Amid the global pandemic of COVID-19 (also known as “Coronavirus”), companies all over the world have been forced to make critical decisions. Topping the list and saturating social media feeds was the decision for employees to begin working from their homes. Although working from home is the new normal, many companies hadn’t implemented a remote working policy before the outbreak, including JumpCrew. The sales tools that make it possible for reps to work from home are invaluable during this time.
JumpCrew is in a unique situation in that we’ve always been “remote” for our clients. Because we function as an outsourced partner, we’ve been able to make the internal transition to remote work without our clients feeling a bit of change. However, for a company that went from no remote work to work-from-home in under a week, there was a risk associated with the move—especially because of the speed of change that COVID-19 made necessary.
Despite the risk, we’ve stayed on track as a company. There are several reasons this hasty adjustment worked out. Our leadership and culture paved the way through this change. They practice leading by example and have deliberately cultivated a culture trained for change.
But we can’t take credit for everything, the sales tools listed below make remote work physically possible for JumpCrew. Let’s talk about our tech stack.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a piece of the JumpCrew tech stack that we’ve maintained since the early days. Most of the sales industry relies on Salesforce to manage customer data and interactions. If you’re not familiar, Salesforce defines itself as a customer relationship management solution. It’s a one-stop-shop for all departments to have a single, shared view of every lead, opportunity, and customer.
When asked how Salesforce enables JumpCrew to work from home, our director of partnerships said:
“If it’s not in Salesforce, it didn’t happen”… this is what we often say in our sales org. Now more than ever it’s crucial that we practice what we preach. Salesforce empowers each individual sales professional to manage and maintain their pipeline. It also enables sales leadership to have an overarching view of the team’s trajectory & forecast without needing to walk across the room and ask for an update.”
– Abbey Keane
Slack
Slack is the lifeline to JumpCrew’s culture. Sure, we have regular in-person events (when we’re not social distancing), but the energy and collaboration that take place throughout the plethora of Slack channels at JumpCrew are irreplaceable.
We have anything you could want: access to every employee, a place to put the #random things you can’t resist sharing, team channels, office-specific channels, places to throw inspirational quotes, #news, a spot to share the latest tunes, #cat_committee, the rivaling #dog_committee, and much more.
“Slack connects all of my teams together and allows me to stay in-touch with daily check-ins as if I were swinging by their desk. It also helps bring the team together in other ways… like a work from home pets channel that gives everyone a smile during these trying times of quarantine. After all, pets are the real winners here.”
– Reese Hawkins
“The Slack call function has been our version of dropping by someone’s desk for help—quick one-off video chat capabilities are super convenient right now and great that it’s on the platform we’re already using all day.”
– Courtney Hooks
HubSpot
HubSpot is many things. Aside from being inspired by their content library and resources on the marketing side, our sales teams rely on HubSpot’s CRM tool to organize their touchpoints and provide visibility to managers.
“Hubspot allows my team to document and keep track of communication with leads. It also allows real-time updates so we can be confident in reaching out to leads with the most accurate and reliable information at hand.”
– Ally Schuchert
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is a B2B contact database. This sales tool helps reps find and connect with their ideal customer. JumpCrew services several different industries and verticals through our Satellite Sales, Sales Enablement Marketing, and Full Funnel services. Because of this, we need a quick and reliable way to enter new markets and provide new reps with quality leads. Another benefit to ZoomInfo is the integration with other tools we use like HubSpot and Salesforce. Integration is vital for leadership and general visibility as we work from home.
They also have a free trial if you’re interested in testing the waters.
“Zoominfo is the most accurate data acquisition tool I’ve used in the past 12 years of my sales career and it’s easy integrations with our technology stack (Salesforce, Outreach) keeps my client acquisition engine running at the office or even remote”.
– Daniel Naaman
Outreach.io
Outreach.io is an engagement platform for sales that helps manage all customer interactions across email, voice, and social. Outreach also leverages machine learning to guide reps to take the right actions. JumpCrew became an engagement partner to the platform after seeing fast success internally. See below for crew opinions of Outreach.io and why it’s particularly handy during the recent transition to work from home.
“Outreach has been instrumental in our ability to create workflows that are easy to use for our salespeople, as well as easy to interpret and iterate on for our sales leaders. Regardless of where our teams are working from, all activities and data are centralized so we can capitalize on momentum quickly.”
– Jarron Vosburg
“Outreach makes it possible to strategically schedule/sequence calls and to send emails to customers. It also connects with Salesforce and Google Calendar to help streamline your workflow.”
– Caroline Schmitz
I enjoy [CRM company] but wish we were using Outreach, it’s just more centralized for organizing more forms of combined touches when it comes to reaching out to leads. And it helps to semi-automate, which I think would allow me to be more efficient at more meaningful activities like phone calls.”
– Anonymous JumpCrew survey quote
Dialpad
Like most of the sales tools mentioned, Dialpad has several separate functionalities. JumpCrew clocks the most time with Dialpad Talk and Dialpad Support. The software has been an integral part of the quick switch to remote life at JumpCrew. Managers can see when calls were placed, for how long, and each number called along with more detailed analytics. Each sales rep also has Dialpad integrated with Salesforce, feeding into JumpCrew’s overarching CRM.
Pro tip: Dialpad is offering a free two month trial in the wake of the recent work from home push. Check out their sales tools here.
“Dialpad makes it easy to track reps hourly progress and help coach reps on live calls.”
– Kenneth Harris
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Linkedin Sales Navigator enables reps to reach the right customers. Using the search and filter features on the platform, sales teams, organizations, and individuals can find and nurture opportunities into customers. Deep insights, extended reach, and real-time updates are among the features and benefits that make LinkedIn Sales Navigator perfect for JumpCrew. At a time when personal connections are sparse, a sales tool like LinkedIn Sales Navigator can assist in building a relationship.
“LinkedIn Sales Nav allows us to add an additional layer of connection with our clients and partners. Giving us the ability to connect on a professional and personal level as well as sharing ideas relevant to the landscape of our industry as well as theirs. Which is especially important in extraordinary times.”
– Tyler Orr
“Sales Navigator is the best invention of all time.”
– Anonymous JumpCrew survey quote
“Linkedin Sales Nave is the best for finding the person with the exact title you are looking for, or at least a group of people that are in the right department.”
– Anonymous JumpCrew survey quote
Hunter.io
Hunter is used as a sales tool by 2,000,000+ professionals including our reps at JumpCrew. The software helps to find the email addresses of people you want to contact both one by one or in bulk. Building a database is difficult and having a full pipeline is the most important part of the job as a salesperson—enter Hunter.io. Between tools like Hunter, ZoomInfo, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, JumpCrew is able to confidently charter unknown territory.
“Hunter allows me to see when my emails have been viewed so I can build a proper sales cadence.”
– Anonymous JumpCrew survey quote
Google Hangouts
A video conferencing tool is probably the most important tool utilized during remote work. Our office uses several conferencing tools but Google Hangouts came out on top in an internal survey.
Conclusion
This past week, JumpCrew along with the rest of the workforce, took a leap for the well-being of the community. Being a young company comes with growing pains—we jump, fall, and get back up daily; it’s part of the hustle. With this particular jump, being young, adaptable to change, and tech-first prepared us to land on our feet.
JumpCrew didn’t have a remote work policy one week ago and now every employee is successfully working from home. We’ve observed the importance of having sales tools that are both integrated within the tech stack itself and also ingrained in every move that reps make. Working across five states, our employees are communication pros. Keeping communication high during the “jumps” is what it’s all about.