10 Startup Friendly Tools to Help Your Lead-Generation Efforts Here are a list of some the best tools out there to help get customers to come knocking in no time.
By AJ Agrawal Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For startups, it can be hard to close a deal. Hell, it's hard enough even to get prospects to walk in the door. As the new kid on the block, your startup faces the challenge of not only having to educate people on what your product does but why they should give it a shot.
Related: 10 Ways to Quickly Generate Leads
While there's a lot for your sales team to try to juggle, not to fret: I've listed below some of the best tools out there to help get customers to come knocking, in no time.
Leadfeeder
Leadfeeder is a lead-generation platform that uses Google Analytics to see what your potential customers are doing in real time. One of the great things about it for B2B sales is its ability to look at the specific companies visiting your site and aggregate whom to contact via LinkedIn. This gives you a personalized look at not only what customers visited, but also where they went on your site (as well as what they do).
Finally, Leadfeeder can integrate with your CRM and email tracking software, as well.
Woopra
Like Leadfeeder, Woopra is another lead-generation platform, targeted at the B2C market. Its capabilities are massive, covering anything from SaaS, ecommerce and mobile, to content, banking and travel. Plus, Woopra can also be integrated into almost any tool under the sun. With a comprehensive and intuitive interface, Woopra can be a huge help for creating customer profiles, real-time analytics and personalized behaviors.
MailChimp
MailChimp is the absolute king of email marketing right now. In fact, check the last marketing email in your inbox and I'll almost guarantee you it was sent by someone using MailChimp.
With tons of customizable templates available for any of your mailing list needs, Mailchimp's platform also allows for ecommerce and social integrations, as well as automated behaviors and analytics. While these are just a few of the reasons this tool is on top of the game right now, you should take a peek yourself to see why.
Optinmonster
If you're struggling with signups, then Optinmonster is the way to go. Its lead-generation software for email sign-ups helps you build out your subscriber list by offering multiple types of forms, A/B testings on design and even analytics. Additionally, Optinmonster can be integrated with almost every major email marketing platform (as well as every ecommerce platform).
Related: How to Optimize Your Site for Lead Generation
SalesforceIQ
Every sales team should have a solid CRM in place, and SalesforceIQ is one of the top ones out there. Originally known as RelateIQ, the company's quick rise to success back then caused it to be acquired by SalesForce, in 2014. Retaining the same ease of use and functionality, SalesForceIQ today should definitely be on your sales team's wishlist.
Mailtrack
Mailtrack is about as simple as it gets: It alerts you if an email from your gmail account has been received and read. This can be a great tool for generating leads, as it allows you to see how successful your direct cold-calling has been; and it suggests improvements for when to send mail and how to structure your subject lines.
Boomerang
Boomerang helps you schedule out when you send and receive emails. This is a great sales technique for startups, especially for those with leads coming from both coasts.
Growthlist
As we're all looking for the next unicorn, Growthlist helps aggregate the fastest-growing tech companies to convert them to customers. With its team of researchers, Growthlist digs deep into the information you need to assess customers' value, including information on what's on their sites, their traction and the validity of their startups.
Q Customer
Customer intelligence is vital, which is why Q Customer exists. By aggregating all of your customer data from multiple sources, this tool is able to personalize your customers' experience according to their needs.
Related: A Straightforward Guide To Effective B2B Lead Generation
Buffer
If you're trying to target lead generation through social media, then it's important to focus on producing quality content. However, if you're just looking to attract more people to your social media, then Buffer can be a great tool. By allowing you to schedule out your posts and specify what platforms they're going to, Buffer helps you track engagement with your audience, which in turn can turn them into customers.
