My days were 36 hours when I was a part of a sales team.
Some people misconstrue the work of a sales team as limited to calling and selling. But it is much more than that. I remember spending my days frantically calling, emailing, and texting clients, but at the end of the day, no conversation bore any fruit.
Other than maintaining quarterly sales targets, we were also responsible for client acquisition, pipeline visibility, revenue growth, and deal closures. But I remember most of my time being eaten up in manual CRM workflows. Had I known about sales engagement software back then, I wouldn’t have pulled my hair or blamed the marketing team every now and then for sourcing low-quality leads.
That's why I started exploring the best software for boosting sales efficiency. These are tools that could streamline communication, eliminate repetitive tasks, and actually help my team hit targets without burnout.
A sales engagement software automates multi-channel lead distribution, offers personalized coaching, and integrates with CRM to analyze lead histories, lead progress, and sales conversations. It also tracks sales performance, ensures consistency, and converts with a higher potential.
Carrying a bag of prior experience, I went to the market and evaluated 10+ sales engagement software to assess their role in lead generation to convert better.
According to G2's Winter 2025 Grid Report, these sales engagement software are top-rated in their category. I’ve also included their monthly pricing to facilitate easier comparisons for you.
When I set out to to evaluate sales engagement tools, I first made a list of major sales-related challenges and growth areas. As I recalled my own experience, the picture got clearer. The day-to-day struggle consisted of calling prospects, manually updating records, and personalizing content for each prospect from the start.
My personal reason for evaluating sales engagement software was to support sales and marketing teams in the process of creating sales journeys. That's when I came across some tools that played a major part in automating sales activities to improve conversions.
I was searching for the best tool for managing sales engagements, one that could centralize lead tracking, automate follow-ups, and provide pipeline clarity. That’s how I narrowed it down to this list.
According to G2 Data, 72% of sales teams successfully adopt their sales engagement platform, showing high user engagement and most recover their investment in under eight months, a clear sign these tools deliver fast, measurable impact. The market for these tools are expected to hit $55.7 billion by 2034, reflecting clear demand.
If you are looking for sales engagement software and don't know where to start, consider this list to further fine-tune your requirements.
I spent weeks comparing various sales engagement software and evaluating its key features, such as multi-channel sourcing, personalized reporting and analytics, performance tracking, AI coaching, and lead profiling.
In addition to analyzing the top features, I factored in other important parameters in the experimentation, like pricing, pros and cons, user reviews, benefits, and drawbacks. I also used AI to narrow down key headliners and differentiators of each product to collate an unbiased software analysis.
For the tool I couldn't test due to limited access, I consulted a professional with hands-on experience and validated their insights using verified G2 reviews. The screenshots featured in this article may be a mix of those obtained from the vendor’s G2 page and publicly available materials.
I also paid close attention to user sentiments, emotions, and market trends for the sales engagement software mentioned below. I identified the trends
to portray a complete picture of the sentiments and reviews that exist in the market. This list properly evaluates details like market presence, cost-effectiveness, budget satisfaction, and real market sentiments shared by the users.
My prior experience with the sales team proved monumental in the entire lifecycle of software evaluation. I tried to analyze the sales engagement software on crucial sales targets. The ultimate goal here was to evaluate how each tool matches up to the end goal of sales revenue, high-quality lead generation, and repeat consumer rate.
If you're wondering what’s the top sales engagement tool for your team, it depends on your pipeline complexity, sales strategy, and budget. But I’ve included personalized recommendations throughout this article to help you decide.
The ideal sales engagement software is a catalyst to the CRM tool that optimizes outbound sales, manages lead journeys, and ensures consistency in overall sales connections.
By collating the experience of my prior sales job and shortlisting key differentiators of the tools mentioned below, I was able to sum up my experience:
The list below contains genuine user reviews from sales engagement software. To be included in this category, a solution must:
*This data was pulled from G2 in 2025. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
The best thing about Salesforce Sales Cloud is that it offers a centralized platform for monitoring all sales activities and operations and providing real-time insights.
It is one of those tools that can completely transform how a business operates, but only if you harness its full power. I was able to streamline my sales processes, manage customer interactions, and get analytical reports to improve the strategies for the future.
What I absolutely loved about Salesforce Sales Cloud is the ability to centralize everything. Every lead, every customer interaction, and every deal in progress is in one place.
I built automation workflows for lead nurturing and eliminated manual data entry and email creation workflows. Features like Einstein AI-driven analytics helped me prioritize leads and forecast sales with surprising accuracy. I also had access to the custom dashboard that allowed me to visualize performance metrics and easily plan team tasks.
I also appreciated how flexible it is — whether I needed to customize fields, automate follow-ups, or integrate third-party apps from the AppExchange, I was able to do everything.
Salesforce Sales Cloud offers deep customization and automation capabilities, but teams should be prepared to invest some time to learn during setup and configuration. G2 users note that while the platform’s flexibility makes it ideal for managing complex pipelines and multiple sales teams, it can take time to tailor workflows effectively.
Pricing is structured across multiple tiers — Essential, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited, each offering different levels of customization, automation, and support. Teams looking for advanced features and scalability will find Salesforce Sales Cloud a powerful choice, though one that requires careful planning and consideration.
Overall, Salesforce Sales Cloud is a comprehensive sales and marketing suite that provides effective sales automation and pipeline management features to help you reach your revenue. It’s no surprise that Salesforce is often called the best-rated sales engagement platform for large enterprises, especially given its AI-powered forecasting, AppExchange ecosystem, and deep customization options.
"Salesforce Sales Cloud is a powerful, all-in-one CRM that helps businesses streamline sales processes, improve productivity, and drive revenue growth. One of its standout features is its AI-powered automation, which makes lead management, forecasting, and pipeline tracking incredibly efficient.
Another major advantage of the platform is its customizability. Businesses can tailor workflows, reports, and dashboards to fit their unique needs. The platform's integration capabilities with other tools like Slack, Outlook, and third-party apps make collaboration seamless.
- Salesforce Sales Cloud Review, Assay Poulose P.
"One challenge I’ve faced is user adoption. While Salesforce Sales Cloud is intuitive, the sheer number of features can be overwhelming for new users. However, Salesforce’s in-app guidance and training resources, such as Trailhead, have made onboarding easier. As an admin, I’ve spent considerable time customizing layouts, automating tasks, and creating user-friendly interfaces to improve adoption rates across teams."
- Salesforce Sales Cloud Review, Shireen S.
Train your sales team adeptly by forming a brand new sales script and encouraging them to face clients head-on with improved communication skills.
I have spent a good deal of time evaluating HubSpot Sales Hub, and I love how it centralizes inbound and outbound sales actions, pipeline visibility, and lead progress onto one platform.
The first thing that stands out is how seamlessly it integrates with partner applications. It offers email automation, lead tracking, and CRM insights for you to stay aware of what is happening at the tail end of your sales pipeline.
The email tracking and automation features make it effortless to monitor conversations with prospects. I get a real-time notification when someone opens a mail, which helps me time my follow-ups correctly.
I was particularly impressed with the deal tracking dashboard, which provided a clear view of where my leads are in the funnel.
The CRM itself is incredibly user-friendly, which is a relief because I have had a fair share of struggles with clunky sales software in the past. I was happy with the automated data logging that stores every email, call, and interaction in the system without any manual intervention.
HubSpot's ability to help with email blasts, automated follow-ups, and integration with tools like Apollo makes it a great asset for outbound sales teams.
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HubSpot Sales Hub is a strong fit for growing teams that want to connect marketing, sales, and customer data in one place. G2 users often highlight its intuitive interface, seamless CRM integration, and automation features that make scaling outreach simple and efficient.
That said, some reviewers mention that advanced automation and reporting capabilities are limited to higher-tier plans, which may make it harder for smaller teams to build fully customized workflows. A few users also note that differentiating between leads and deals can take some getting used to, especially during the initial setup phase.
Still, for teams that value ease of use, cross-department visibility, and a strong foundation for long-term sales growth, HubSpot Sales Hub remains one of the most accessible and scalable options in the category.
Overall, HubSpot Sales Hub is a powerful sales collaboration tool that can create transparency in deal funnels, metrics, and lead-generation tasks for you and your teams.
"What I really appreciate about HubSpot is its easy use, especially the kanban-style layout for managing deals. It makes it really simple to visualize where everything stands, and I love how it keeps my emails automatically recorded. Plus, it's quite affordable compared to other tools, which is a big plus, especially considering the range of features I get access to. Most of my lead generation tools can be integrated with HubSpot. It can be easily implemented with other tools."
- HubSpot Sales Hub Review, Roselle P.
"One area where HubSpot Sales Hub could improve is its user-friendliness when creating dashboards. While the platform offers powerful reporting and analytics tools, the dashboard customization process can be a bit cumbersome and less intuitive than it could be."
- HubSpot Sales Hub, Maddalena B.
Learn how to tackle sales objections during the sales lifecycle to build trust and improve the possibility of sales deals.
ZoomInfo Sales provides premium features like lead management, call tracking, personalized reports, and performance tracking to optimize your sales and marketing workflows.
If you are in sales or marketing, you know the struggle of finding contacts and ensuring that their information is up to date. That's where ZoomInfo came in.
It provided insight into the lead database and eased the process of information retrieval. The biggest perk was the depth of contact and company information it provides. Whether I am looking for direct mail, phone numbers, or organizational structures, it's all there in one place.
One of my favorite features of ZoomInfo is how easy it is to search for leads. The platform has powerful filtering options, letting me narrow down prospects by job title, company size, industry, and even specific technologies in their business. It saves me hours of manual research and lays out the data in an easy and intuitive way.
I also love its integration with Salesforce CRM. When it works smoothly, the data transfers are done seamlessly. I can pull data in my CRM without any hassle.
G2 reviewers echo the same. They often highlight the extensive contact database, intent signals, and integrations that help sales teams prioritize high-quality leads and save time on research.
That said, some users mention occasional syncing delays or minor inaccuracies in contact details, such as outdated phone numbers or bounced emails. A few reviewers also note that filtering options could be more granular when narrowing down prospects by industry or technology stack.
Still, teams looking for a robust, data-driven platform to fuel outbound campaigns and sales intelligence will find ZoomInfo Sales a valuable asset, especially when paired with internal data validation processes.
Overall, ZoomInfo is a robust and powerful sales engagement system that optimizes your nurturing workflows via multiple channels and helps you monitor the efficiency of sales processes.
"As an outsourced SDR/Lead Generation business, having great data is fundamental to us delivering successful campaigns for our clients. ZoomInfo gives us direct access to the stakeholders who are able to influence the procurement of our client's services, saving us valuable time and stopping us from getting blocked by gatekeepers. It also integrates seamlessly with our CRM, saving wasted time on administration."
- ZoomInfo Sales Review, Eddy R.
"Some records are incorrect or not completely current. This is somewhat expected and not an issue for me to this point. Some of the AI features are repetitive and predictable. Having said that, there are always opportunities to revise and make changes. AI is a great starting point when it comes to email, outreach, and planning."
- ZoomInfo Sales Review, John F.
Not able to track prospect signals to provide accurate data to sales teams? See how buyer intent activates the right sales enablement signals to easily secure new accounts.
Apollo.io provides multi-channel sales prospecting and enables you to personalize your lead engagement processes based on recent communication. It tracks inbound emails, helps create outbound emails, and offers personalized text generation to improve engagement.
If you are in B2B sales, lead generation, or recruitment, Apollo is a unified platform that offers all these features under one roof.
To start with, I want to highlight the reporting and analytics features. Apollo just doesn't give you basic engagement stats; it provides deep insights into email performance, outreach effectiveness, and conversion metrics. It offers granular campaign data to improve future outreach efforts as well.
One of the standout features for me is the automation. The workflow automation lets me set up entire outreach sequences and follow-ups, and even trigger actions based on engagement. I can literally "set and forget" my campaigns, and the tool ensures that the leads don't go cold.
It also offers powerful filters that enable you to narrow down prospects based on industry, company size, job title, or even intent-based data. It comes with LinkedIn integration, so finding and reaching out to the right client is pretty efficient.
Apollo.io also excels in email outreaches. It doesn't just provide verified emails; it also helps personalize and schedule outreach campaigns. The built-in sequencing tool means that I don't have to rely on multiple tools for cold emails. And the best part? It tracks everything. I can see when someone opens an email or clicks a link.
That said, some users note that Apollo.io’s credit-based pricing model encourages teams to be intentional with their outreach strategy, especially when managing email lookups or mobile number access.
A few G2 reviewers mention occasional data accuracy issues, where some email addresses or phone numbers appear valid but later bounce or go unanswered. That said, teams that verify key contacts before outreach will still find Apollo.io’s database highly valuable for scaling prospecting efforts.
Overall, if you are looking for a viable outreach and email marketing solution, then you should choose Apollo.io as it has the best in-house features for you.
Within only two months, we have already driven new business. It slotted into my workflow very easily and was an immediately impactful addition. All of the information is very searchable and actionable. I have used this daily, and team members are also eager to use it for their workflows. My company appreciates that it implements well with Salesforce and other programs, as we look to deploy at scale across the organization, it will make this process easier."
- Apollo.io Review, Joey L.
"It doesn't handle all use cases for existing contacts/customers - some of the contact collection automation is limited, such as pulling associated contacts to upcoming opportunities that we'd like to use to automate communicating upcoming renewals."
- Apollo.io Review, Lachlan C.
ActiveCampaign is a sales engagement platform that builds personalized email outreach and drip campaigns and improves conversion metrics, all from a unified platform.
It offers a distinct level of control and customization for email marketing, customer segmentation, and CRM automation, which is something I haven't seen on many platforms.
One thing I absolutely love is how flexible the automation builder is. Whether I am setting a simple welcome sequence or a complex multi-setup workflow, it automates follow-ups and notifications based on past actions.
The automation flowchart makes it easy to visualize where each contact is in the funnel. With integrations into tools like ClickFunnels, Kajabi, and EverWebinar, it becomes a powerhouse for managing customer journeys.
ActiveCampaign also does a solid job of giving me data regarding open rates, click-through rates, and automation performance. The fact that I can preview emails within the automation workflow prevents me from juggling between multiple platforms.
While most people know ActiveCampaign as an email marketing tool, the built-in CRM is surprisingly powerful. It allows for detailed contact tracking, deal pipelines, and automated lead scoring, making managing sales funnels seamless.
G2 reviewers share that ActiveCampaign’s interface includes a wide range of features, which may take some time to explore, but teams who do so can unlock powerful automation and segmentation capabilities.
Some users highlight that branding options in the Lite plan are more streamlined, giving teams fewer customization controls over forms and email templates. Still, businesses focused on functionality, automation, and campaign performance will find ActiveCampaign’s core features more than capable of supporting professional outreach at scale.
On the whole, ActiveCampaign is an end-to-end automation and campaign management platform that improves sales engagement and lead management workflows and integrates sales and marketing operations.
"ActiveCampaign is an incredible platform that is very easy to use. It has multiple capabilities for automated journeys and one-off eDMs. I also love that we can save our Outlook emails with supporters on AC so the whole team knows what's happening.
There is also amazing customer support that we can use whenever we need it (not that we need it often). I use ActiveCampaign every single day at work and will continue to do so!"
- ActiveCampaign Review, Cassie F.
"I think they are weakest in sales/client follow-up tools. Managing Deals and activities with contacts (making calls, sending emails, etc) is quite cumbersome, and having good visibility of what is happening is difficult.
I also think the way of handling contact lists and unsubscribes is not optimal, and the automations lack some basic functionalities (e.g., updating contact/deal information with dynamic values).
- ActiveCampaign Review, Felipe S.
Instantly offers a lead generation and marketing platform to personalize engagement, run marketing campaigns, and stay active in sales communication.
Setting up Instantly was very easy. It's not just about blasting emails; it ensures they land where they're supposed to, i.e., in inboxes and not spam folders.
Instantly's backend optimization is proficient in handling email followups and warmups, and I saw a noticeable rate of difference between it and other platforms.
What I love most about Instantly is the built-in analytics. I get a clear view of how my campaigns are performing, who's opening, who's clicking, and who's ghosting me. It's like having an insights dashboard that actually gives me actionable data.
It also has a very streamlined approach to campaign management and lead attribution. I can easily set up sequences, tweak follow-ups, update or modify content, and automate everything, which saves me a ridiculous amount of time.
Also, the support team is incredibly top-notch — responsive, helpful, and actually understands their own product (which isn't always the case with SaaS support teams).
G2 reviewers appreciate Instantly’s ability to integrate with popular tools and CRM systems, though some share that expanding integration depth could further streamline data flow and enhance workflow efficiency for larger teams.
Users also mention that Instantly’s tagging and campaign filtering features work well for organizing leads, yet more advanced options for categorization and metric visibility could make campaign management even more seamless.
Overall, Instantly is one of the most adaptive and workable sales engagement tools. It can pivot your deals towards conversion and keep track of new and existing marketing campaigns.
"Plain and simple, the #1 in the outreach game. I have been studying cold outbound reachouts for the past year, and every single road I took to discover knowledge about this topic led me to Instantly. They have a revolutionary tool that just continuously keeps growing. I also want to mention their customer support, as it truly is one of the most responsive teams out there. I log into my account every single day and am constantly looking for ways to improve, for which they've also provided material. Its interface is super easy to use; anyone could use it."
- Instantly Review, George N.
"I wish there were more advanced customization options to tailor the platform to specific needs. Occasionally, I find that some features lack the flexibility I’m looking for. Additionally, enhancing the reporting and analytics section with more detailed insights would help fine-tune my campaigns even further. Also, please update the app. Make it more feature-rich."
- Instantly Review, Jordan M.
Salesloft provides built-in multi-channel marketing features and AI automation to empower sales and marketing teams to manage leads better and improve their revenue.
After spending some time evaluating Salesloft, I have to admit that it has some serious pluses. At its core, Salesloft is an outbound marketing and sales tool that enables your client-facing teams to structure and organize sales accounts. It also helped me manage cadences.
I no longer have to worry about setting follow-ups or updating lead stages. Salesloft keeps everything organized and automates outreach and client nudges. The AI just works in tandem with all the operations. It predicts when my prospects are most likely to engage and even suggests email templates based on past interactions.
I really appreciate how well it integrates with Salesforce. With the sync, it is easier for me to view all my activities in one place and deal with sales queries smartly. The advanced analytics dashboard provides insightful metrics like open rates, click rates, and call conversion to analyze what's working and what's not.
G2 reviewers highlight that Salesloft provides strong customization and cadence management capabilities, helping teams structure their outreach efficiently. Some users share that navigating the interface can take a bit of exploration at first, but once familiar, it allows for highly tailored and repeatable sales workflows.
Users appreciate Salesloft’s AI-driven recommendations for improving outreach timing and messaging, noting that further refinement could make suggestions even more precise, while the existing insights still offer helpful guidance for optimizing engagement strategies.
On the whole, Salesloft caters to various sales teams and provides data-driven and personalized account-based automation to drive quick sales growth. Salesloft is arguably the best sales app for improving team performance, offering coaching features, automated cadences, and real-time engagement analytics.
"I absolutely love cadences and how easy it is to create them for targeted use and consistent messaging. I'm not the most organized person, so ensuring I am making outreaches with proper spacing and messaging is amazing. Being able to listen back to my calls was something I never thought would be so valuable from both an info perspective but also from a coaching perspective. The analytics is just the right amount, showing you how your efforts stack up against your peers. Insight into cadence performance such as number of views, clicks or replies, and prospects showing interest."
- Salesloft Review, Kevin S.
"It has significantly improved our sales process by helping us engage with prospects more efficiently. I like that the platform is straightforward, and the mobile app and browser extension are very helpful in tracking notifications and updates. They also seamlessly integrate with other tools like Gmail, LinkedIn, and ZoomInfo."
- SalesLoft Review, Clifford T.
Clari is a revenue generation tool that provides a bird's-eye view of active sales pipelines, predictive analytics, and sales patterns and trends to capitalize on won deals.
If you scramble through spreadsheets and second-guess your efforts, Clari has an AI-powered sales coach that personalizes interactions. It helped me eliminate the guesswork out of forecasting and crunch numbers in real time, so I know which deals are moving, which ones are stuck, and which ones are likely to close.
One of the things I love most about Clari is that it integrates with Salesforce. It pulls in data automatically, cleans up inconsistencies, and updates CRM effortlessly.
Clari sets sales automation so that I don't have to spend time mindlessly updating lead stages or engaging in manual CRM activity. That drives my focus to actual selling. The system also proactively nudges me about deal risks and AI-driven sales projections and even suggests next steps based on past interactions.
I also want to highlight Clari's "forecasting engine" that improves the probability of scoring a deal. It just doesn't show me what's happening now- it predicts where my numbers are headed based on historical data and current deal activity.
I can also see my entire revenue funnel at a glance, from the early stages to closed deals. Clari also provides accurate contact information drilled down to the most granular level. And if you work on a leadership team that constantly asks for updated projections, Clari offers a one-view analytical dashboard for you.
Clari is widely recognized on G2 for its strong forecasting, revenue intelligence, and pipeline visibility features that help sales teams make data-driven decisions with confidence. Some reviewers share that while the Salesforce sync is reliable, updates may take a little time to reflect, making it best suited for teams that don’t require instant changes across every record.
A few users also mention that reporting and AI insights could benefit from additional customization and more prescriptive recommendations, yet they agree that the platform’s analytics and forecasting accuracy remain among the most valuable in its category.
All in all, Clari is a robust revenue management and sales engagement platform that monitors your lead generation workflows and gives you a prediction for revenue growth.
"I like how Clari integrates with Salesforce and makes updating and managing my deals easy. The opportunity grid is particularly useful because it puts all the key information I need right in front of me. I can update fields like close dates and next steps directly in Clari, and it syncs back to Salesforce, which saves me a lot of time. The ability to configure the columns and views to match my workflow is also a big plus. It helps me prioritize my tasks and stay organized."
- Clari Review, John D.
"What I find least helpful is that some of the features that are reported don't actually tell me where that information is coming from. I.e. Where my weighted number is coming from or how it is being calculated would be helpful. I wish I could also apply the same next action to multiple workflows instead of manually entering it in."
- Clari Review, Jezni W.
FlashIntel is a conversational AI agentic tool that streamlines sales discussions, resolves ad-hoc consumer queries, and extracts valid data points from sales conversations to gauge the potential of the lead. It also helps achieve around 30% customer retention.
One of the standout features for me is Flashinfo, which is their sales intelligence platform that makes prospecting easy. Their data accuracy has ridiculously improved over time, and it allows me to pull accurate lead information for nurturing.
With just a few clicks, I can pull enriched, high-quality, verified information for distinguished decision-makers. It also integrates well with multiple CRMs, though I found that some integrations need a bit of manual tweaking.
One of the key differentiators is also AI-powered lead scoring. FlashIntel helps prioritize leads based on real engagement metrics, which means that I don't have to waste time chasing low-quality prospects.
Another feature, email automation, and deliverability tracking are also super handy. It's like having an AI sales assistant working in the background who knows when to send which email and personalizes the response while logging the number of delivered emails.
FlashIntel is valued by G2 reviewers for its robust dialing features, accurate call tracking, and ability to help teams streamline outbound engagement. Some users share that contact information may occasionally require verification to ensure accuracy, which makes it best suited for teams that combine FlashIntel’s data with their own validation processes.
A few reviewers also mention that the platform’s pricing structure aligns more closely with enterprise needs, though its comprehensive feature set offers strong long-term value for growing sales teams.
Overall, FlashIntel automates consumer queries and sales objections, integrates with CRM, and offers personalized content creation tools to simplify the lead journey.
"This program is the perfect solution for sales and marketing folks since it contains all of the capabilities that a sales and marketing geek requires. This is the reason why I like this platform a lot and subscribed to it myself. The customer support is also good, which further makes things easier. I integrated it into my CMS, which was a work of a couple of seconds."
- FlashIntel Review, Maxwell L.
"Inaccurate prospect data poses a substantial issue for me as a marketer. Even verified data can be riddled with errors, which is unsatisfying. They really need to update the data almost twice a week."
- FlashIntel Review, Jennifer N.
Bigin by Zoho CRM is a start-to-end sales enablement platform that helps your sales team to onboard, nurture and convert leads.
What immediately sold me was drag-and-drop pipeline management. It was smooth and intuitive and let me track my deals without any fuss. I've also used other CRMs that are pretty chaotic and require a lot of time, but Bigin contradicts that.
Plus, the Bigin mobile app was outstanding in function. My team was up and running in minutes and started managing and closing sales accounts with ease.
One thing I love, and that is easy, is automated workflows. Setting up stage automation for our sales pipeline saved us a lot of manual work. The system automatically moves leads forward based on specific conditions of lead quality.
Because Bigin integrates so well with other Zoho products, it fits neatly into the existing ecosystem without causing too many headaches.
Bigin by Zoho CRM is praised by G2 reviewers for its simplicity, ease of setup, and strong mobile functionality that helps small and midsize teams manage customer relationships efficiently.
Some users share that the reporting and analytics features require additional setup to unlock their full potential, making them better suited for teams comfortable with light customization.
A few reviewers also mention that expanding third-party integrations could further enhance workflow flexibility, though Bigin’s native tools already cover most essential CRM needs for growing businesses.
Overall, Bigin by Zoho helps build personalized marketing automation pipelines for your sales and marketing teams to improve customer touch base from multiple platforms. It's also among the most recommended sales software for small businesses thanks to its affordability, mobile app usability, and CRM simplicity for growing teams.
"Easy to use and implement for an accountant like me; if you are new to using CRMs like I was, Bigin is the place to begin with. It easily integrates with my Zoho Books and has very good features for small businesses. The app is good, the need for customer Support has not arisen yet. Tons of videos and notes on the internet on how to implement, etc."
- Bigin by Zoho CRM Review, CA Jatin S.
"Most features my team requires are available on the Express (lowest tier) subscription. However, certain useful features, such as date/time-triggered automation and 10+ custom fields on pipeline records, are only available in the next tier (premier). You may quickly find yourself paying double in subscription costs to accommodate business requirements - however, still affordable compared to alternatives."
- Bigin by Zoho Review, Naz H.
The main difference between a CRM and a sales engagement is that the former is used to store, capture, and manage leads, while the latter is deployed to run marketing campaigns, multi-channel outreaches, and drive pipeline visibility. With a CRM, you can update lead details, integrate contacts with call tracking software, or store inbound leads.
It depends on your sales motion. For structured outbound cadences and AI suggestions, I’d go with Salesloft. For data-first decision-making, Clari works best. And for small, fast-moving teams, Bigin is the easiest to implement. I chose these after reviewing G2’s Grid® Reports and comparing team-specific features.
HubSpot is primarily a sales platform, but HubSpot Sales Hub includes sales engagement features like email sequences, call tracking, cadences, multi-channel outreach, and campaign optimization that scale your revenue potential and provide a data-driven way to improve conversions.
It includes Apollo.io (freemium plan) for multi-channel outreach, HubSpot Sales Hub (free tier) for basic email tracking and automation, and Mixmax (free version) for email engagement. While they aren’t feature-extensive, they provide features to improve sales cadences for new or small businesses.
If you're managing sales via email, phone, and LinkedIn, tools like HubSpot Sales Hub and Apollo.io stood out to me. They offer unified dashboards, automation, and real-time sync — all of which make them the best tools for managing sales engagements without switching tabs.
The sales engagement platform offers AI-based automation that automates email delivery based on the lead stage in the purchase journey. It also extracts key insights from customer calls and associates the data with CRM accounts for real-time accountability and lead status changes, improving reps' performance.
Most sales engagement tools support emails, SMS, LinkedIn, and chat within a unified interface. These tools comply with the GDPR, HIPAA, TCPA, and CAN-SPAM by providing opt-out management, consent tracking, and dynamic email tracking. These protocols ensure that the data remains safe and compliant.
Start by mapping your goals — pipeline growth, faster follow-ups, or team coaching. For large teams, Salesforce and Clari are top-rated on G2. For smaller teams, I’ve found Bigin and Instantly easier to scale. The top sales engagement tool for your team really depends on who you’re selling to and how complex your cycle is.
Based on G2 reviews and sentiment trends I tracked, Salesforce Sales Cloud, HubSpot Sales Hub, and Apollo.io stand out in 2025. Each tool consistently ranks high for customer satisfaction, ease of use, and business impact, especially in lead tracking and pipeline management.
Clari and Instantly are my go-to picks. They both offer real-time activity insights, coaching feedback, and productivity analytics. If you’re trying to boost rep efficiency and monitor daily sales actions, these apps have the features your team needs, just ask G2 reviewers who use them daily.
Having a clear insight into your prospect's interest level is imperative in a sales journey. Before SEP, CRM software was just a tedious medium for manual tasks and did not open any room for opportunity. Had I witnessed the revolution of a sales engagement platform, I would have experimented with a myriad of sales techniques and sales communication strategies and improved the output of my efforts.
You may be asking yourself, who offers the best sales software? From my deep testing and G2-backed research, platforms like Salesforce, Salesloft, and HubSpot lead the pack, but the “best” really depends on your specific workflow.
Using these tools, I am convinced that proper SEP software, along with CRM, is the ultimate road to conversion. When you are ready to decide which software to invest in, check my two cents to refine your approach.
Refer to my peer's analysis of the best AI sales assistants to employ efficient AI selling techniques and optimize productivity in 2025.
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