CRM in 2019
The customer relationship management (CRM) industry has certainly evolved over the last couple of decades. For many years, companies used a variety of tools to attract and retain customers, often without any real strategy to manage these goals. And the need for driving sales has shifted focus onto real engagement and creating more lasting relationships with customers and prospects. With so many advancements in CRM being made every year, here is what you can expect to see more of in the upcoming year:
- Automation and artificial intelligence
Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) have changed the way we approach sales and marketing and greatly contributed towards the rise in importance of CRM. AI helps to deliver valuable customer insight, enabling sales and marketing teams to predict customer needs. Automation then acts upon those predictions to engage prospects and customers with exactly what they’re looking for at the right time. AI also allows for more accurate segmentation, increased personalisation and deeper customer engagement.
- Efficient collaboration
The key benefits of the advancements in CRM systems are the organisational benefits that enable collaboration throughout your entire organisation as well as the sharing of information to deliver excellent service and increase overall productivity. Not only can teams collaborate on specific initiatives, but they can also use insights from multiple sources to enhance customer profiles and provide better service.
- Social CRM
Social media has become instrumental for sales and marketing teams looking to engage in authentic dialogue with leads and customers together with assisting them in thoroughly researching the people they plan to engage with. Essentially, social CRM means seamlessly integrating your CRM system with multiple platforms to gain more insight on customers and then engaging with them in a more meaningful manner.
CRM is all about making communication between customers and organisations as authentic, personalised and valuable as possible. If your company hasn’t invested in CRM yet, 2019 is the time to get on board or risk being left behind.
