenting the right
information on the fly and tracking
how prospects engage.
SALES ENABLEMENT
Finding and delivering sales
materials that are highly relevant to
each unique prospect based on
industry, stage in the sales process,
or other unique characteristics.
Also includes content
management.
ONLINE MEETINGS PROSPECT
ENGAGEMENT
Sharing screens and presenting
information to prospects online, Communicating with prospects
sometimes while using video using automated outreach
(webcams). sequences including follow-up
management.
VIDEO SELLING
Recording and sending
personalized video messages to
differentiate and personalize
prospect outreach.
 MIDDLE OF FUNNEL There are 15 categories and a total of 222

TOOL USAGE
Middle of Funnel tools. We asked about
usage of 10 of the 15 categories.

Other categories not included in the

CRM Buyer Portals
survey were Value Selling & ROI, Sales
Online Meetings Process & Action Management, Channel
Prospect Engagement Management, Buyer Consensus, and
Specialized Mobile. For each Middle of
Conversation Intelligence Funnel solution the respondent chose, we
also asked which was their primary
Meeting Schedulers
vendor and gave the option to write-in
Sales Enablement which vendor they used if it wasn’t listed.
See Vendors included as options in the
survey in the Appendix.
Video Selling

Modern Presentations

Account Opportunity Management

SALES TOOL
USAGE

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL

Percentage of respondents using

Middle of Funnel Sales tools
 2017 2019

CHANGE IN TOOL
USAGE

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL

The Middle of the Funnel tool usage

also saw notable growth.
MIDDLE OF
FUNNEL TOOL

567%
GROWTH

FROM 2017 TO 2019

BIGGEST CHANGE

Sales Enablement solution usage from 2017 to 2019 grew

by 567% from 6% to 40%
 MIDDLE OF FUNNEL TOOL GROWTH FROM 2017 TO 2019

Buyer Portal usage grew by

225% from 4% to 13%

57%
Prospect Engagement usage grew by from 21% to 33%

308%
Account/Opportunity Management usage grew by from 12% to 49%

Sales Enablement solution usage grew by

567% from 6% to 40%
 SATISFACTION VALUE

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL

SATISFACTION VS. PERCEIVED

VALUE

Respondents who used Middle of

Funnel tools were asked to rate their
satisfaction and perceived value of
the tool to their organization on a
scale of 1-5, with 5 being rated the
highest satisfaction (or value) and 1
being the lowest.
 BOTTOM OF FUNNEL

Bottom of Funnel solutions are those that facilitate proposal creation,

margin protection, contract management, and the closing process
BOTTOM OF FUNNEL CATEGORIES
CONTRACT LIFECYCLE
MANAGEMENT
Drafting, negotiating, redlining,
authorizing terms, performing
analytics, eSigning, and storing
contracts. Managing from start to
finish.
E-SIGNATURE
Formatting and sending
documents for signature without
the need for the recipient to print,
scan, and fax or email it back.
Includes saving files, tracking
status, and sending reminders.
CUSTOMER LIFETIME CONFIGURE, PRICE,
VALUE QUOTE (CPQ)
Ensuring the highest amount of Configuring quotes and proposals
revenue or profit possible from that require multiple product SKUs,
each customer over the period of special pricing/discount rules, and
the relationship. margin protection.
PROPOSAL CREATION
Creating professional proposals
with custom fields and variables to
automatically insert information like
client and company names. Also
saving product descriptions, case
studies, images, or entire proposals
in one content library.
BOTTOM OF FUNNEL There are 10 categories and a total of 67

TOOL USAGE
Bottom of Funnel tools on the 'Nancy
Nardin SalesTech Landscape'. In the
survey, we asked about the usage of 5 of
the 10 categories. Other categories not
Proposal Creation included in the survey were Value Selling &
ROI, Sales Process & Action Management,
E-signature Channel Management, Buyer Consensus,
and Specialized Mobile.

Contract
For each Middle of Funnel solution the
Lifecycle respondent said they used, we also asked
Management which was their primary vendor and gave
Customer Lifetime the option to write-in which vendor they
Value used if it wasn’t listed. See Vendors
included as options in the survey in the
Appendix.

CPQ
SALES TOOL
USAGE

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL

Percentage of respondents using

Bottom of Funnel Sales tools
 2017 2019

CHANGE IN TOOL
USAGE

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL

The bottom of the funnel tends to

drive less spending according to
respondents of both the 2017 and
2019 surveys. Even so, bottom of the
funnel tools usage also experienced
notable growth.
BOTTOM OF
FUNNEL TOOL

475%
GROWTH

FROM 2017 TO 2019

BIGGEST CHANGE

Customer Lifetime Value solution usage from 2017 to

2019 grew by 475% from 4% to 23%
BOTTOM OF FUNNEL TOOL GROWTH FROM 2017 TO 2019

475%
Customer Lifetime Value usage grew from 4% to 23%

67%
CPQ usage grew by nearly from 15% to 25%

E-signature usage grew by

12% from 42% to 47%

180%
Proposal Creation usage grew from 10% to 28%

300%
Contract Lifecycle Management usage grew from 6% to 24%
BOTTOM OF SATISFACTION VALUE

FUNNEL

SATISFACTION VS. PERCEIVED

VALUE

Respondents who used Bottom of

Funnel tools were asked to rate their
satisfaction and perceived value of
the tool to their organization on a
scale of 1-5, with 5 being rated the
highest satisfaction (or value) and 1
being the lowest.
 MANAGEMENT & REPORTING

Management & Reporting solutions are those that help with

understanding the business and optimizing the use and outcome of
sales personnel
MANAGEMENT & REPORTING CATEGORIES

ADVANCED RENEWAL/REVENUE SALES PERFORMANCE &

FORECASTING & DEAL
REVIEW
Analyzing likelihood of closing
forecasted deals based on
historical data. Additionally,
understanding which deals are
at risk and why.
MANAGEMENT
Automate recurring billing,
collections, quoting, and revenue
recognition. Can bring visibility of
back office order and billing
management information into the
front office where customer
interactions happen.
COMPENSATION
Creating, modeling, implementing,
administering, and optimizing
compensation plans. Often
includes sales rep dashboards for
tracking commissions earned and
paid.

TERRITORY
OPTIMIZATION

Creating and realigning sales

territories to optimize sales effort
and total revenue.
MANAGEMENT & REPORTING There are 6 categories and a total of 45

TOOL USAGE Bottom of Funnel tools on the 'Nancy

Nardin SalesTech Landscape'. In the
survey, we asked about the usage of 4
of the 6 categories. Other categories
Advanced Forecasting & Deal Review
not included in the survey were
Gamification and Sales Operations.
Renewal/Revenue
Management For each Management & Reporting
solution in use, we also asked which
was their primary vendor and gave the
Sales Performance option to write-in which vendor they
& Compensation used if it wasn’t listed. See Vendors
included as options in the survey in the
Appendix.

Territory Optimization
SALES TOOL
USAGE

MANAGEMENT & REPORTING

Percentage of respondents using

Management & Reporting sales tools
 2017 2019

CHANGE IN TOOL
USAGE

MANAGEMENT & REPORTING

All 4 of the Management and

Reporting tools we asked about
experienced strong growth from the
2017 to 2019 time period.
MANAGEMENT &

600%
REPORTING TOOL
GROWTH

FROM 2017 TO 2019

BIGGEST CHANGE

Renewal/Revenue Management solution usage among

our respondents from 2017 to 2019 grew by 600% from
4% to 28%.
MANAGEMENT & REPORTING TOOL GROWTH
FROM 2017 TO 2019

Territory Optimization usage grew by

280% from 5% to 19%

Renewal/Revenue Management usage grew by

600% from 4% to 28%

158%
Advanced Forecasting & Deal Review usage grew by from 12% to 31%

236%
Sales Performance & Compensation usage grew by from 11% to 37%
MANAGEMENT & SATISFACTION VALUE

REPORTING

SATISFACTION VS. PERCEIVED

VALUE

Respondents who used Bottom of

Funnel tools were asked to rate their
satisfaction and perceived value of
the tool to their organization on a
scale of 1-5, with 5 being rated the
highest satisfaction (or value) and 1
being the lowest.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & ONBOARDING

Skills Development & Onboarding solutions are those that train, uplevel,
and reinforce sales skill sets and knowledge
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & ONBOARDING CATEGORIES
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Providing a way to search and find
information and resources needed
to move deals forward.
SKILLS TRAINING &
REINFORCEMENT
Creating and delivering skills
learning exercises, providing
information on missed
questions/correct answers, and
measuring improvement over time.
Delivered on any device.
VIDEO PRACTICE &
ROLE PLAY
Creating and delivering role playing
scenarios for salespeople to
practice and record. Also,
commenting, coaching, and
sharing of best practices.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & There are 4 categories and a total of
39 Skills Development & Onboarding
ONBOARDING TOOL USAGE tools on the 'Nancy Nardin SalesTech
Landscape'. In the survey, we asked
about the usage of 3 of the 4
categories. The 4th category,
Skills Training & Reinforcement Conversation Intelligence, was reported
on in the Middle of Funnel section.

For each of the Skills Development &

Knowledge Sharing
Video Practice & Role Play
Onboarding solutions in use, we also
asked which was their primary vendor
and gave the option to write-in which
vendor they used if it wasn’t listed. See
Vendors included as options in the
survey in the Appendix.
SALES TOOL
USAGE

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT &

ONBOARDING
Percentage of respondents using Skills
Development & Onboarding sales
tools
 2017 2019

CHANGE IN TOOL
USAGE

NO DATA FOR 2017

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT &
ONBOARDING

We did not ask about Knowledge

Sharing solution usage in 2017.
Therefore, this chart includes the
growth in usage for 2 categories.
SKILLS

440%
DEVELOPMENT &
ONBOARDING
TOOL GROWTH

FROM 2017 TO 2019

BIGGEST CHANGE

Video Practice & Role Play solution usage among our

respondents grew from 2017 to 2019 by 440%
from 5% to 27%.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & ONBOARDING TOOL GROWTH
FROM 2017 TO 2019

Skills Training & Reinforcement usage grew by

183% from 18% to 51%

Video Practice Role Play usage grew by

440% from 5% to 27%
SKILLS SATISFACTION VALUE

DEVELOPMENT &
ONBOARDING

SATISFACTION VS. PERCEIVED

VALUE

Respondents who used Bottom of Funnel

tools were asked to rate their satisfaction
and perceived value of the tool to their
organization on a scale of 1-5, with 5
being rated the highest satisfaction (or
value) and 1 being the lowest.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The significant increase in usage of sales tools
across the board indicates a trend (likely
irreversible). If your organization is slow to take
up the use of sales tools, you could get left
behind.

Even so, we don’t recommend adding new

sales tools without considering what’s required
to keep them up to date and who will be
responsible, having a plan for measuring
FINAL WORDS
success (what does “Good” look like?), and
deciding what’s required to establish and grow
user adoption.

You have two choices; look for tools that can

make a quick impact or tools that make more
sweeping improvements but take longer to
evaluate and implement. Both choices are
valid.
APPENDIX
TOP OF FUNNEL PRIMARY VENDOR
SURVEY OPTIONS

ACCOUNT DIALERS LEAD LIST LEAD SOCIAL SELLING

TARGETING BUILDING/ ENGAGEMENT
CallWise DATABASE Node
6Sense ConnectAndSell Conversica People.ai
DiscoverOrg DialSource DiscoverOrg Exceed.ai LinkedIn Sales
InsideView MonsterConnect InsideView Drift Navigator
TechTarget RingCentral LinkedIn Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in)
Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) LinkedIn Sales Unsure Unsure
Unsure Unsure Navigator
Other (Write-in)
Unsure
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL PRIMARY VENDOR
SURVEY OPTIONS

ACCOUNT/ BUYER PORTALS CONVERSATION CRM MEETING

OPPORTUNITY INTELLIGENCE SCHEDULERS
MANAGEMENT Buyer Deck Salesforce
Journey Sales Chorus Oracle Calendly
Infoteam.io RiseCX ExecVision Microsoft ScheduleOnce
Membrain Other (Write-in) Gong.io Other (Write-in) TimeTrade
Revegy Unsure Other (Write-in) Unsure Other (Write-in)
ProlifiqIQ Unsure Unsure
Other (Write-in)
Unsure
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL PRIMARY VENDOR
SURVEY OPTIONS CONTINUED

MODERN ONLINE PROSPECT SALES VIDEO SELLING

PRESENTATIONS MEETINGS ENGAGEMENT ENABLEMENT
BombBomb
CustomShow GoToMeeting MixMax Bigtincan OneMob
Presentor JoinMe Outreach Mediafly VidYard
Prezi Zoom SalesLoft Modus Other (Write-in)
Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) Seismic Unsure
Unsure Unsure Unsure Other (Write-in)
Unsure
 BOTTOM OF FUNNEL PRIMARY VENDOR
SURVEY OPTIONS

PROPOSAL E-SIGNATURE CONTRACT CUSTOMER CPQ

CREATION LIFECYCLE LIFETIME VALUE
AdobeSign MANAGEMENT Apttus
PandaDoc DocuSign We did not ask which CallidusCloud CPQ
Proposable AssureSign Apttus vendors were used in Salesforce CPQ
Proposify GetAccept Conga this category Other (Write-in)
Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) Model N Unsure
Unsure Unsure Other (Write-in)
Unsure
MANAGEMENT & REPORTING PRIMARY
VENDOR SURVEY OPTIONS

ADVANCED RENEWAL/ SALES TERRITORY

FORECASTING & REVENUE PERFORMANCE & OPTIMIZATION
DEAL REVIEW MANAGEMENT COMPENSATION
Anaplan
Aviso ModelN CallidusCloud MapAnything
Clari Obero Iconixx TerrAlign
TopOpps Zuoro Xactly Obero
Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in) Other (Write-in)
Unsure Unsure Unsure Unsure
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & ONBOARDING
PRIMARY VENDOR SURVEY OPTIONS

SKILLS TRAINING & VIDEO PRACTICE & KNOWLEDGE

REINFORCEMENT ROLE PLAY SHARING

Allego Allego Kiite

Brainshark Brainshark RadiateBuzz
Qstream Qstream Other (Write-in)
Showpad Other (Write-in) Unsure
Other (Write-in) Unsure
Unsure
NANCY NARDIN'S SALES TECH
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