CRM Trends That You Should Look Out For

In recent years, the rapid growth of technology has made it possible to digitalise many business tools, including CRM (customer relationship management). By integrating modern CRM and their capabilities into their operations, organisations can give their consumers a seamless experience, which significantly helps in storing accurate data, providing a great customer experience, preventing customer conflicts and eventually resulting in a healthy sales pipeline and retaining customers.

Because of this, the industry of CRM is continually expanding. With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the digitalisation of numerous business tools and more staff allocated to work countable business functionalities working from home, businesses can expect more innovations in CRM technology.

Trends in the CRM Industry

The rise of cloud-based platforms has drastically changed the CRM strategy of companies. Cloud CRM solutions offer many benefits to organisations, one of which is CRM customisation, allowing enterprises to modify CRM to cater to business needs. Furthermore, businesses pivot to using cloud CRM because of its flexibility and scalability compared to on-premise solutions.

More and more enterprises integrate cloud CRM solutions while undergoing major business system transformations to support their staff to work remotely. Cloud-based solutions are just one of the critical innovations in the industry, and many more changes will happen with continuous research in CRM technology.

Here are some trends that will shape the industry of CRM in the coming years.

The Use of AI

To construct effective business models and marketing strategies, CRM solutions collect vast customer data from various business departments and channels. The data are then analysed to help formulate more aimed and focused marketing campaigns and KPIs.

By using AI (artificial intelligence), companies can simplify this labour-intensive task and significantly boost productivity. AI-powered CRMs are also capable of predictive analytics, report generation, bringing new information that organisation stakeholders can use to make decisions. With AI, enterprises can get real-time analytics about customer behaviour, preferences, and sentiments that they can use to decide whether to reassess existing business processes or even simply improve service.

More than 84% of global marketers are already using artificial intelligence in their business campaigns last year, 55% higher than in 2018. In addition, AI-backed CRM can increase global business revenue by more than AUD 1 trillion.

Social Media in CRM

Almost 80% of the Australian population are using social media, and more people worldwide are opening their accounts for various purposes, including interacting with different organisations. Social media integrations with the CRM gives organisation stakeholders essential insights about the brand by analysing how customers interact with the products and services and answering consumer sentiments on time. This can help strengthen customer relationships and get a fast ROI (return of investment).

Traditional ways of interacting with customers, like emails and calls, will not be a thing of the past anytime soon. But, since social media are now a popular way for people to communicate, enterprises integrating these online platforms into their CRM can significantly improve customer satisfaction. Social CRM gives the clients a chance to converse with the companies using their preferred network, considerably elevating the experience for the customer.

Integration of E-Commerce Solutions

Traditional retail is far from dead, but e-commerce is now the norm for both businesses and consumers. It is essential for enterprises to effectively connect with their customers online and simplify the supply chain for the employees and clients alike.

Implementing an e-commerce solution made for specific B2B requirements and can connect to the sales team’s CRM will help streamline business tasks and significantly improve customer experience. It can also help drive sales modules of the organisation more efficiently.

E-commerce solutions integrated into the CRM will help keep track of customer behaviour, frequency, and follow-ups. It will also make the client’s life easier by allowing sales reps to process orders on behalf of the consumer and allowing them to easily display account summaries, such as invoices and sales orders.

Mobile CRM

The digital age has made it easier for people to perform tasks using modern tools, including smartphones. And as the COVID-19 pandemic halted normal onsite operations, remote work setup became the new standard. Companies need to provide employees with a system that can help them efficiently work in any location.

Leading CRM solutions, such as Dynamics 365, can be accessed with mobile phones, answering the increasing need for mobility. Mobile CRM can help marketers easily transition between offline and online platforms and help propel the company to success by giving the workforce the power of CRM on their hands.

The Future of CRM is Now

CRM is not just a contact management tool anymore. The overall value of CRM solutions in the market is currently at more than AUD 160 billion. It became a comprehensive business solution for many organisations. And as enterprises continue to focus on improving customer experience, CRM solutions will continue to be developed to keep up with the trends that affect consumer interaction with different brands.

Implementing modern CRM strategies can be complicated, and getting the right help from local specialists in the field is important.  Integral Management Systems PTY LTD, the preferred Microsoft Dynamics (CRM and ERP) partner in Western Australia, can provide consultations, migration, implementation to support and maintain all your ERP and CRM needs.