4 Trends that Are Transforming CRM

As the number of businesses using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems increases, the market becomes more competitive. Understanding and adopting the latest trends in CRM is crucial to stay ahead. Big players like Salesforce and Microsoft in the CRM scene are constantly researching and improving their solutions, which helps you and your business. On top of managing your organization’s customer interactions, CRM is now used to improve customer experience, increase sales and customer retention rate. CRM is, without any doubt, evolving at a rapid speed and transforming into a sophisticated solution.

4 key trends we are seeing in 2021

1. AI-Powered Voice Assistant

Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, conversational CRM is becoming the focus of the CRM space. There are many capabilities that an AI-powered CRM offers such as text-based chatbots and face recognition. However, what we should pay most attention to is voice functionalities. CRM providers like Zoho and Salesforce have already presented their voice assistant. Salesforce’s Voice Assistant, Einstein, allows users use voice to command to update and access their data within CRM on any device.

This capability will eliminate time-consuming and repetitive data entry, empowering the users to focus on increasing sales. According to IDC’s study (2017), it is believed that “by 2021, AI-powered CRM activities could increase global business revenues by $1.1 trillion.” CRM has been a key factor of increasing sales and revenue, and AI-powered CRM solutions are already changing the game.

2. The IoT in CRM, the Future of Customer Service

Customers’ expectations are getting higher, which means providing a better customer experience is unnegotiable.  In order to meet expectations, you need a seamless integration between the Internet of Things (IoT) and CRM. The IoT is a network of things that gather, exchange, and respond to data via the Internet. The IoT is the future of customer service, but how is it related to CRM? The IoT helps CRM systems communicate better, thus providing improved customer service.

Imagine there is an issue with one of the IoT-capable products your customer purchased. If this was recorded in your CRM, the customer’s product will push data into your CRM, alerting you that your customer is having an issue. Before the customer reaches out to you, you respond quickly by informing the customer care team, so they can resolve the issue immediately.

This is just one instance of what a well-integrated IoT with CRM can do for your business. Automated customer service will transform so many industries; having the ability to analyze data and resolve issues quickly and efficiently is the key to customer success.

3. A Full CRM Experience at Your Hands

Mobile CRM offers a full CRM experience at your command, whether you are using a smartphone, tablet, or any other device. According to Statista’s study (2019), about 52.99% of global traffic in 2017 came from mobile devices compared to 0.7% in 2009. More people are using mobile devices to access data, thus providing real-time access for the CRM users becomes a key function for any businesses.  

What does it mean to have more people using mobile CRM? It means empowering your organization across departments ranging from sales, marketing, to customer service. The users will be able to manage key information anywhere and anytime. Even your customers will benefit from this trend. Customers will receive the best customer service real-time. Employees can now support your customers anytime thanks to real-time access to information.

4. Creating Hyper-personalized Customer Experience

CRM allows companies to gatherdata and learn more about their customers. However, not everyone can take the data and turn it into valuable customer insights. Understanding what customers search, read, and buy won’t be enough for companies to compete against their competitors. This is where hyper-personalized customer experience can play a key role. When companies create experiences tailored to each individual customer, it creates a special relationship and values for your customer.

“Personalization is essential for the survival of every company. Technology in itself does not put you ahead of the competition, it’s about how you use the technology to create a sustainable competitive advantage.” – Patrick Willer, Principal Solution Engineer at Salesforce

So many companies have access to powerful CRM solutions, yet not many of them have mastered the techniques to deliver hyper-personalized experiences.  Such experiences become so powerful that your customers will become loyal to your brand and differentiate you from other competitors. We are living in an era where collecting the right data about your customers and being able to provide relevant recommendations are the key factors to winning customers loyalty.

CRM Trends of 2021

So far, we’ve reviewed the 4 trends of 2019 that are transforming the CRM space. As companies gain access to more customer data and insights through CRM systems, many companies start facing a new dilemma; How do they make the right decisions? How do you reach out to the customers with the right solutions at the right time, creating a unique experience for them?

“We take most of the money that we could have spent on paid advertising and instead put it back into the customer experience. Then we let the customers be our marketing.” - Tony Hsieh, Founder and CEO of Zappos

It’s more than just gathering information about your customers. These trends tell us how important it is to understand and predict what your customers need. If your company is already practicing some of these trends, you’re in good company. CRM systems will continue to evolve. In order to stay competitive in the market, companies will need to keep finding new ways to build stronger customer relationships using CRM systems.

Questions? As Silver Salesforce Consulting Partner and Microsoft Gold Partner, FMT understands that your business is unique and won’t fit a pre-determined mold. We can help you select and implement the right CRM solution for your business, so you can get the maximum value out of your system. Give us a call at 833-827-4276 if you have any questions.