For many sales reps, frequently having to go on a sales trip is a normal part of the job. And even when traveling, an essential part of being successful is staying on top of emails, chat messages, customer requests, sales reports, sales activity tracking, and expense reports.
But, being on the move and outside of your normal environment can sometimes make these things more difficult to accomplish. Next thing you know, you’ve got messages piling up and a day’s worth of notes to try and compile. The good thing is that there are handy sales tools that help sales reps easily keep up with important tasks, even when on a sales trip. Thus, helping to ensure that things don’t get back up while you’re traveling.
To help you stay on top of your game, we’ve put together a list of 5 of the best productivity apps for sales reps to use on a sales / business trip.
One of the most anxiety-inducing things about being on a sales trip is worrying about important emails falling through the cracks. Powered by smart AI, SaneBox will help bring a whole new level of organization and productivity to your email inbox. Thus, helping to ensure that nothing is missed, even when you are traveling.
This app helps you manage your email inbox more efficiently and effectively by sorting your incoming emails into special SaneBox folders and helping you focus on the important ones first. The more you use the app, the better it gets at knowing which content or senders are important to you. It not only learns which emails are distractions, but which ones require a reminder or a follow-up (which can be automated within the app!). Important emails automatically stay in your inbox, while junk or other distracting emails are moved to the specified folders. SaneBox also includes features such as email tracking and automatic unsubscribing from those annoying unwanted marketing emails.
SaneBox can be used with a variety of email platforms, including Outlook, Google, and iCloud.
As a leading messaging and collaboration app, Slack helps sales teams and leadership stay connected by allowing them to communicate in real-time, share files, and view updates, even when on a sales trip.
With this tool, reps can easily stay in contact and collaborate with their team by sending messages, sharing documents, and participating in group conversations. Additionally, reps can set up notifications to be alerted when messages or documents are shared or when there are important updates from the team as well as create custom “channels” for specific topics. All of these functions allow for a seamless connection between reps and their team and ensure everyone stays on the same page.
You can also use Slack to communicate with customers in real-time, ensuring that you are still able to effectively meet their needs, even when you are traveling. Slack also has the capability to integrate with your team’s sales CRM to help keep prospect and customer data up-to-date and manage deals.
MileIQ is a convenient and reliable automated mileage-tracking app that helps sales reps track their business miles. Whether you are on a sales trip and visiting several places or driving your normal sales route within your territory, the app automatically detects the start and end point of your drive, calculates the total distance driven, and logs each trip as you drive.
The app also makes it simple to categorize drives as a business trip or personal trip with just one swipe, making it easier to record expenses accurately. Plus, MileIQ offers users detailed reports, making it easier to track mileage expenses for reimbursement or tax purposes. This app is a great tool for sales reps who are out on the road and need to be able to easily track their travels.
Expensify is a mobile-friendly expense management platform that helps businesses and employees track and manage their expenses. For sales reps who are on a sales trip, Expensify can be an invaluable tool in helping you easily keep your expenses organized, stay on budget, and keep records for tax deductions, even on the go.
With this app, you can quickly snap a picture of a receipt to capture, store, and submit expenses, as well as automatically generate expense reports. By using Expensify, sales reps can streamline expense tracking efforts and ensure that everything is properly documented and accounted for. You can also link a credit or debit card to the app and specified charges will be included in the expense report automatically.
With Expensify, you’ll help reduce the time needed for necessary admin tasks and make your sales trips more efficient and profitable.
Purpose-built for B2B outside sales teams, Map My Customers is an all-in-one sales productivity powerhouse that helps reps supercharge their sales effectiveness while making their work days much easier. As much more than a sales mapping and routing app, Map My Customers offers easy-to-use features like:
Smart Planner: This visualized daily agenda shows exactly what’s on tap for the day and also includes smart suggestions to help you fill in gaps in the day with opportunities, the ability to set recurring activities, and even turn your agenda into an optimized sales route in seconds.
In-Depth Sales Reports: With robust real-time sales reporting, reps and sales managers can easily track their sales pipeline within sales territories, get a bird’s eye view of all sales activity, view a sales heat map, and more!
Lead Finder: This feature makes prospecting on the go easier than ever before (even when on a sales trip!). With the built-in Lead Finder, reps can quickly fill in gaps in their day with nearby prospects, pinpoint new opportunities, and close more deals.
Easier Customer Management: Reps can more effectively keep track of customer visits and next steps by easily adding notes and setting follow-ups within Map My Customers that can sync right back to your CRM.
Map My Customers can serve as your team’s main CRM by itself or can be integrated seamlessly with some of the top sales CRMs.
Take Advantage of Travel Time to Expand Your Knowledge
One thing that all top sales professionals have in common is that they make time to study their craft and expand their knowledge. And along with an opportunity to utilize productivity apps, a sales trip can also give you time to read or listen to good sales books.
Your travel time on the airplane or in a car is a great time to listen to books like “The Psychology of Selling” by Brian Tracy or “Sell It Like Serhant” by Ryan Serhant. Make the most of your time spent traveling by taking the action to become the best sales professional that you can.
Utilizing Apps Built to Maximize Productivity on the Road = Ensuring Success Even While on a Sales Trip
Using productivity apps on a sales trip, like the ones we covered above, can help you stay organized and maximize your time. Apps like email organizers, team chat apps, mileage tracking, automated expense reporting, and smart planners enable sales reps to stay on top of their duties even outside of their normal environment. Thus, resulting in a more effective sales trip.
With the right productivity apps and sales tools, you can get the most out of your sales trip, stay on top of admin tasks, and still be able to focus on what matters most: closing deals. So, make sure to try out some of these apps on your next trip!
