Are you considering ways to simplify sales reporting and analytics? Or how you can help your reps spend more time selling and less time wrangling manual processes? 

Sales planning tools are the answer.

In this guide, we’ll discuss 10 sales planning tools in key categories, including incentive compensation, sales forecasting, and more.

What Criteria Should You Consider When Selecting Sales Planning Tools?

Finding the right sales planning tools is more than adding another app to your tech stack. You need to find a platform that is:

• Robust enough to grow with your organization
• Intuitive enough that your team will actually use it
• Powerful enough to do what it’s supposed to do — streamline your sales planning

Here are specific criteria to use when evaluating sales planning software:

Scalability

As your sales goals expand and your team grows, your sales planning tool should evolve in step. Look for a platform that can smoothly handle an increase in users, data, and functions.

Collaboration

The best sales planning tools allow seamless collaboration across teams, from sales and marketing to RevOps. Built-in sharing features, real-time updates, and user permissions make it easy for departments to work together without stepping on each other's toes.

User-friendly design

A tool that’s hard to navigate is a tool that goes unused. Intuitive dashboards, simple navigation, and minimal learning curves are non-negotiables to boost adoption and productivity.

Analytics and Forecasting

Choose a tool that retrieves data from multiple sources to give you an accurate picture of sales projections and pipeline health.

Third-party Tool Integrations

From CRM systems to communication platforms, your sales planning tool should integrate with the other apps your team relies on. This prevents data silos and miscommunication.

Top 10 Sales Planning Tools

This list details the best sales planning software in different categories. But don’t panic — you might not need to purchase a separate tool for each of these categories! 

Many sales software companies try to offer a complete platform, so there’s some product overlap between different platforms. 

Sales Forecasting and Analytics

Sales forecasting tools use historical data, real-time analytics, and predictive algorithms to estimate future sales.

1. Clari

Clari is a revenue platform with a suite of products that address different aspects of the sales process. One of them is Clari Forecast, a tool that predicts revenue for various pricing approaches, including consumption and subscription.

Pros:

• Offers a wide variety of integrations, including Salesforce, Snowflake, and Google Workspace.
• The company claims a 98% forecast accuracy.
• User reviews praise the platform for its ease of use and straightforward implementation process.

Clari pricing isn’t public. According to software marketplace Vendr, Clari’s average contract value amounts to $158,828.

2. Gong

Like Clari, Gong is a revenue platform. It supports sales engagement, coaching, and forecasting by collecting customer interactions and using the data to generate insights.

To deliver precise forecasts, Gong uses a “Deal Likelihood Score.” It’s calculated using predictive AI trained on 2.5 billion customer conversations recorded using Gong, which generated over 300 buying signals. 

According to Gong, these signals allow for more accurate forecasts than when using just the data in your CRM.

Pros:

• Gong combines team, deal, and pipeline data into one view for easier sales performance management.
• The forecast tool allows you to compare the team’s sales projections to AI.
• CRM integrations automatically capture customer insights from Gong and enrich the data in your CRM system.

Gong pricing is user-based and includes a platform fee. While pricing isn’t public, Vendr pricing insights put the average contract value around $105,530.

Pipeline Management

Sales pipeline management tools track deals from lead to close. These tools visualize the location of each prospect in the buying journey, so it’s easier to prioritize high-value leads and move them through the pipeline. 

A clear pipeline view also lets reps know which leads need follow-up, who is close to converting, and where potential bottlenecks lie.

3. HubSpot Sales

HubSpot’s sales software includes a deal pipeline that allows sales leaders to monitor the performance of teams and individual reps. It lets you create automated playbooks and pinpoint inefficient processes that slow down deal progression.

 Pros:

• Drag-and-drop editor lets you build tailored pipelines.
• The tool automatically updates the pipeline using the data in HubSpot’s Smart CRM.
• User reviews praise the interface for being easy to navigate.

HubSpot has different pricing plans for individuals and small teams vs. businesses and enterprises. If you’re an individual or small team, HubSpot Sales offers plans ranging from free to $100 per month per seat. For businesses and enterprises, the cost falls between $100 and $150 per month per seat.

The highest-price plan includes features such as coaching playlists, sequences, and forecasting. Note that an annual subscription comes with a discount.

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a CRM with a sales lead management tool. It lets you build unlimited customized pipelines and has automation features that trigger specific actions when a lead enters a particular stage.

Pros:

• Real-time data visualizations make it easier to identify big opportunities.
• The platform supports more than 400 integrations to help bring all of your important data into one place.
• The activity tracking feature allows you to link an action (such as a follow-up email) to a pipeline stage to prevent reps from forgetting important steps.

Pipedrive offers five plans ranging from $24 to $129 per seat per month. Pipeline management is included with all subscription tiers. 

Each plan comes with a two-week free trial. An annual subscription includes a discount.

Incentive Compensation

Incentive compensation management (ICM) software simplifies the complex process of rewarding sales reps for hitting their targets. 

With this software, companies automate commission calculations and minimize the administrative overhead of manually doing the math. At the same time, ICM tools give clear insights into sales performance.

These software solutions also give reps clear visibility into their earnings so they can see the impact of each sale on their pay and get motivated.

5. CaptivateIQ Incentives

CaptivateIQ is a sales commission management platform that helps companies replace spreadsheets with an automated, scalable tool. Automating incentives can substantially boost efficiency, considering commission professionals spend an average of 49 hours per month on manual tasks.  

With CaptivateIQ Incentives, it’s easy to set up and manage commission rules and structures — no matter how complex — that work with your unique sales strategy.

Pros:

• The tool collects data in real time, integrating with sources such as data warehouses and CRM, HRIS, and ERP systems.
• Sellers and managers have a clear overview of commission calculations and performance.
• User reviews say the reports are easy to navigate and allow users to dig into the math behind the commission calculations in case of any confusion.

CaptivateIQ offers custom pricing. Request a quote to get a precise number.

Sales Enablement

Sales enablement tools arm sales reps with the resources they need to close deals more effectively. They contain training materials that help sellers stay informed and be persuasive in every interaction.

6. Highspot

Highspot is a platform for sales training, coaching, and content management. It also allows companies to build sales playbooks and engage buyers with digital sales rooms.

Pros:

• The platform simplifies content governance with features such as scorecards that flag outdated materials.
• Conversation intelligence tools help managers coach reps more effectively and find areas for improvement.
• Over 100 integrations to tools such as Zoom, which allows the platform to save meeting recordings and transcripts.

Highspot pricing isn’t public. The average contract is valued at $91,460. 

7. Outreach

The Outreach platform includes tools for conversation intelligence and rep coaching. The platform’s AI virtual assistant, Kaia, records meetings and surfaces key insights such as buyer objections.

Pros:

• The virtual assistant can pull up relevant content cards during sales meetings so reps can answer questions about the product, competitors, or pricing accurately.
• Managers can build playlists containing calls that follow best practices to coach new reps faster.
• The tool identifies action items during calls and allows users to save them as follow-up items.

Outreach pricing isn’t public, but the average contract is valued at $95,049.

Collaboration and Communication

Tools for collaboration and communication have become a workplace staple. With a quick message, you get instant input from a colleague in RevOps or clarification from marketing to keep projects moving along. 

8. Slack

Slack is a chat-based collaboration platform that also supports audio and video. It allows you to communicate with teams (both internal and external) in channels or talk with coworkers in private chats. A mobile app is also available.

Pros:

• The AI search functionality makes it easy to find important conversations even if you don’t know the exact keywords.
• AI recaps allow users to stay on top of channel conversations without reading each message.
• Slack integrates with more than 2,600 apps.

Slack offers four subscription plans, ranging from free to custom pricing for enterprise clients. All paid plans include features such as unlimited integrations, unlimited message history, and video and audio meetings.

9. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a platform that combines video conferencing, chat, and work collaboration. As a Microsoft product, it works seamlessly with the company’s software ecosystem. 

Pros:

• Video conferencing includes a virtual speaker coach that alerts users when they speak too fast or interrupt another participant.
• Multiple users can edit a file simultaneously (from programs such as Word or PowerPoint) within Teams to reduce back-and-forth communication.
• Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot helps users answer questions, summarize chats, and take appropriate action depending on the content of a conversation.

As a business user, you can choose from three Microsoft Teams plans. Costs range from $4.00 to $12.50 per user per month. Each plan includes meeting recordings and transcripts. All subscriptions are annual.

Sales Territory Management and Quota Planning

Software for territory management helps reps cover the right ground, while quota planning tools allow managers to set achievable but still ambitious sales targets for their team.

They strategically map out customer regions to ensure territories are balanced. This means you assign a number of reps proportionate to the sales opportunity of each region — and make the most of your resources.

10. CaptivateIQ Planning

CaptivateIQ Planning is a tool for both territory and quota planning. It’s part of the same platform as CaptivateIQ Incentives. You can upload your existing territories and optimize them further or create them from scratch.

Pros:

• A territory balance score helps you determine territory equitability.
• Reps can leave comments and propose changes to territory planning.
• Features for scenario and impact analysis allow you to model different strategies before you put them into action.

CaptivateIQ pricing is based on your needs. Request a quote to understand how much you would pay per seat.

Elevate Your Sales Tech Stack With CaptivateIQ

The right sales planning tools support companies in building and executing effective sales strategies. A major component of this process is replacing rigid and manual systems (such as spreadsheets) with automated calculations and reporting.

CaptivateIQ’s platform takes the manual work out of quota and territory planning, as well as commission calculations. Transparent commission data motivates reps, while the AI-powered Payee coach helps them amplify their results.

Book a demo to see how CaptivateIQ boosts seller productivity by 10% and calculates commissions 60x faster than traditional methods.

Sales Planning Tools FAQs

Still have questions about sales planning tools? We answer some of the most common queries below.

What is sales planning software?

Sales planning software allows teams to create data-backed plans to reach their sales targets and support larger business goals. These tools help sales leaders with goal setting, resource allocation, commission automation, and progress tracking all in one place.

Tools for sales planning keep the team focused on the highest-impact activities instead of wasting time on unqualified leads. Plus, they support collaboration across teams and break up silos that bog down growth.

How do you conduct sales planning?

The sales planning process starts with reliable sales data, analyzing past performance, and aligning with company objectives. First, improve your data quality by centralizing and regularly auditing it — this leads to more accurate forecasts and insights. Automate data entry to prevent human errors.

Next, review recent performance metrics to understand past successes and areas for improvement. Use this analysis to set clear goals and choose initiatives that align with broader company targets. Assess each rep's workload and consider if additional hires or new tools can help reach your goals.

Map territories while taking into account reps’ strengths and keeping assignments equitable. When setting quotas, consider past performance data to set realistic growth targets, factoring in market changes. Finally, design a compensation model to motivate reps effectively and tie rewards directly to the company’s goals.

What is an example of a sales tool?

CaptivateIQ Planning, a territory and quota planning solution, is an example of a sales tool. Businesses use it to balance territories, implement scenario and impact analyses, and gather feedback from reps to help the sales team achieve their targets.