CRM Platform – Key Trends to Follow
Generating business gain through CRM platforms
CRM platform trends by and large focus on the latest CRM business applications. It also highlights on types of CRM platforms that are in demand currently.
Customer Relationship Management is a buzzword in the marketing industry for decades now. With the digital transformation, there are certain evolutions to the traditional CRM platforms.
Current CRM platforms seem to be more robust and enterprise-friendly. Operating, monitoring and managing the system is relatively more straightforward. Many of the processes are pre-set and automated.
Statistics indicate a steady peak in the CRM platforms revenue over the past decade.
IDC forecasts spending on CRM applications will reach $31.7B in 2018, attaining a CAGR of 6.9%. Sales and Marketing automation is the first consideration for investment.
Let’s look at some of the top trends in the CRM platform segment.
Top CRM platform Trends
Cloud-based CRM
Cloud-based CRM remains a popular choice for many enterprises.
The reason for its popularity is:
- Faster deployment
- Reduced overall cost as compared to a full-fledged CRM application
More companies are migrating to the cloud-based CRM platform due to:
- 24/7 accessibility
- Real-time information sharing capabilities
Social CRM
The world is getting digitized at a much faster pace now. Companies are finding it challenging to manage and monitor their social media efforts.
Social CRM helps in connecting with the audience more effectively. It leverages the power of analytics, reporting, and CRM. It helps in creating a platform which can streamline social media interactions.
Social CRM typically consists of –
- Social dashboard for monitoring social activities
- Analytics for measuring social campaign performance
- Social connections hub
- A social media management module
It is an excellent tool to study and analyze the brand’s social media interactions. It also measures the online customer sentiments of your brand.
Contextual CRM
Customers today are always bombarded with marketing messages from various brands. It’s very much essential to stay relevant and target the right audience.
Customer profiling, segmentation and creating original content helps in cutting through the noise. It enables to target the right audience at the right time with relevant content.
It is imperative for the brand’s success in the current competitive scenario. Thereby, attaining customer satisfaction and building customer loyalty.
Omni-channel CRM
The devices that are being connected to the internet is growing exponentially. Marketers need to focus on tapping this opportunity of multi-channel marketing.
Brands must be actively present across all mediums of communications. will have more visibility among the digitally active audience.
The sales and service technicians spend most of their time in off-site consulting. Hence, an on-premise CRM system without mobility no more fits the bill. A robust CRM platform with mobile-friendly capabilities is the need of the hour.
Predictive analytics
Integrate predictive analytics with CRM platforms. It will make the sales and marketing team more productive.
The analytics supported CRM system provides market forecasts and recommendations. It would equip the sales and marketing team with more realistic assumptions.
Predictive analytics will be the most used to study customer behavior in the future. It will help companies gain a competitive advantage by learning more about the customers. It helps in streamlining marketing activities accordingly.
Artificial Intelligence and CRM System
Traditional CRM systems are all mostly on-premise systems. As the representatives or technicians fail to update to their systems. It misses out on a lot of valuable sales and outdoor services data.
In this mobile-driven world, traditional CRM platforms take backstage.
Artificial intelligence based chatbot retrieve valuable data from mobile and chat logs. AI-based chatbots record every single customer interaction. It helps in delivering an exceptional customer experience.
It analyzes the nature of interactions and predicts customer churn rates. Thereby, helping in customer retention and building brand loyalty.
Adoption of the latest CRM Platform trends in the UAE
Many of the legacy CRM systems currently in action here in the region are becoming redundant. Many are striving hard to cop up with the current complex business scenario.
The digital transformation is demanding more sophisticated CRM platforms.
The top CRM related business requirements in the UAE region currently are:
- Customized CRM platform with a multi-channel support solution
- Capabilities that integrates analytics, mobile apps, intelligent chatbot, an interactive reporting system, etc.
- Simplistic dashboarding system
- Robust information gathering system on the go
Apart from the sophistication in the CRM system, trust is a key factor in choosing your CRM partner in the UAE region.
CRM implementation & support services is a long-term business commitment. Hence selecting the right technical support provider is a very crucial element in the success of the project.
As the execution contains multiple steps involving various stakeholders, the rapport with your implementation partner is a must-have element for the successful implementation of the CRM project.
Most importantly, the aim of any CRM platform always remains to deliver exceptional customer experience. Also, build brand satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Interested to know about the common CRM System Fails, you can read our blog here: CRM System Fails -How does business tackle it
Should you wish to know more about the possibilities of CRM Implementation, schedule a call with our customer relationship management experts. Contact Jacobsons Direct