The threshold of time has reached a place where efficiency and accuracy walk hand-in-hand. Customer satisfaction, being the key aspect of every business brings technologies together. It further adds or enhances various services that retain and improve the customer experience. With changes and upgrades in innovation, 2019 will be an energizing year for CRM as we move from standard to progressively complex features and functionalities.
CRM Then & Now
A couple of years ago, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was majorly Database Marketing. Using CRM, we used to only gain insights about customer behaviour through statistical analysis. While the late 80s witnessed the emergence of software and technology developments; SaaS (software as a service) came in later as the Internet gained ground. But since 2000, as social media and open source world evolved, CRM has experienced a paradigm shift with a myriad of transitions and transformations.
2019 CRM Trends To Explore
In this highly competitive world, it’s all about the customer’s choice and preference! With time, this trend is increasing and changing as a milestone to every aspect of a brand. There are two ultimate ways in which the entire CRM works – analytical and operational. Business owners are now understanding and affirming the power of social media as an authentic medium to interact and engage with the existing and potential customers.
Mobility On Cloud
Client premises and system are no more a problem to enhance productivity. The emergence of Cloud Computing has saved a lot of time and space. These days mobile CRM can easily give business access to all important customer information in all time zones. It’s all about portability! This year, we’d get to see a lot of technology enabling voice inputs with much leaner and integrated applications.
Power of conversation
This year, Artificial Intelligence (AI) got the limelight due to CRM and may focus on a lot of conversational aspects to provide better customer experiences. Although voice functionalities will lead, text and face recognition will tag along. For instance, Zia from ZOHO CRM is a voice assistant that allows users to easily access information through their mobile or desktop applications. This not only helps in easy accessibility but also builds a sense of trust amongst the end users and brands. Adding more to the glory of voice, integrating it into CRM helps make tasks easier by allowing dictation instead of manually typing or using voice commands.
IoT In CRM
Optimizing customer services comes as the topmost priority in a brand’s vision list. Internet of Things (IoT) helps by connecting devices to enhance visibility and efficiency. It helps businesses respond quicker than before. IoT drives insights from various departments by transforming CRM; driving business performance and connecting with customers in a more innovative way; for instance, increasing sales. E-commerce remains the flag bearer in comprehending their customer’s choices and preferences, providing them with products relevant to their choice. Based on such practices, customers receive product recommendations, thereby repeating business, and maintaining consistency.
Hyper-Personalization
Several brands adapt to capture customer data in their CRM systems that enable them to provide every customer with a personalized experience. This trend will remain consistent in 2019 since it adds to the extreme personalization package to adapt to each customer. The customers feel valued and appreciate the proactive, predictive and prescriptive experience provided.
Quicker Responses
Despite the channel – a customer will look forward to a quick response. This is a place where companies are now working toward providing a quicker response time to all their customers. For instance – customer support and feedback responses. Companies are now providing mindful ways to turn their customer experience into a delightful one. Instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp is one such medium that adds great value to organizations that as a chain effect would help them improve their customer support.
Conclusion
While the world of technology is volatile, it takes a little change in the flow of things. With the advent of CRM, brands are toeing in line rapidly. Artificial Intelligence, automation, data is where we see the CRM industry heading this year. Therefore, retaining customers with the help of such comprehensive processes becomes, even more, end-user centric.