My Take on 10 Best Sales Engagement Software to Close Faster

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.

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.

10 best sales engagement tools: my take

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 comprised 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 which played a major part in automating sales activities to improve conversions. 

If you are looking for a sales engagement software and don’t know where to start from, consider this list to further fine-tune your requirements.

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.

My two cents on what makes a sales engagement software worth it

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:

• Multi-channel outreach: Just like how I sent emails or reminders to my clients with CRM, I prioritized the multi-channel outreach feature in the sales engagement tools in my list. Automating communication with your prospects via several content engagement and multimedia channels is crucial to creating a sense of recall for the customer. Engaging and tracking responses, whether inbound or outbound, sets the tone and foundation of future sales conversations.
• Automation and workflow sequences: I prioritized tools that offered built-in sync with CRM software to store new follow-ups, due sales action, customer nudges, or lead stage management with automation. I ensured that sales engagement software fetches these details to set robust automation workflows for every customer in the pipeline.
• CRM integration and data sync: In keeping with the last point, I personally checked the smooth transfer of lead management data into sales engagement software to pull up lead profiles in real time, mark status, and monitor real-time marketing operations from the same window. This feature is crucial so sales teams don’t waste time on manual data entries.
  
• Advanced analytics and reporting: I made it a point to select tools that offer a drop-down view of conversion metrics to analyze sales teams’ performance. The tools below offer advanced analytics and reporting to maintain performance metrics and get insightful details of every sales pipeline.
• Performance tracking: Another evaluation factor for me was the real-time performance tracking of sales development representatives. Performance tracking metrics give you an update on the current intensity and quality of performance. This means that if any sales associate is underperforming, the software will point that out and make room for further process improvement.
  
• Personalization at scale: In contrast to manual email integrations of CRM software, I chose tools that offer personalized email templates, AI-assisted message recommendations, and customization options to improve the relevance of my outreach messages and make personal connections with the prospect.
  
• Compliance and data security: Since sales data is sensitive, the software must have built-in compliance features (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), data encryption, and permission control to ensure security and compliance with state government regulations. 
  

Based on the above factors, I initially narrowed down a dataset of 40+ sales engagement platforms. 10 tools surpassed all these conditions and bagged top spots in the G2 grid report. 

The list below contains genuine user reviews from sales engagement software. To be included in this category, a solution must:

• Be a sales-facing product meant for daily use by sales representatives.
• Integrate sales communication channels (email, calls, social, etc, within 1 cohesive platform)
• Manage standardized sales content such as email templates, call scripts, presentations, social posts, and other marketing materials.
• Automate multichannel communication sequences and workflows.
• Provide analytics or insights into sales performance.

*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 entries or 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.

What I didn’t appreciate about Salesforce Sales Cloud is the steep learning curve that it comes with. Setting up Salesforce Sales Cloud and managing the configuration process is difficult. The configuration is overwhelming, especially if you are managing complex sales pipelines or multiple teams.

Some G2 users also shared that they had to spend significant time (and money) on training and admin support just to get the system running in the way they wanted. Also, while its capabilities are impressive, the user interface sometimes feels clunky.

I also learned that Salesforce Sales Cloud isn’t cheap. Pricing varies based on tiers: Essential, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited. Each plan offers a different level of customization, automation, and support.

You’ll want Enterprise or Unlimited for advanced AI-powered insights and deeper automation. While the platform is incredibly powerful, some advanced features like CPQ (Configure, Price, and Quote) will come at additional costs.

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.

What I dislike about Salesforce Sales Cloud:

• I found the UI a bit tricky to navigate, and the learning curve was a bit complex. But once you learn it, it is a smooth sail. 
• I found that sometimes, the customer service team is not as responsive as you want them to be, and the tool also has a few data storage limitations. 

What do G2 users dislike about Salesforce Sales Cloud:

“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. 

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. 

However, as much as I like the tool, it does have some limitations. The pricing model is a little tricky, and I feel I was lured in with the free version only to realize that I needed the premium version. 

Features like automated reminders, advanced reporting, and deeper workflow automation are locked behind high-tier plans (such as professional or enterprise applications). For smaller teams or startups, the cost adds up fast.

The lead generation tools can also use some work. HubSpot makes it a little difficult to differentiate between a lead and a deal, which can get a little confusing.

Also, if you are using HubSpot’s invoicing system, you need to take some tutorials. Some G2 users shared that the platform doesn’t let you create credit notes from existing invoices. Also, some basic features, like automated reminders, aren’t included in the starter plan. Apart from that, HubSpot also has a slightly longer onboarding curve that might take some time.

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 dislike about HubSpot Sales Hub:

• I didn’t like that some advanced features, like custom reporting or deeper automation workflow, are only available for high-tiered plans.
• I wish there were more customization options for account owners, but it seems pretty preset. 

What do G2 users dislike about HubSpot Sales Hub:

“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.

What I dislike about ZoomInfo Sales:

• One thing that worried me is that the lead information isn’t always accurate and there was a discrepancy in the company information.
• I observed that sometimes, ZoomInfo provides outdated data, and that leads to bounced emails or unanswered calls. 

What do G2 users dislike about ZoomInfo Sales:

“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. 

What I dislike about Apollo.io:

• I noticed that sometimes, even “verified emails” bounce or are invalid, which indicates that the email information requires some work.
• I found that Apollo.io can be inconsistent in providing data accuracy, particularly with job information and titles, affecting campaign quality. 

What do G2 users dislike about Apollo.io:

“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.

However, each tool has its drawbacks, and ActiveCampaign can improve in some ways. The interface, while powerful, can feel a bit clunky, especially for beginners. A ton of functionality is packed into the platform, which can sometimes feel a little overwhelming.

If you are just starting out with ActiveCampaign, expect a learning curve on how to use it properly. Also, customer support can be hit or miss. 

Some G2 users feel that ActiveCampaign can work on the branding on forms and emails in the Lite version. It’s a bit restricting if you try to keep everything clean and professional with the lite version. While importing contacts is mostly smooth, I have run into issues where blank fields overwrite existing data, which requires manual editing.

That said, 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.

What I dislike about ActiveCampaign:

• I had some difficulty handling multiple automation because I was confused, and I couldn’t pay attention to the effect on the customer.
• The reports feature is a bit difficult to understand until you really learn the platform or attend a tutorial. 

What do G2 users dislike about ActiveCamp