If you’re in charge of picking software for your sales team, you know the drill: endless demos, feature checklists, and vendors promising the moon. The truth? Most B2B go-to-market (GTM) tools sound alike and throw around buzzwords. You don’t want hype—you want something that actually helps your team hit their numbers without making them hate their jobs.
This guide breaks down how to compare Profound with other B2B GTM software, so you can make a choice that’s right for your team (not just for the loudest salesperson on LinkedIn). No fluff, no jargon, and no pulling punches.
1. Get Clear on What You Actually Need
Before you start comparing anything, you need to know what matters to your team—not what the vendors say should matter.
Ask yourself and your team: - Where are our real bottlenecks? (Is it finding leads, following up, closing deals, forecasting, or just getting reps to use the damn CRM?) - What are our “must-have” features? (Don’t mix these up with “nice-to-haves.”) - Where have past tools fallen short? (Clunky UI? Bad data? No integrations?) - How much change can your team actually handle right now?
Pro tip:
Don’t just ask the sales manager. The folks actually using the tool every day will tell you what’s broken.
2. Make a Shortlist (and Don’t Trust the Magic Quadrants)
The market is flooded with B2B GTM tools: Profound, Outreach, Apollo, Salesloft, HubSpot, and dozens more. If you try to evaluate them all, you’ll lose weeks and your sanity.
How to shortlist: - Ignore “top 10” lists that look like they were written by chatbots. - Ask peers in similar companies what they use and actually like. - Look at software review sites (G2, Capterra), but filter for companies your size and industry. - Be wary of analyst reports and vendor awards—they’re often pay-to-play.
Aim for 3–5 options max, including Profound if it fits the profile.
3. Compare Core Capabilities (Not Filler Features)
Vendors love to pad their feature lists with stuff you’ll never use. Focus on the things that really move the needle for your team.
Key capabilities to compare: - Lead management: How easy is it to import, qualify, and manage leads? - Workflow automation: Does it automate the repetitive stuff, or just add busywork? - Integrations: Does it play nice with your CRM, email, and whatever else you use? - Reporting: Are the dashboards actually useful, or just pretty? - User experience: Would your reps rather use this, or get a root canal?
What to ignore: - AI-powered anything (unless you see it save real time or money) - Social selling widgets nobody asked for - “Gamification” that treats grown salespeople like children
4. Dig Into Profound’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Let’s talk specifics. Profound pitches itself as a modern GTM tool for B2B teams, but what’s the reality?
Where Profound tends to shine: - Simplicity: The UI is clean—your team won’t need a two-week training just to send an email. - Targeting: Profound’s filters and segmentation are actually usable for building lists that make sense. - Collaboration: Easy to loop in marketing or CS without giving them the keys to the entire kingdom.
Where Profound might fall short: - Depth of automation: If you want hyper-advanced sequence logic, some competitors go deeper. - Third-party integrations: It covers the basics (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), but less so for niche tools. - Customization: Out-of-the-box is great, but if you need to tweak every workflow, you may hit limits.
Honest take:
Profound is a good fit for teams that want to get up and running fast and don’t need to build crazy-custom sales processes. If you’re running a 100+ person sales org with ultra-specific needs, you might want to check if those edge cases are covered.
5. Run Real-World Tests—Don’t Just Watch Demos
A vendor demo is a highlight reel. You need to see how these tools work with your team, your data, and your actual sales process.
How to run a real test: - Get trial access—or at least a sandbox environment. - Import a sample of your real data (anonymized if needed). - Have a few reps run their daily tasks: prospecting, outreach, updating deals, reporting. - See how long it takes to get up to speed. Where do they get stuck?
Pay attention to: - How quickly reps can do common tasks (not just the fancy stuff) - Where they get frustrated or confused - Whether you need to call support every time you want to change something
Red flag:
If the vendor won’t let you test the tool hands-on, walk away. You don’t buy a car without a test drive.
6. Compare Pricing—And Watch Out for Traps
Pricing for B2B GTM software is usually about as transparent as a brick wall.
What to watch for: - Per-user fees: Obvious, but check if prices jump at certain user counts. - “Platform” or “add-on” fees: Some tools nickel-and-dime you for features you thought were included. - Data or API limits: If your team grows, will costs explode? - Long-term contracts: Vendors love locking you in for a year (or more) with “discounts.”
Pro tip:
Ask for total cost of ownership—including setup, onboarding, and any required integrations. Make them spell it out in writing.
7. Check Support and Community (This Matters More Than You Think)
When (not if) something breaks, how quickly can you get help? Some platforms treat support like a necessary evil.
What to check: - Is support fast and knowledgeable, or does it feel like yelling into the void? - Is there a real user community or forum, or just a dead Slack group? - How often do they update the product? Are bugs fixed quickly?
Ask for references from current customers, not just the ones on the homepage.
8. Decide What You Can Live Without
No tool is perfect. There will be trade-offs. The trick is knowing what you can live without—and what’s a dealbreaker.
Typical trade-offs: - Ease of use vs. depth: Profound is simple, but may not go as deep as, say, Outreach or Salesloft for complex workflows. - All-in-one vs. best-of-breed: Do you want one tool to rule them all, or to stitch together a few great ones? - Speed vs. customization: Tools that are easy to set up may not be super flexible for edge cases.
Get the team’s input on what they really care about, and what’s just window dressing.
9. Make the Call—And Don’t Overthink It
After all the research, you’ll probably find two or three tools that could work. At this point, don’t get paralyzed by analysis.
How to move forward: - Pick the one that solves your biggest pain points. - Make sure your team is on board (or at least not dreading it). - Start with a pilot—don’t roll it out to everyone at once. - Set clear success metrics for the first 90 days.
If it doesn’t work out, be ready to change course. Software isn’t marriage.
TL;DR: Keep It Simple and Iterate
Comparing Profound to other B2B GTM tools isn’t about who has the longest feature list or the best AI pitch. It’s about what actually helps your sales team sell. Cut through the hype. Test real workflows. Focus on what your team needs right now—not what looks cool on a slide deck.
Pick a tool, try it out, and don’t be afraid to change your mind. The best software is the one your team actually uses.