If you’re responsible for picking software to help an enterprise sales team actually hit numbers, you know the drill: endless demos, hype-filled pitches, and feature checklists longer than a CVS receipt. You don’t have time for fluff, and you definitely don’t want to make an expensive mistake. This guide is for you—someone who wants real answers, not buzzwords, on how to compare CTD to other leading B2B go-to-market (GTM) tools.
1. Get Clear on What Actually Matters (Ignore the Noise)
Before you even start comparing features, pin down what truly matters to your team:
- What’s the main bottleneck? (Is it pipeline visibility? Forecasting? Rep productivity? Data quality?)
- What’s your sales process—really? (Not the one on the slide deck, but the one reps actually follow.)
- What tools are you using now, and why do they stink?
- What’s your tech stack? (Are you locked into Salesforce? Need to integrate with Outreach, Slack, or something niche?)
Pro Tip: Write down the top 3 problems you absolutely must solve. If a tool doesn’t address those, don’t get distracted by “AI-powered” anything.
2. Know What CTD and the “Leading” Tools Actually Do
There’s a ton of overlap (and even more marketing fluff) in the B2B GTM space. Here’s a plain-English look at what you’ll typically see:
CTD:
- Focuses on deal execution, pipeline management, coaching, and analytics built for enterprise sales orgs.
- Aims to make it easier for managers and reps to see what’s happening with deals, spot risk, and improve forecasting accuracy.
- Known for being less bloated than some all-in-ones, but more focused on practical workflows.
Other Leading Solutions: - Gong/Outreach: Conversation intelligence, call recording, rep coaching, pipeline insights. Great for teams obsessed with call data, but sometimes overwhelming. - Clari: Forecasting, pipeline health, deal inspection, revenue operations. Very robust, but can be overkill for smaller teams. - Salesloft: Cadence automation, email tracking, engagement analytics. Best if you care more about outbound than pipeline. - People.ai, InsightSquared, Aviso: Data-driven forecasting and pipeline analytics. Heavy on dashboards, light on day-to-day usability.
What to Ignore:
- “AI-powered” claims that are just fancy filtering.
- Features you’ll never use (“gamification,” anyone?).
- Integrations that sound nice but don’t touch your real workflow.
3. Make an Apples-to-Apples Comparison
Here’s how to cut through the marketing and actually compare solutions:
a. Map Features to Your Must-Haves
Build a table (yes, a boring spreadsheet) with your must-have features down the left and the products across the top. For each, answer honestly:
- Does it fully solve the problem?
- Will your reps actually use it, or will it collect dust?
- How many clicks does it take to do the thing you care about?
Example Must-Haves: - Clean, real-time pipeline visibility - Forecasting that doesn’t require a PhD - Easy for managers to coach deals - Integrates with our CRM (and doesn’t break every month) - Actually helps reps, not just leadership
b. Ask for a Real Demo (Not the “Happy Path”)
Push vendors to show how their tool handles your exact use cases—messy data, complex deal cycles, reps who forget to update fields. If they can’t, that’s a red flag.
Pro Tip:
Bring up your weirdest sales process quirks. If the rep can’t show you how their platform handles them, you’ll be stuck later.
c. Test User Experience Yourself
Don’t just take the sales rep’s word for it. Get a sandbox environment, put your hands on the product, and see if:
- It’s intuitive for a new user (not just for someone who lives in dashboards).
- It speeds up the work you actually do.
- Your team groans less (or at least doesn’t groan more).
If your team hates it, adoption will tank—no matter how “powerful” the features are.
d. Check Integration Depth (Not Just the Logo Sheet)
A tool that “integrates with Salesforce” can mean anything from “seamlessly embedded” to “we dump a CSV for you to upload manually.” Ask for specifics:
- How does it handle custom fields, objects, and workflows?
- Does it break when Salesforce updates?
- Can it push and pull data, or is it one-way?
If you’re using Outreach, Salesloft, Slack, or something homegrown, ask for a real demo of that integration too.
e. Dig Into Reporting and Analytics
Look at the default reports. Are they actually useful, or just pretty? Can you slice the data the way you want, or will you be stuck exporting to Excel every week?
Red flag: If the vendor says, “You can build that with our powerful API!”—translation: you’re on your own.
4. Get Honest About Implementation and Support
Biggest myth in enterprise sales software: “You’ll be up and running in a week.” Here’s where the rubber meets the road:
- Implementation: How long does it really take to get value? Who does the heavy lifting—your team, the vendor, or pricey consultants?
- Training: Will your reps need to sit through hours of training? If so, adoption will be a slog.
- Support: Are you getting a dedicated customer success manager, or a ticket queue that takes days?
- Updates: Does the product stay current, or does it rot after the initial implementation?
Ask to talk to a current customer who’s similar to your org. Not the hand-picked “success story”—an actual user with warts and all.
5. Understand Pricing (and Hidden Costs)
Enterprise GTM software pricing is usually “call for quote,” but you can still get a sense of value for money. Watch out for:
- Per-user fees that add up fast as you grow
- Implementation and training costs (sometimes buried in fine print)
- Feature gating—the feature you want is in the “Platinum” tier
- Data storage or integration fees (if you have a big CRM, this can sting)
Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Most vendors have wiggle room if you ask.
6. Pressure-Test the Vendor’s Roadmap
Will the platform keep up with your needs, or will you outgrow it in a year? Ask about:
- What’s actually being built (not just “AI-powered insights coming soon!”)
- How often do they ship real updates?
- Will they listen to your feedback, or is everything “coming soon”?
If the roadmap is vague or full of big promises but little substance, be wary.
7. Make a Decision—Then Iterate
After all this, you’ll probably find there’s no perfect tool. Most teams end up picking the one that:
- Solves their top 1-2 problems really well
- Fits their workflow (even if it’s not “best in class” on every feature)
- Doesn’t make everyone’s life harder
Pro Tip:
Don’t try to solve every problem at once. Pick the tool that’ll give you quick wins, roll it out to a small team, and see what breaks. You can always expand or switch later—enterprise tools are rarely “forever.”
Keep it simple. There’s a lot of noise in this space, and it’s easy to get paralyzed by feature lists and vendor pitches. Focus on what’ll actually move the needle for your sales team right now, test it honestly, and don’t be afraid to change course if it’s not working. At the end of the day, the best GTM software is the one your team will actually use.