Assembling a cutting-edge tech stack is key to rising above the competition in today’s landscape. However, with a vast array of sales acceleration tools and features, businesses struggle to filter out the noise.

Cognism was no different. We didn’t just want pretty tech; we needed AI-powered software that supports the needs of a fast-growing business and integrates with our existing systems.

In this article, our sales leaders and SDRs share the tools that have helped our org automate processes and accelerate sales growth.

1. Cognism

Cognism is a leader in premium sales intelligence, setting a new standard for data quality and compliance, trusted by over 3000 customers worldwide. It fuels sales acceleration for mid-market and enterprise companies by providing a suite of AI-powered sales acceleration solutions, including:

• Sales Companion for building account and prospect lists complete with compliant contact data. If you’re looking for a tool to accelerate outbound sales, our phone-verified mobile numbers allow you to achieve targets by making fewer calls per day. One of our customers, Ultima, saw ROI in 8 weeks and achieved targets with 70% fewer calls.
  
• Cognism Enrich for enhancing existing CRM data and new records that enter your systems. You can tap into our global database to fix issues with routing and scoring caused by bad data.
• Sales Companion browser extension for accelerating sales prospecting. Its velocity enables Salesloft’s sales team to prospect on LinkedIn 5X faster after switching from ZoomInfo.
  
• Intent data through a partnership with Bombora for identifying accounts early in the buying process and generating qualified leads. The unique blend of contact and intent data streamlines processes for our customers.
  

Additionally, you can easily connect Cognism with your existing tech stack and workflows. For example, you can access accurate B2B data without leaving Salesforce, Outreach, or HubSpot.

“We've actually seen a drastic improvement in terms of the amount of dials that each SDR is making, the amount of conversations that they're having, and also the amounts of meetings that they're booking. We're seeing over 300% more dials than were being made on a weekly basis since using Sales Companion.”

Alex Porter

Global Sales & Business Development Director

@Singlestore

Key features: 

• Sales Companion for personalised access to in-depth account data to ensure fresh and fast outreach.
• Phone-verified cell phone numbers to help you connect with 87% of your list.
• Exclusive on-demand verified cell phone and email data set Diamond Data®.
• Unrestricted access to person and company-level data*.
• Instant and scheduled CRM enrichment and on-demand CSV enrichment.
• Intent data by Bombora.
• International coverage: EMEA, NAM, APAC.
• Easy platform setup, plus a fast and friendly support team.
• Integrations with CRMs and sales engagement tools.
• Focus on quality GDPR and CCPA-compliant data.
• Database checked and cleaned against global DNC lists.
• Find prospects using ChatGPT-style textual or voice prompts with Cognism AI Search.

Pricing: 

• Cognism offers two packages to choose from: Grow and Elevate (Includes Signals).
• All packages include contact and company data, including our phone-verified Diamond Data® contacts, target market analytics and integrations to leading CRM and engagement tools. 
• For more information, check out the Cognism pricing page, or skip ahead and book a call with our sales team.

2. Salesforce

Salesforce is a custom-built sales acceleration machine designed to support high-volume teams. This software offers unmatched flexibility that lets you bend it to your specific sales acceleration processes: you can automate repetitive tasks, gain real-time pipeline insights with customisable dashboards, and scale seamlessly as you extend activities on new markets.

Key features:

• Contact management.
• Pipeline and forecast management.
• Sales insights.

💡 If you already use Salesforce, accelerate sales by using Cognism B2B data directly within Salesforce.

Pricing:

Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing is listed for annual subscriptions on their website. Monthly options aren't readily apparent. The final cost will depend on the number of users (seats) you need.

• Starter — $25
• Professional — $75
• Enterprise — $150
• Unlimited — $300

3. HubSpot Sales Hub

While Salesforce and Hubspot both deliver CRM functionality, HubSpot is more user-friendly and affordable. Despite offering fewer customization options, analytics, and advanced features than Salesforce, Hubspot cuts through the clutter, still offering a powerful sales acceleration solution. It centralises everything you need in a single, intuitive dashboard. It simplifies pipeline management, streamlines communication, and empowers your team to close deals faster. 

You can leverage features like automated tasks, sequencing, and data-driven insights to identify and pursue the hottest leads, ultimately accelerating your sales cycle.

Key features:

• Pipeline visualisation.
• Email templates.
• Email tracking.
• Complex processes automation.

Pricing:

• From $20 per month for limited features.
• Enterprise plan available.

4. SalesLoft

SalesLoft is a B2B sales acceleration tool that helps streamline sales workflows with automated outreach sequences that nurture leads across multiple channels (email, calls, social). SalesLoft equips your team with the knowledge to win by providing powerful reporting and analytics. These actionable insights reveal what's working and what's not, allowing you to optimise your sales strategy and close deals faster. 

Key features: 

• Automated workflows.
• Call recording.
• Deal intelligence.
• Automatic forecasts.

Pricing: 

• Essentials (pricing on request)
• Advanced (pricing on request)
• Premier (pricing on request)

5. Outreach

Outreach isn’t just another sales development platform; it’s a specialised software focused on prospect engagement. Outreach helps businesses efficiently move prospects through the sales pipeline by streamlining workflows with customisable sequences. But that’s not all — Outreach leverages AI to provide real-time recommendations on everything from tone of voice to message length, ensuring your team consistently delivers winning pitches. 

Key features: 

• Workflow automation.
• Intelligent reporting.
• Sentiment analysis.
• Integrated A/B testing.
• AI-powered forecasting.
• If you've already adopted Outreach, you don't have to leave the platform to enrich data. Cognism works over Outreach.

Pricing:

• Inquire for a quote on the official website to get a personalised offer.

💡Frida Ottosson and Cognism’s VP of Global Sales sat down with Chris Orlob to discuss sales acceleration tools, GTM lessons, and navigating buyers’ journeys. 

6. AirCall

Aircall is a cloud-based communication hub that seamlessly integrates with your CRM. The tool accelerates sales by eliminating information silos and fostering collaboration across teams. Aircall unlocks data-driven insights for teams of all sizes. Use this intel to identify call trends, optimise your sales strategy, and ultimately accelerate your journey to faster deal velocity.

Key features:

• CRM sync.
• Power dialling.
• Real-time analytics.
• Local and international numbers.
• Data insights.

Pricing:

• Three available plans available starting at $40 per licence.
• Custom pricing is only available on request.
• Extra paid add-ons include AI and Analytics.

7. Gong

Gong is a sales acceleration software disguised as a revenue intelligence platform. By harnessing AI to analyse every sales interaction, Gong unlocks actionable insights that drive quality engagement, minimise churn, and propel your team to close more deals faster. Think real-time pipeline visualisation, data-driven forecasts, and built-in coaching — all designed to supercharge your sales engine.

Key features: 

• Pipeline visualisation.
• Forecasts.
• Coaching module.
• Sales conversations overview.

Pricing: 

• You must request pricing on Gong’s website.

8. Chilli Piper

Chilli Piper is a sales acceleration platform that automates lead routing and booking of qualified meetings for sales teams. At Cognism, we used this tool to help optimise the marketing pipeline by routing enterprise and MM companies straight to an AE. As a result, we’ve seen a huge increase in the MQL to MA rate and MQL to SQO rate.

It created a smoother process for customers, with fewer hoops for them to jump through before they get the information they need.

Key features:

• Lead routing (form concierge).
• Lead distribution.
• Handoff.
• Call booking.
• Automatic synchronisation.

Pricing:

Paid plans start at $15 per user per month.

9. bao

bao acts as SDR’s AI co-pilot on sales calls, helping your team close more deals and save precious time on tedious tasks. By analysing every conversation, bao identifies key success factors and delivers actionable insights to elevate your sales game. bao holds ISO 27001 certification for data security.

Key features:

• Sales analytics.
• Lead qualification.
• Call documentation.
• Sales playbooks.
• Onboarding.

Pricing:

Bao offers three plans:

• Essentials — €75 /user/month (annual billing)
• Business — €99 /user/month (annual billing)
• Enterprise — €299 /user/month (annual billing)

10. Scratchpad

Scratchpad is a handy sales acceleration tool that increases teams’ collaboration and visibility on the sales process and pipeline. This innovative tool empowers teams to make every interaction your team has with Salesforce fast and painless. SDR appreciates its ability to access Salesforce updates quickly, add notes, and inspect deals from any web app.

Key features:

• Pipeline management.
• Call intelligence.
• Deal rooms.
• Automations.

Pricing:

• Starter — $0 user / month
• Solo — $29 user / month
• Team — $79 user / month