If you’ve spent more than five minutes looking for B2B sales tools, you know the drill: every vendor claims they’ll “transform your GTM motion” or “streamline sales, end-to-end.” Most of it’s marketing fluff. If you’re actually on the hook for picking something that works—maybe you’re a sales ops lead, a founder, or just the unlucky one who drew the short straw—this guide is for you. We’ll walk through how to compare Dock with other go-to-market (GTM) tools, so you can cut through the noise and actually improve your sales process.
1. Get Clear on What You Really Need (Not What Vendors Want to Sell)
Before you even open a single demo tab, sit down and figure out what your sales team actually needs. Ignore the “all-in-one” promises for a second. Focus on your bottlenecks:
- Is your team wasting hours chasing updates from buyers?
- Do deals stall because customers get lost in email threads?
- Are you sick of copy-pasting the same onboarding info for every new customer?
- Is your CRM a graveyard of incomplete data?
Write down the pain points. Prioritize them. The right tool should make these better, not just give you another dashboard to ignore.
Pro Tip:
Don’t let a vendor’s demo drive your checklist. Vendors will always show off their “coolest” feature—usually the least useful one.
2. Know What Category Dock Actually Plays In
Dock isn’t a CRM, a pure sales enablement tool, or a project management app. It’s more of a “digital sales room” or “buyer enablement workspace.” In plain English: Dock creates a shared space for sales teams and buyers to collaborate, swap files, track progress, and keep everyone on the same page. Think of it as a hub for deal management and customer onboarding, built for the messy, multi-threaded nature of B2B sales.
So when you compare Dock to other tools, make sure you’re looking at the right set:
- Digital sales rooms: Dock, DealHub, Accord, GetAccept, Enable Us, etc.
- Sales enablement platforms: Highspot, Showpad, Seismic (more for content management and training)
- Project/onboarding tools: Notion, Asana, Monday (better for internal use; buyers rarely log in)
- CRM add-ons: Salesforce Digital Deal Rooms, HubSpot Sales Hub (sometimes have features but usually bolt-ons, not core)
If you compare Dock to Salesforce or HubSpot as a whole, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Get the categories straight.
3. Make a Shortlist—Then Ruthlessly Narrow It
You could spend weeks comparing 20 tools. Don’t. Pick 3–5 that actually match your needs and budget. Here’s how to narrow down:
- Ignore companies that only sell to enterprise. If you’re a 10-person startup, you don’t need Seismic.
- Skip tools that require months of setup. If you can’t get value in a week, keep moving.
- Watch out for “feature bloat.” The more features, the less likely your team will actually use them.
Start with Dock and compare it to two or three others in the digital sales room space. That’s probably plenty.
4. Compare Based on Real-World Use, Not Feature Lists
Feature checklists are mostly useless. Every vendor will claim to have “collaboration,” “analytics,” and “automation.” Here’s what actually matters:
a. Does it fit your sales process, or force you to change?
- Can you create and share workspaces in minutes, or does it take a consultant?
- Does it work with the tools you already use (Gmail, Slack, your CRM)?
b. Will your buyers actually use it?
- Can buyers access it without a login?
- Is the interface simple, or does it look like a cockpit?
c. How well does it handle handoffs?
- Does it work through the buyer journey (sales, onboarding, customer success)?
- Can you hand off deals without dropping the ball?
d. Is it overkill?
- If your deals are simple, do you really need complex workflows?
- If most of your sales are one-and-done, a digital sales room might be extra.
Pro Tip:
Set up a “real” test: Run one deal through Dock, one through a competitor, and one the old way. See what actually gets done.
5. Watch for Red Flags During Demos and Trials
Vendors are great at hiding weaknesses. Here’s what to look out for:
- Long implementation times: If “you’ll want our professional services team for rollout,” run.
- Custom coding or integrations: If you need engineers to connect your CRM, it’ll never happen.
- Locked-in contracts: Avoid annual deals until you’ve tried it for real.
Ask the sales rep to show you your use case, not their canned demo. If they can’t, move on.
6. Dig Into Pricing and Hidden Costs
This is where a lot of tools fall down. Dock’s pricing is pretty transparent, but many competitors hide behind “contact sales” buttons or throw in sneaky add-ons.
- User vs. workspace pricing: Are you paying per sales rep, per customer, or per workspace?
- Limits on storage or integrations: Will you get dinged for sharing too many files or using certain features?
- Support and onboarding: Is there an extra charge for help, or is it included?
- Data export: If you leave, can you get your stuff out?
Don’t get caught out by a tool that’s cheap for 5 users but extortionate at 15.
7. Ask Around—But Take Reviews with a Grain of Salt
G2, Capterra, Reddit, LinkedIn—there’s lots of chatter. Pay attention to patterns, not outliers. Look for:
- Complaints about onboarding, support, or bugs
- Teams abandoning a tool after a few months
- People raving about a feature you don’t care about
And remember: Sometimes the “best” tool is just the one your team will actually use.
Pro Tip:
If you know someone using Dock or its competitors, buy them coffee and grill them on what’s actually good or annoying.
8. Don’t Forget Security and Compliance (But Don’t Overthink It)
If you’re a regulated company or work with sensitive data, make sure the tool has the basics: SOC2, SSO, GDPR compliance. For most startups, this isn’t a dealbreaker, but don’t ignore it if buyers will ask.
9. Make Your Final Call—Then Actually Use It
Once you’ve picked, roll it out for one part of your sales process or one sales team. Don’t try to boil the ocean. Give it a few weeks, gather feedback, and adjust. If it’s not working, don’t be afraid to switch—most teams over-commit to the wrong tools because they’re embarrassed to admit it didn’t work.
Bottom line:
Don’t let shiny features or smooth-talking reps steer your decision. Focus on what actually helps your team close deals and keeps your buyers happy. Start simple, test in the real world, and don’t be afraid to change course if it’s not making life easier. In the end, the right tool is the one that fits your workflow, not the one with the flashiest website. Keep it simple and tweak as you go.