Working from home or in remote working locations more regularly is part of sales business as ‘newsual’. Here are the best apps for field sales teams working from home, remotely, and for when you get back on the road again.
Being out of the office, working from home or remotely is not unusual for sales teams when you’re mostly visiting customers. However, when you’re stuck at home in a lockdown, field sales software and mobile sales apps can help you to strengthen your relationship with customers.
While the way we do business will be different to what we’re used to, change has always been part of it. So business as ‘newsual’ is necessary for when you’re back on the road again.
During the next few months, we’ll see innovative teams adapting to change to maintain their competitive edge. With the right administration, communication and collaboration, mobile sales software and tools can help you make a seamless transition. In essence, make sure your team have what they need to be productive both at, and away from home. Here are a few of our top app recommendations.
Managing tasks or teams
Teamwork
Project management platform
This handy mobile app is available for free for the first two projects you need to complete. It’s fully integrated with file hosting services like Dropbox. Features include chat capabilities, calendars, tasking functions and Gantt charts for project management. Put it to the test and start your two-project free trial now.
Monday.com
Task management app
Monday provides ready-made templates and drag-and-drop building boards to set your team up remotely in minutes. It also offers a fully customisable table for managing your projects, workflows, and everyday work. You can easily add automations to your boards to minimise the chances of human error. Data is displayed in an easily digestible and intuitive manner. You can gain key insights across multiple boards from your projects, teams, and processes. You’re not just managing tasks, but also your team. See in real time who’s able to take on more work and who isn’t. This helps you prevent burnout and missed deadlines before they happen. Learn more about bringing out the best in your remote working teams here.
Trello
Task management app
This free task-tracking tool was featured as one of best 11 tools to use during lockdown. If you’re a project or campaign manager, it’s worth looking into this one. You’re able to create and manage workflows, have visibility of your team members’ tasks and progress, and set deadline reminders to keep moving things forward. The ability to have a clear visual of your daily priorities and how those reporting to you are getting along means you don’t need to feel overwhelmed and left in the dark. It’s extremely user-friendly, and task and deadline notifications can be shared through other platforms like email or Slack (see further down). Download it now for free.
Todoist
Task management app
It’s great for individuals or teams. Perfect for dividing and sharing any daily task or project, from business ventures to grocery lists. The sleek design, intuitive scheduling and powerful tasking features makes it worth looking into. It’s easy to use and the various great shortcuts save you loads of time. A free trial is available.
Skynamo
The field sales management app
Skynamo gives sales teams real-time insights into records maintained during customer conversations. Information can be added and responded to from either the front-end mobile devices managed by teams, or the back-end management portals. Information includes discussion notes, quotes or orders completed and tasks scheduled per calendar. Great analytics reports for better decision-making can be drawn from the information added by sales reps and managers. Find out more about the analytical insights you can gain here or learn more about the Field Sales app now.
Collaboration
Telegram
Instant messaging and voice over service
Similar to the more commonly known WhatsApp, Telegram offers some different features, especially with respect to security. Telegram allows users to set a timer on messages to self-destruct after a specified time. Users receive notifications when screenshots of messages are taken, while secret chats cannot be forwarded. Telegram channels (like WhatsApp groups) can have an unlimited number of members while the channel creator operates as an administrator who can take decisions on which users can post and which other members can view the posts on channels. Read here about further comparisons with WhatsApp or start using it now.
Geekbot
Stand-up meeting manager
One of the most difficult things about working from home is no longer being able to have quick, in person check-ins with your team. Daily team updates are crucial to ensure everyone is on the same page and as productive as they can be. Geekbot allows you to continue having regular stand-ups, and build a culture of communication. AI language analysis helps you gauge how everyone is doing emotionally. You can start a free trial today.
Skynamo
The field sales app for managers and their teams
Transparency is the key advantage that Skynamo provides. Whether you’re out in the field visiting customers or forced to communicate online-only, your sales team stays connected to information and one another. As a manager, you continue to enjoy insight into conversations with customers and can coach your team from any remote location. As a sales rep, you continue collecting and sharing valuable information with the rest of the team, whether you’re seeing customers in person or connecting with them via video conferencing or phone. Learn how they’re changing the sales conversation here.
SharePoint
Collaborative platform
The intranet solution already used by more than 200,000 organisations makes working from home, work as usual. Even though you’re distributed across towns and cities, it allows you to continue working like you’re together. Microsoft Office software like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are all available in your browser and easily shareable and editable among colleagues. There’s no need to send documents around as email attachments, or to be together in person, to work collaboratively. Download the app now.
Slack
Collaborative remote working app
The remote working app that’s been very useful to many office-based teams for some time, has now become invaluable. Slack gathers all your communication and tools in one place. With its user-friendly interface, information can be shared at company level, team level and even through non-work or social channels. It’s a great visual way for everyone to stay updated on what’s happening inside the organisation, especially by means of short-hand communication. Channels can be either public or private, depending on the relevance and sensitivity of the information being shared. Depending on the size of your team, the app’s available for free.
Administration
Polite
Automated phone silencing app
Working from home can do with fewer distractions. Don’t let your phone interrupt you when it should be quiet. With Polite, your phone will automatically go into silent mode (or vibrate mode) at the right times. You can choose specific times in your weekly schedule to automatically enter silent mode. You can also have your phone enter silent mode during calendar events in your calendar app. Get switched on by switching off the noise.
DocuSign
Electronic signature and agreement cloud
Working remotely or not being able to visit a customer in-person can make placing orders or signing contracts more problematic. Thankfully, there’s a great workaround. DocuSign enables you to sign, prepare, act on, and manage agreements electronically. It’s a straightforward way to sign, initial or even complete a PDF from scratch, especially if you don’t have printing or scanning facilities nearby. Continue deliver great experiences for your customers and employees from home.
Text Fairy
Image to text converter
Once again, your home or remote office is usually not as well equipped as a bigger, company run office. Text fairy allows you to take pictures of text in magazines or academic journals and then convert it into an easily readable format. Text can be edited, exported as a PDF, sent to other apps, or converted to speech. It’s also great for copying and pasting large amounts of work and working it down to more concise summaries for sharing. And it’s helpful in situations where a customer might send you a fax or other hard copy of a document. It can easily be digitalised into a Word document, edited, and emailed or otherwise sent back to them. Download the Android app now.
Receipt Bank
Automated bookkeeping
Your finance department isn’t necessarily in reach and you’d love to receive refunds for costs you incurred on behalf of the business. And besides, you don’t want to walk around with a wallet full of receipts for a month. Receipt Bank provides an easy way to capture paper receipts and other documents, electronically. Just snap a quick picture of the receipt and the app extracts all the important information and sends it to the finance department. Start snapping today.
Skynamo
Admin automation app
Less admin, more sales. This is what Skynamo users love about the field sales app. Whether you’re on the road or working from home, Skynamo automates the admin process, updating call reports based on your customer conversation notes and forms. Find out more and set up your account to best serve your company’s admin needs now.
Communication
Zoom
Video conferencing platform
What about your next strategy meeting or monthly company meeting? The most obvious downside to remote working and social distancing is the loss of face-to-face interaction. Zoom allows you to hear, see and interact with groups of people just as you would in normal conversations or meetings. You can do this using your smart phone, tablet, laptop, or computer at home. It’s great for hosting online meetings with multiple participants. They have extended their free version capabilities during the pandemic, to host 40-minute meetings that now cater for up to 100 participants. Compare Zoom to other free video conferencing options here.
Grammarly
Writing assistant
Mistake-free writing are is within your reach. Grammarly follows your typing on all the platforms you’re working from, constantly but unobtrusively providing you with spelling and grammar suggestions. It offers great suggestions for sentence structures and you can also provide it with information on the purpose and mood of specific documents you submit to it. A friendly, light-hearted work will be checked differently to a formal, serious one. Begin using the free version now.
Postbox
Mail application
Your work and personal email accounts can be kept separate but in one place, grouped together and easily accessible. Postbox provides fast access to individual messages using a search function or the Favorites Bar. Like a web browser, view your inboxes, folders, or messages in Tabs, with the ability to quickly switch between them. A free version, as well as other discounted options, is available now.
Proton Mail
Secure email
Swiss-based Proton mail offers a more secure alternative to most other mailboxes. It’s not scanned by large corporations (i.e. Facebook and Google). All emails are secured automatically with end-to-end encryption. No personal information is required to create your secure email account. Your inbox is optimised for productivity. Each detail within the secure email service is optimised to help you better read, organise, and send email. Basic Proton Mail accounts are always free.
Presentations
Gimp
Open source image editor
Do you need high quality image manipulation, want to create original artwork or design icons for business use? Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist, Gimp provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done. You can further enhance your productivity with Gimp thanks to many customisation options and third party plugins. It’s available for free, right here.
Canva
Design software
This software enables everyone to design posters, business cards or Facebook, Instagram and other social media posts. It’s intuitive with drop and drag design. Beautiful templates available (mostly for free) to use and easy to export or post to your social media accounts. Start getting your brand out there straight away.
Photopea
Advanced photo editor software
Free online editor supporting various formats with the goal of becoming the most advanced and affordable photo editor. Allows you to create a new image or open existing files form your computer and saving it to various file formats. Because most other photo editors are native apps, it is hard to find any good editor for some minority operating systems. Some users may even buy some specific operating system just to be able to run the photo editor. Photopea should remove all these problems. Start editing for free.
Artboard Studio
Create mock-ups online
Their passion is to make good design accessible to anyone. Design, animate, collaborate and present your projects with an extensive library of assets and templates right in the browser. Used by freelancers, agencies and enterprises. You can choose from their carefully crafted free templates, or start from scratch and design your own scenes with our extensive library of items. Start designing.
On the road… again
Waze
GPS navigation app
Waze is a GPS navigation app for those who might consider Google Maps a bit ‘incomplete’. It provides turn-by-turn navigation information, user-submitted travel times and route details, along with accident and road construction updates. It helps you “drive like a local” anywhere in the world, providing you with shortcuts and live traffic updates. Download it here.
Android Auto
Car phone display app
Here’s a great way to interface safely and legally with your phone while driving. This is an easy way to connect your Android phone to your car display. It allows you to tap to get driving directions or talk to send a text. With Google Assistant on Android Auto, keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. Use your voice to get help with your day. You can find routes, play your favourite songs and even check the weather. Just say “Hey Google” to get started.
Business as ‘newsual’
Going forward, remote working will become more normal. Whether you’re working from home or spending most of your day out on the road visiting customers, it’s essential to get hold of the best mobile sales software available. The Skynamo Field Sales app offers the perfect all-round functionality you need.
Skynamo automates the admin process, providing real-time insights into records maintained during customer conversations. Its GPS feature provides managers and their teams with valuable insights that enable them to make better decisions. Whether you’re out in the field visiting customers or forced to communicate online-only, your sales team stays connected to information and one another. Offline capability sets the “less admin, more sales” app apart from competing products. Need to know more? Book your free demo here.
Have any of these apps been helpful to you while working remotely or from home? Are there any other great apps you’d like to share with us? Go ahead and share them in the comments below.
