In today’s business world, it’s all revenue 💰

Sales teams find the right customers to meet their sales goals with the help of some amazing tools. There are many out there. But the two essential ones are- 

• A Sales engagement platform
• A CRM

Most salespeople think only a CRM like HubSpot or Salesloft is sufficient, but that’s not true.  

In today’s tech-savvy world, the personal touch is still essential, with 83% of buyers expecting customized interactions.

This is where the Sales engagement platform vs CRM debate comes into play. 

No longer just an extra option, both a CRM and a Sales engagement platform are necessary to excel in sales. Using a Sales engagement platform without a CRM or vice versa would hinder productivity and efficiency. 

Let’s explore the differences between the essential tools: Sales engagement platform vs CRM.

Topics covered

• What is a Sales engagement platform?
• What is a CRM?
• Sales engagement platform vs CRM
• Why do you need both SEP and CRM
• Is Salesforce a Sales engagement platform?

What is a Sales engagement platform?

Selling in today’s world is tough. 

Buyers are super informed, so reaching them means finding new ways to personalize your outreach, connect on various channels, and engage regularly.

But here’s the kicker: salespeople spend more time on tasks than actually selling. That’s where a Sales engagement platform comes in.

A Sales engagement platform helps you deliver top-notch, automated, and personalized interactions with prospects on a large scale. It handles repetitive tasks like outreach campaigns, engagement tracking, and analysis.

With a Sales engagement platform, you can focus on meaningful engagement, building relationships, finding solutions, and closing deals. 

It’s a must-have for high-functioning, fast-growing organizations.

According to Gartner’s 2017 Sales Development Technology Benchmark Report, Sales engagement platforms are top-rated technology in terms of positive ROI.

Why? Because it streamlines the entire engagement process:

• Single Interface: It provides a single interface for managing daily activities.
• Efficiency: You can email, call, and message prospects without leaving the platform.
• Planning and Execution: Create campaigns with multiple touchpoints and automate follow-ups.
• Integration: Synchronize data with other tools seamlessly.
• Metrics & Optimization: Analyze metrics, see what works, and optimize your process easily.

In short, a Sales engagement platform is your secret weapon for successful sales in today’s competitive landscape.

A few examples include Salesgear, Lemlist, and Klenty.

What is a CRM?

Customers are the lifeblood of any business.

Every time you talk to a potential customer, have a meeting, or follow up, you learn something valuable that can he

lp your business grow.

But where does all this valuable information go? Enter the CRM!

A CRM, or Customer Relationship Management system, is like the central nervous system of your business operations. It collects, organizes, and transforms customer data into actionable insights that can supercharge your business.

With a CRM, you can effortlessly manage customer interactions across various channels, from emails to phone calls. 

You can track the progress of deals from their beginning to closure, gaining valuable insights into your sales pipeline.

CRMs have the potential to skyrocket sales productivity by up to 34% and increase customer retention rates by a whopping 27%! (Source: Salesforce)

However, the benefits of a CRM extend far beyond sales. The real power of a CRM lies in how it keeps your customer data tidy and organized. Instead of fumbling through scattered notes or spreadsheets, everything is neatly in one place. 

It helps you-

• Build stronger customer relationships by providing a centralized database of customer information, including contact details, product purchase history, preferences, and interactions.
• Personalize your sales efforts by segmenting customers based on their behavior and preferences, allowing you to send targeted messages.
• Automate repetitive tasks, such as pipeline management, freeing up your time to focus on closing more deals.
• Track sales performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
• Enhance collaboration and communication within different departments, such as sales, marketing, and customer service, to access and update customer information in real time, ensuring a unified customer experience across touchpoints.

Classic examples of CRMs are Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Zoho.

Sales engagement platform vs CRM

Now you might be thinking- so, SEP and CRM are the same!

Nope.

People starting in the world of B2B sales assume that a Sales engagement platform vs CRM is a never-ending battle. But they never realize that these two tools are different and go hand in hand.

So, what is the difference between a CRM and a Sales engagement platform?

As mentioned earlier, your CRM has all the customer information and interactions, while your Sales engagement platform automates personalized interactions with buyers.

These tools are like the two sides of a coin but have their differences.

Here are the major differences between SEP and CRM –

Feature	Sales Engagement Platform (SEP)	Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Focus	Sales process optimization, prospect engagement, and workflow automation	Customer relationship management, data organization, and customer insights
User base	SDRs, BDRs	Account executives, customer success teams, marketing teams, and customer support teams
Functionality	Streamlines sales workflows, automates tasks, and facilitates personalized prospect engagement across multiple channels	Manages customer data, tracks interactions, supports pipeline management
Communication	Enables personalized communication with prospects through emails, calls, and social media interactions	Integrates with SEP and syncs all communication data
Opportunity and contract management	Streamlines sales process by managing prospect journey and handling quotations	Takes care of pipeline management
Predictive analytics	Uses AI to enhance personalization across multiple channels	Doesn’t give the same level of customization

1. Focus and Users

A CRM is tailored for maintaining and nurturing existing customer relationships, primarily used by account executives and customer success teams to gain insights into the entire customer journey.

On the other hand, a Sales engagement platform (SEP) can be a versatile system. 

It is predominantly used by SDRs and BDRs for scaling personalized communication across various channels like email, calls, and social media platforms.

Depending on your sales team’s structure, Sales managers and Account Executives also leverage SEP for sales training using data from past activities.

Additionally, Inbound SDRs and Marketing teams also benefit from using SEP. It helps marketing teams pass on qualified leads to the right salespeople at the right times, ensuring consistent messaging and a unified experience.

2. Functionality and Sales Forecasting

CRM serves as a centralized tool for managing leads and contacts, integrating data across teams like sales, marketing, customer success, and support, and facilitating accessibility in one place.

On the other hand, a SEP is renowned for its advanced sales forecasting capabilities. You can manage daily tasks, schedule meetings, and track sales progress, help plan tasks, move campaigns forward, and predict sales based on the available data.

3. Task Management and Team Collaboration

Your Sales Engagement tool does more than you might think—it records, writes down, and adds notes to all your calls and meetings. 

This creates a handy library of the best ways to do things, making it easy to copy what your most successful team members do.

With SEP, you can be sure you’re making smart decisions and creating plans that work, leading to more wins for your team.

And the good news? When you connect all this important info to your CRM, it helps your team work together seamlessly. No more confusion—everyone from any team can find the info they need easily.

So, it’s not just handy—it’s a game-changer for your team’s success.

4. Opportunity and contract management

CRM is a master at handling sales opportunities by overseeing the entire pipeline, managing contract agreements.

For instance, you can use a CRM to track the journey of a potential deal, from the very first contact to sealing the contract. It ensures all the necessary documents are neatly organized and easily accessible, streamlining the sales process.

On the other hand, Sales engagement platforms are designed to streamline the sales process by managing contract agreements, maintaining the sales pipeline, and handling quotations.

With a SEP, you can automate the process of generating and sending quotes to potential clients, ensuring every detail is accurate and the sales cycle runs smoothly.

5. Customer Relationship Management vs. Sales Process Management

As the name suggests, CRM helps you build, manage, and nurture relationships with potential prospects and customers.

While a Sales engagement platform is geared towards managing the sales process itself, it focuses on streamlining integration workflows between multiple tools, automating repetitive tasks, and optimizing sales activities to drive conversions and revenue.

You can find new leads for your outbound efforts and have conversations with them across various channels to accelerate your sales cycle.

More versatile sales engagement tools, like Salesgear, include additional features such as email warming and domain health monitoring built-in. Such platforms make your process even easier and save you time and money.

6. Predictive analytics

Most SEPs today use AI and ML (machine Learning) to predict future trends, behaviors, and decisions based on past data. While this might be possible with the latest CRMs, this is not typically possible with traditional CRMs.

Similarly, a sales engagement platform helps in better understanding your prospects’ needs through hyper personalization. For example, there are SEPs available which have an AI writing assistant built-in.

A CRM cannot give you the same level of personalization as it primarily serves as a database for storing prospect/ customer information and tracking other interactions.

These are the key 6 differences between SEP and CRM. However, some salespeople still are confused about aspects such as customer engagement and sales with CRM.

Let’s take a look at them –

• What is the difference between CRM and customer engagement?

CRM and customer engagement are related concepts but serve different purposes.

As you know, CRM is used to manage interactions with current and potential customers. This involves collecting, analyzing, and tracking prospect data to improve relationships.

On the other hand, customer engagement is the actual process that you go through to build relationships. It focuses on experiences that you have with your potential customers. This can happen across various touch points. 

• What is the difference between CRM and sales?

Sales specifically refers to the process of selling products to your customers. 

It involves activities such as prospecting, lead generation, pitching, negotiating, and closing deals. Sales teams are responsible for driving revenue by converting leads into paying customers. 

While a CRM can support sales activities by providing tools for managing leads, tracking sales pipelines, and analyzing sales data, sales itself is a more focused and action-oriented aspect of the overall customer relationship management process.

Why do you need both SEP and CRM?

SEP + CRM = the winning combination to elevate your sales process.

When you bring these two powerful tools together, you open the door to smoother operations, stronger customer connections, and increased sales. 

Here’s how they team up –

1. Sharing and Syncing Data Seamlessly

Your CRM serves as the backbone, and stores valuable customer data, while your SEP takes charge of actively engaging with prospects.

Through seamless integration, these platforms share information in real time. 

When your sales team updates a contact in the CRM, your SEP instantly syncs, and vice versa. This ensures everyone stays on the same page.

2. Enhanced Contact Handling

Your CRM holds vital contact information, and your SEP takes actionable steps. 

Integration ensures that every interaction with a contact is recorded across both platforms, providing a comprehensive view of the customer journey. 

From the initial contact to the final deal closure, no detail goes unnoticed.

3. Efficient Communication

Your SEP excels in personalized communication, sending emails, and follow-ups. When integrated with your CRM, it taps into up-to-date contact information, enabling more personalized messages. 

This personalized touch significantly boosts engagement and conversions.

4. Improved Reporting and Analytical Insights

Your SEP tracks engagement metrics like email opens and link clicks, while your CRM stores essential customer information. 

Integration allows for comprehensive analysis, providing insights into how engagement efforts impact sales. With this data, you can fine-tune and optimize your strategies for optimal results.

5. Automated Workflows

Workflows are like your daily routines, well-planned.

Your SEP automates tasks like sending follow-up emails, setting reminders, and booking meetings. 

With seamless integration with your CRM, both platforms work harmoniously to streamline the sales process. This will allow your team to focus on building relationships and closing deals; instead of wasting time and energy on manual & redundant admin tasks.

As you can see, there is only a fine line between a CRM and a Sales engagement platform. Yes, there are differences but you will find quite a few functionalities overlap too. 

End of the day the truth is a sales team cannot automate their activities without these 2 tools.

Let’s talk tools

Is Salesforce a Sales engagement platform?

When it comes to evaluating Sales engagement platforms, nearly 60% of sales teams initially consider Salesforce. But does Salesforce have a Sales engagement platform?

Well, Salesforce is a CRM but they also offer a platform called ‘Salesforce Sales Engagement’.

According to reviews from Gartner Peer Insights, many sales teams use this tool primarily for lead management. However, other reviews are saying it can be challenging to set up and use efficiently.

One of the sales teams had to hire a third-party consultation just to make sure the setup was good to go! 👀

Similarly, there are numerous sales tools available for various aspects of the sales process, including prospecting, email warming, and cold calling.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that integrating just these two tools – an all-in-one Sales engagement platform and a CRM – is all that’s necessary to effectively automate your workflows.

Key takeaways

To sum up, a sales team needs to understand the differences between SEP and CRM.

• Focus and Users: CRMs nurture customer relationships, while SEPs streamline sales communication for SDRs and BDRs. Sales managers leverage SEPs for training and lead qualification.
• Functionality and Sales Forecasting: CRMs centralize lead management, while SEPs excel in sales forecasting, optimizing sales processes.
• Task Management and Team Collaboration: SEPs record calls and meetings, integrating with CRMs for seamless collaboration and information access.
• Opportunity and Contract Management: CRMs manage the sales pipeline and contracts, while SEPs automate quoting and enhance sales cycle efficiency.
• Customer Relationship vs. Sales Process Management: CRMs focus on customer relations, while SEPs optimize sales processes. Versatile SEPs offer additional features like email warming and domain monitoring.
• Predictive Analytics: SEPs leverage AI for predictive analytics, offering hyper-personalization, unlike CRMs.

Therefore, CRMs are great for managing relationships and learning about customers, while SEPs make sales tasks easier and faster.

By using both together, teams can make their strategies better, make customers happier, and sell more in less time.