12 Best Business Development Tools for 2024

Razvan Mihaila
LAST UPDATED
September 4, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

Is your business falling behind the competition?

Your competition might have something you’re missing. The right business development tools.

Let’s take a look at a few tools that can help you with prospecting, managing cold email campaigns, scheduling meetings, and managing customer relationships.

We’ll share the ultimate business development tool to unlock your business growth.

Prospecting tools for business development

Here are a few prospecting tools that help you:

  • Find high-quality leads.
  • Prioritize and nurture the leads.
  • Enrich your leads with relevant data.
  • Build a relationship by engaging the leads.

1. UpLead

Capterra rating: 4.7/5

UpLead, a unique platform, stands out with its ability to help you identify high-quality leads from its vast database of 155M+ verified leads. It's not just about the quantity but also the quality, as you can narrow down your search using 50+ search criteria, including industry, company, job title, location, and more. 

how to use uplead

You found people and businesses that match your buyer persona. What's next?

UpLead helps you segment and personalize your outreach efforts with lead enrichment. It will provide you with your leads' email address, phone number, technology they use, etc. 

Also, Uplead protects your sender reputation by verifying the leads' email addresses in real-time. 

UpLead supports integration with popular CRM platforms such as Zapiers, Salesforce, Copper, or HubSpot.

UpLead pricing

UpLead offers a 7-day free trial so you can test some of its basic features. Paid plans start at $99/month, but if you need access to some of its more advanced features, you have to subscribe to one of the more expensive plans. 

how much does uplead cost

2. GetProspect

Capterra rating: 4.5/5 

Are you trying to reach a new prospect? GetProspect helps you find their email address and verify it to ensure it’s a valid address.

find new leads with getprospect
Credit: Capterra.com

Get more information about your leads through GetProspect's B2B database. It includes 230M email addresses, 130M mobile phone numbers, and other important information that helps you qualify and segment your list. 

If you’re just starting to put together your client list, you can filter the database by 22 criteria, including location, technology, social media accounts, etc. 

GetProspect Pricing

GetProspect pricing plans start at $49/month. Depending on the number of valid emails you need, the cost can quickly build up. GetProspect also offers a free plan. 

how much does gerprospect cost

3. Taplio

Not prospecting on LinkedIn means you're leaving money on the table. 

There are 65+ million business decision-makers on LinkedIn

So, how can Taplio help you find new leads and prospects on LinkedIn?

Taplio helps you identify and connect with high-quality leads on LinkedIn through its 3M+ and growing lead database. To identify your next clients or partners, tell Taplio what you're looking for. 

how to find leads  on linkedin with Taplio

Additionally, you can filter the database by criteria such as country, industry, job level, topics, etc. Once you find your next client, you can use Taplio's icebreaker generator to reach out to them. 

Engage with your leads

Taplio ensures you're not missing a chance to engage with your prospects by listing everyone who has engaged with your content. It also helps you connect with like-minded people who have interacted with other profiles' posts.

Connect with your leads

Taplio helps you reach out to more relevant connections while saving time by sending bulk DMs.

To get noticed and start a relationship with your leads, Taplio allows you to personalize each message with your recipient's name, company, job title, city, and more.

Taplio can do more for your business than prospecting new leads.

Taplio pricing

Taplio plans start at $39/month. You can test its advanced features through the 7-day free trial. Also, Taplio offers a 30-day refund policy.

Cold emailing tools for business development

Email generates$42 for every $1 spent. So, what are some of the best cold emailing tools for business development?

1. Woodpecker

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

Woodpecker is a cold emailing tool that is a great choice for beginners due to its friendly interface. 

With its easy-to-use design, you can set up your first cold emailing campaign. You can add up to 11 follow-up messages based on your recipients' actions. You can also set the delay time for follow-ups and the exact times for Woodpecker to send your emails. 

manage email lists with woodpecker

Woodpecker helps you connect with your leads through their favorite channel. It uses Dux-Soup to automate LinkedIn profile visits, invites, or messages. You can even include emails, phone calls, and manual LinkedIn tasks to connect with prospects. 

Woodpecker Pricing

Woodpecker offers a range of plans starting at $29/month. However, costs can build up as you engage with more prospects. To help you decide, Woodpecker provides a 7-day free trial or until you reach out to 50 prospects, whichever comes first.

how much does woodpecker cost

2. Reply.io

Capterra rating: 4.6/5

Reply.io is designed to help sales and marketing teams start and manage communications with potential clients. 

It saves you time by writing the text for individual emails or the complete sequence by including an AI-powered writing assistant. However, AI usage is limited through credits. 

manage outreach campaigns with reply.io

For example, the Starter plan ($59/month) gives you 50 AI credits. You spend 2 credits for each personalized email and 1 credit for any other type of personalization. When your AI credits run out, you must buy more or upgrade your plan. 

buy credit to use reply.io AI features

With Reply.io, you can reach out to your prospects through multiple channels. This includes email, phone, text messaging, and LinkedIn. 

Reply.io Pricing

Reply.io plans offers a free plan with limited features. Its paid plans start at $59/month.

how much does reply.io cost

3. Instantly

G2 rating- 4.9/5

Instantly is an efficient cold emailing tool. You can manage replies to all emails from a centralized unibox. Also, it helps you manage all leads as you move them between lists or campaigns. 

instantly unibox

Instantly protects your sender's reputation with unlimited email accounts under one subscription. This means you can send many emails daily without ending up in spam. 

When setting up a campaign, its clean interface helps you add new options, sequence for emails, or setting a schedule for email sending.

Instantly pricing

Instantly plans start at $70/month. If you plan on sending many emails, you have to subscribe to one of the more expensive plans. Instantly, there is also a free trial, so you can test it before paying. 

how much does instantly cost

Scheduling meetings tools for business development

Does your business rely on booking meetings with your customers? These tools will give you a helping hand.

1. Google Calendar

Capterra rating: 4.8/5

This meeting scheduling tool is part of the Google Workspace suite, so you can easily sync it with other Google apps.

manage meetings with Google Calendar

Its friendly interface makes it easy to organize your meetings. You can send invites through Gmail, set your availability, include a break between 2 consecutive meetings, or set a maximum number of meetings per day. 

Google Calendar is also a good choice for internal meetings. You can check other team members' availability side by side, so there’s no scheduling conflict. 

Google Calendar Pricing

Google Calendar offers a free plan that you can use endlessly. If you need more features, such as an increased number of meeting participants or a custom business email address, you’ll have to subscribe to one of its paid plans, starting from $6/month.

how much does Google Calendar cost

2. lemcal

Capterra rating: 4.7/5

lemcal is a feature-rich meeting scheduling tool. It helps you book more meetings by removing the back-and-forth arrangements between you and your leads. 

book more meetings with lemcal

lemcal increases the chances of your prospect showing up by helping you create highly-customized booking pages. You can also add LinkedIn posts, YouTube and Loom videos, tweets, images, etc.

Can you integrate lemcal with other calendars? Yes! You can connect lemcal to Google, Microsoft, or Zapier. You can also connect thousands of other tools through webhooks.

You can even add a lemcal page to your website to make it easier for people to book a meeting with you. 

Get paid for taking meetings. 

lemcal integrates with Stripe, so it facilitates automatic payment processing during booking, ensuring a smooth (and secure) transaction for you and your client. 

lemcal pricing

lemcal has a free plan that you can use to book more meetings conveniently. Its paid plan is $7/month billed yearly or $9/month billed monthly. You can test the Pro plan through its 14-day free trial.

how much does lemcal cost

CRM tool for business development

1. Pipedrive

Capterra rating: 4.6/5

Pipedrive is a customer relationship tool designed for sales teams. 

use pipedrive as a business development tool
Credit: G2.com

This business development tool focuses on sales pipeline creation and management, but it also includes lead routing, project tracking, revenue forecasting, and more features. 

Pipedrive’s friendly interface makes learning easy. It also incorporates AI to help you set up your projects. You can categorize leads so you can focus on high-quality leads. 

The platform extends its functionality with more than 400 third-party app integrations, including Zapier, Zoom, Leadfeeder, and lemcal. 

Pipedrive pricing

Pipedrive has 5 plans that you can choose from. Its plans start at $24, and it offers a 14-day free trial.

how much does pipedrive cost

2. ClickUp

Capterra rating: 4.7/5

ClickUp is an all-in-one CRM platform. Its features are designed for team collaboration, project management, task automation, and customer relationship management. 

ClickUp has ready-to-go templates that you can use to create great customer experiences. You can also customize these templates or create your own to fit your industry. 

manage your business goals with clickup

Need more apps and tools?

ClickUp integrates with more than 1,000 apps and collaboration tools, such as Google Calendar, Slack, Zoom, Loom, etc. 

ClickUp pricing

ClickUp offers a free plan, which may be a good fit for small businesses. ClickUp paid plans start at $10/month, and you will get access to more advanced features such as native time tracking, Google SSO, or workload management.

how much does clickup cost

3. Zoho

Capterra rating: 4.3/5

Zoho is a great choice for new entrepreneurs managing small businesses. Its best features include contact management, pipeline management, sales funnels, sales forecasting, and an AI-powered assistant. 

zoho sales comparator
Credit: Captera.com

Zoho helps you create a complete business system as it integrates with 500+ business apps. 

Zoho helps you analyze and visualize your data. With its filtering options, you can find the data your strategy needs to improve. You can also create bar graphs, heat maps, or pie charts to visualize collected data.

Zoho pricing

Zoho plans start at $21/month. To access its AI-powered or data encryption features, you have to subscribe to one of the more expensive plans.

However, Zoho offers a free trial for each of its plans. 

how much does zoho cost

lemlist - the ultimate business development tool

Capterra rating: 4.6/5

Looking to get more features for your money? Here's how lemlist can help your business.

Prospecting

Are you struggling to find and connect with new leads?

lemlist gives you access to its 450M+ B2B leads database. You can find your ideal client by filtering the database by name, location, industry, job title.

lemlist ensures efficient communication by tracking who you’ve contacted for easy retargeting & spam avoidance.

Already have your lead’s email address?

Protect your sender's reputation and avoid missed opportunities by ensuring it’s the correct email address.

lemlist’s free email checker finds 80% of valid emails using just the first, last, and company names.

Prefer LinkedIn?

Just drop in a profile URL into lemlist's email finder, and it does the heavy lifting for you.

This ensures your emails are deliverable - minimizing the risk of bounce.

It double-checks emails with multiple providers for accuracy.

Cold email campaigns

Getting into your leads’ inboxes and generating more replies is where lemlist really stands out. 

You can set up easily editable email sequences, allowing you to quickly build personalized campaigns that align with your goals. Lemlist’s advanced conditions let you configure automations that trigger reactions based on your recipient’s actions.

lemlist advanced conditions for email campaigns

If a lead opens but doesn’t click, send a follow-up email or respond with a personalized video if they engage with a link.

This customization turns every recipient action into an opportunity for more impactful outreach.

Not sure how to start your emails?

lemlist helps you overcome writer’s block with its cold email generator and B2B email templates. 

You can also personalize your campaign at scale. Personalize your email at scale with custom text variables, add custom images and videos, and dynamic landing pages. 

lemlist pricing

lemlist plans start at $39/month, but you can test every plan for free through the 14-day free trial - no card required.

If you subscribe to lemlist Emal Pro plan, you get free access to lemwarm, an email deliverabiliy tool. 

Key takeaways

-> When choosing a business development tool, consider how well it aligns with your business needs and goals. 

-> Keep in mind that your business will scale. So, the tool should accommodate increasing data volumes, user numbers, and tasks' complexity.

-> Ensure the tool integrates easily with your current systems and software.

-> Search for users' feedback, read reviews, and request demos or trials before deciding. 

-> Consider the total cost of ownership, including upfront costs, subscription fees, and additional expenses such as training and support. 

Add lemlist to your list of business development suites to have a powerful tool without breaking the bank. Test it before paying through its 14-day free trial—no card required. 

Razvan Mihaila
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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