5 Types of Automation that Will Revolutionize your Sales Process

Sales teams are drowning in manual tasks. While you're updating CRM records, sending follow-up emails, and searching for contact information, your competitors are closing deals. The pressure to hit quota while managing dozens of repetitive tasks creates a vicious cycle — the more time you spend on busywork, the less time you have to actually sell.

McKinsey reports that adopters of sales automation consistently report increases in customer-facing time, higher customer satisfaction, improvements in efficiency of 10-15%, and a sales uplift potential of up to 10%!

Those are numbers you just can't afford to ignore.

But, if you're going to take the leap and invest in automation software, you need to make sure the software you choose is more than a one-trick pony.

With Apollo, you'll never have to worry about looking elsewhere for automation functions. From prospecting automation to data and intelligence, Apollo.io offers all the automation you need and more.

Keep reading to learn about the variety of automation tools that Apollo offers and how you can use them to save time and close bigger and better deals!

What is sales automation?

Sales automation is the use of software and AI to handle the repetitive, manual tasks that slow down your sales team. Think of it as a smart assistant that takes care of data entry, lead routing, and follow-up emails so your reps can focus on what they do best: building relationships and closing deals. It's not about replacing sellers; it's about empowering them to work smarter, not harder.

Why sales automation matters for your revenue

Adopting sales automation isn't just about convenience; it's about growth. Companies that embrace it consistently see major boosts in customer-facing time, higher satisfaction rates, and efficiency gains of 10-15%. More importantly, they report a potential sales uplift of up to 10%. Those are numbers you just can't afford to ignore. When you automate the right tasks, you free up your team to focus on high-value activities that directly drive revenue.

Sales automation vs. CRM: What's the difference?

Let's clear up a common misconception. While your CRM is essential, it's not the same as a sales automation platform. A CRM is primarily a database for managing customer relationships and tracking interactions with existing clients. It's focused on retention and satisfaction. Sales automation, on the other hand, is focused on the entire sales process, from prospecting to closing. It's client acquisition software designed to make every step more efficient. The two work best together, but one can't replace the other.

CRM automation

Inaccurate data and data regression create significant roadblocks for sales teams.

Studies have found that many marketing and sales professionals believe that over 30% of their records are incorrect in some way, and 42% of these professionals say inaccurate data is the biggest barrier to multichannel marketing.

This first type of automation that Apollo.io offers you threatens to change all that with a simple CRM integration.

When you link your CRM to Apollo, the information in both apps will now auto-sync with each other. Not only are credentials, contacts, and sales data all auto-recorded from Apollo to your CRM, but you can create email tasks, phone tasks, activities, and meetings that sync every 15 minutes!

Sales reps are more than data robots. Apollo's CRM automation allows them to focus less on manual data entry and more on nurturing valuable relationships with their prospects.

For a step-by-step guide to jumpstarting CRM automation, check out our blog post here.

Prospecting automation

Finding quality leads can be even the best salesman's kryptonite. Apollo has automation to help with that.

*Enter* the LinkedIn Extension, the ultimate prospecting tool!

Before our LinkedIn Extension, salespeople were hopping back and forth from LinkedIn to other sales engagement platforms. Pulling someone from LinkedIn into Salesforce (for example) took three to five separate windows and dozens of clicks.

But with Apollo's LinkedIn Extension, you can prospect in Apollo's database without ever leaving LinkedIn. Find qualified leads, build curated prospect lists, and even add prospects to a series – in just a matter of seconds.

It really is that simple.

(Install the Extension today for free with this link!)

There lies even more prospecting automation in our own Searcher.

Apollo's searcher utilizes a database of over 210M contacts with verified email addresses, phone numbers, company information, funding/revenue data, job openings, and more!

The filters we offer allow you to conduct the most precise searches on the market. You can even set parameters to filter out existing leads and previously contacted accounts. There is no more risk of hitting one person twice or duplicating their information in your CRM, and sales reps no longer need to spend countless hours sorting through data to find what they're looking for.

In short – our prospecting automation can change the game.

Outbound automation

In a day and age where dozens of sellers are available to buyers at any given time, outbound campaigns have never been more important.

And Apollo has the automation tools to help you manage it.

For example, let's look at Apollo's Sequences feature.

Sequences are your customizable outreach campaigns. It helps your team carry out best practices for engaging contacts and provides your sales reps with step-by-step guides to pushing prospects through the sales funnel.

By navigating to Campaigns > Sequences > Create New Sequence, you can choose to create a new sequence or use one of our prebuilt sequences.

From here you can create and organize steps and tasks to make personally tailored engagements for your target audience at scale! Create automatic emails, phone calls and scripts, action items, all to be carried out at the time of your choosing.

Want to send out a company update email to x group of prospects after they are added to a list? A product announcement on Mondays at 3pm?

Sequences will do that for you in seconds with no work required. It's the ultimate outbound automation machine.

Beyond Sequences, Apollo offers an instant-click-to-call Dialer, fully equipped with automatic direct calls, recording, transcriptions, and yes – even CRM logging.

The outbound automation opportunities are endless...

Task management automation

If you're a sales manager, you understand the importance of a fluid system of task management.

Apollo offers you ways to equip individual reps with deep research on each account, and provide them with a series of tasks designated to them. You can share relevant case studies, relevant technologies, size departments, job posting, and news articles, giving your reps all the tools they need to build credibility and increase conversion rates!

Here's an example of what one of your tasks might look like:

You can read more about task management automation at this support page.

Data and intelligence automation

What good is an automation system if you don't have the tools that help you monitor and optimize your sales performance?

The final (but one of the most important) ways that Apollo supports your automation ambitions is with our powerful data and intelligence technology.

Apollo Analytics offers you all the data and reports that you'll ever need. Our system automatically create dozens of pre-built reports that can show you:

• Individual and team performance
• Message effectiveness (by audience, timing, etc)
• ROI
• Activity tracking
• Interest by Industry
• Calls connected
• Email open, click, and bounce rates
• And so much more!

You can customize your own shared and private reports, as well as folders to store your favorite reports and dashboards.

Click here to learn how to build your first report and how you can automate the data analytics process.

Start automating your sales process with the right platform

Whether you're a sales rep bogged down by monotonous work or a business leader looking to ramp up efficiency, Apollo can work for you. Unlike other sales engagement platforms on the market, our automation tools give you less work, not more. Ready to see how it works? Get Started

Frequently asked questions about sales automation

What's the difference between CRM and sales force automation?

Sales force automation (SFA) is a component of a larger CRM strategy. SFA focuses specifically on automating tasks for the sales team, like contact management and sales forecasting. A full CRM system covers a broader range of customer interactions, including marketing, customer service, and support.

What are the main types of sales automation?

The main types include lead management automation (scoring, routing), prospecting automation (finding and verifying contacts), outreach automation (email sequences, dialers), data automation (CRM sync, enrichment), and analytics automation (reporting, dashboards).

How much time can sales automation save?

The amount of time saved varies, but many sales reps report saving several hours per week. By automating tasks like data entry, logging activities, and sending follow-up emails, reps can reclaim a significant portion of their day to focus on selling.

What's the ROI of implementing sales automation?

The return on investment comes from multiple areas: increased sales productivity, higher conversion rates due to better follow-up, improved data accuracy, and the ability to scale the sales team without a proportional increase in headcount. Many companies see a positive ROI within the first few months.

How long does it take to see results from sales automation?

You can see immediate results in time savings as soon as you implement basic automation like email sequences or CRM syncing. Broader impacts on revenue and conversion rates typically become clear within one to two sales quarters as more data is collected and processes are optimized.