Being a salesperson isn’t easy. We have to be charming, well-versed in our product or service, and extremely organized to do our jobs successfully. But how can we accomplish this? The right sales tools can go a long way toward increasing productivity and boosting the bottom line.

Here are 5 sales tools that can help you become more efficient when it comes to preparing for meetings, finding new leads, and managing current accounts.

1. Meeting Mapper

Say hello to Meeting Mapper. This iPad app makes meeting management and planning easier than ever. All sales opportunities and projects start and end with meetings. But, it’s the information that you capture in those meetings that determines whether or not you will win or lose the opportunity. Using Meeting Mapper allows you to capture notes (internal and external) as well as the role, stance and level of participation of all the meeting attendees and assign next steps or action items. What you do with this information is also very critical, using Meeting Mapper you can share this information to your team members via: Dropbox, Box, Evernote, and/or SalesForce.

2. PowerDialer

PowerDialer for Salesforce is a powerful collection of communication tools to call, contact, and sell more effectively. The easy-to-use interface takes lists of names directly from your CRM and plugs them in, eliminating the pain of manual dialing, then instantly moves to the next best call in your list at the click of a button. The software incorporates best practices and predictive analytics so your sales reps aren’t simply making more calls, but they are also calling the right people at the best times to double contact rates and increase sales. Features include one-click actions, such as calling, voice messaging, and emailing, as well as a log to track call, record, and daily metrics. After the sale, you can gain valuable insights with robust reports to learn what worked and what didn’t.

3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Put an end to your cold calling with sales prospecting through the power of social selling. LinkedIn Sales Navigator will help you find, engage and build your network. If you’re already using a free LinkedIn account as a business tool to look for jobs or stay connected with colleagues, you already know about the amazing reach and opportunities that exist in your collective network of contacts. As sales professionals, we know it can often feel like we are searching for a needle in a haystack when it comes to finding higher quality sales leads. With the help of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, building a better lead list just got a lot easier. By upgrading to a Sales Basic account for $19.99/month, you will be able to use Lead Builder and Premium Search filters to identify the right prospects quickly. You’ll know more about prospects before reaching out and you will be able to access the profile details of 3rd degree connections.

4. SalesLoft Prospector

SalesLoft Prospector is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to build prospect lists. You can build highly specific and targeted searches from anywhere on the web using this browser extension. Search for titles, industry, location, social network groups, and more. Utilize SalesLoft within social networks by grabbing data from public profiles, no matter your level of connection. Additionally, you can export your information to Excel or Google Spreadsheet as well as sync your data directly with Salesforce.com. This is another great tool for increasing your efficiency when prospecting for new leads.

5. Rapportive

Rapportive is a free Gmail add-on that provides contact information right in your inbox. As you can see in the screenshot below, you can automatically see a contact's picture, job title, location, and social media profiles. In your inbox view, you can even click on any of the social media links to be automatically directed to a contact's social profile. When you’re ready to start communicating with the sales leads you’ve gathered, Rapportive helps you visualize who exactly you’re talking to. It allows you to gather further context by looking at their social media profiles so that we can learn more about who they are and what they are interested in. This results in more personalized communication that leads to an increased response rate.

What sales tools are you using to make your prospecting efforts easier? Share your comments below!