Customer relationship management has come a long way from its earliest days to becoming an essential tool of the digital era. Contemporary CRM systems can do so much more than track customer related information. The best automation solutions are capable of integrating marketing automation, sales force automation and customer support automation on a single platform. However, what does the future hold for CRM software? Is it going to be more simplified and make companies more efficient? Will the CRM software evolve to the point of replacing humans and doing all of the heavy lifting by itself? Or will the CRM systems be replaced by an entirely different technology? Every year new CRM vendors come into the market with their innovative offers promising to give that extra competitive edge so that your business is able to establish a bigger community of loyal customers and increase revenue while constantly improving the quality of customer service. Making a prediction of what is to come can be a difficult task, but the existing trends in the CRM industry may help businesses pick the best automation solution and stay ahead of the competition. Let’s take a closer look at CRM features and trends that will cause the most buzz in years to come.
Cloud Expansion
The introduction of cloud deployment has been a real game-changer in the CRM industry. The benefits of CRM in the cloud include the reduction of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), improved availability and reliability. Only 12% of companies were using cloud CRM solutions in 2008 and over the years that percentage has reached over 87%. Businesses are moving their CRM systems into the cloud at a breakneck speed that is only expected to increase. Moreover, the success of CRM solutions has inspired businesses to invest in various CRM related technology Many companies have been reluctant to go for a cloud offer over concerns that a third party would be in charge of sensitive data, however these issues have been addressed as the automation software vendors promise top-notch data protection.
Social Integration
Collecting valuable customer information has always been one of the most complex and time-consuming tasks. That is why businesses are trying to exploit every available resource to extract as much valuable customer data as possible. Your company will definitely benefit if you deploy an automation solution with pre-built social media features. The system can utilize innovative tools to collect additional data from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. That way, you will be able to get a better understanding of who your clients are. At the same time, social networks have become one of the most popular touchpoints for customers to interact with businesses. Your patrons will expect you to deliver excellent customer service regardless of the communication channel they use. Therefore, it is very important for your customer support team to be equipped with extended omnichannel communication tools. In fact, 47% of businesses are planning to increase their spending on help desk and customer service software. Marketing automation and social media monitoring comes next on the expense list.
Cloud CRM goes Mobile
In a hectic business environment where your sales representatives need to balance a lot of responsibilities at once, mobility is paramount. Unfortunately, the majority of current mobile CRM applications deliver a simplified phone-ready version with extremely limited set of features. However, with an increase in the use and dependence of mobile technology, the rise of mobile CRM is inevitable. In fact, recent studies suggest that mobile CRM access increases the productivity of your workforce by 15%. Mobile CRM apps offer the connectivity your salespeople require as they can constantly stay in touch with their contacts and their sales managers. Moreover, your sales reps do not have to be tied up to their PCs or laptops: mobile apps work in sync with desktop versions and your salespeople will instantly get updates and notification on their smartphones. The mobile CRM app can actually turn your smartphone into a powerful sales tool as your presentations and the latest analytics is at your fingertips. In addition, the studies suggest that 65% of sales reps who have adopted mobile CRM have achieved their sales quotas while only 22% of reps using non-mobile CRM have reached the same targets.
Deep Integration
Time is an incredibly valuable asset and business do not want to waste it. Instead of spending hours importing CSVs from one system to another, the users of CRMs will expect the vendors to pre-emptively build the necessary integrations to make it more efficient. That is why it is vital for the most innovative CRM to enable total control of the complete customer journey – from demand generation to repeat sales and ongoing account maintenance. Cloud CRM solutions that seamlessly integrate marketing, sales and customer service on a single platform are the ones that will be ahead of the curve. Instead of being sales-focused, the CRM software of tomorrow will be able to truly integrate marketing, sales and service automation into a single customer-oriented and process-driven CRM. Every department of your company will benefit from such unification. It has been discovered that when sales and marketing teams work together, companies see 36% higher customer retention and 38% higher sales win rates. Moreover, if these departments work cooperatively, the companies become 67% better at closing deals.
The CRM industry is on the verge of another transformation where automation solution will become more intelligent, ensuring a deeper understanding and stronger connection between customers and businesses. Customer experience will be constantly improved as CRM systems will develop more sophisticated tools for data management. CRM in the cloud will definitely drive your business forward. You can learn more about it here – https://www.bpmonline.com/crm/cloud-crm.
