In the past few years, the CRM market has evolved far beyond the traditional trends and mere, a data management tool. The industry is altering dramatically with the penetration of high-end ideas that tend to play a dominant role in the reorganization of business infrastructure. The success rate, results, and revenue changes are proof of accentuated CRM systems today.
As time goes by, the eventual improvements in the industry have made it stronger enough to address the company’s dynamics in a highly viable way. Moving forward, there are some “walking on air” trends and predictions of CRM systems that tend to empower businesses to speed up their growth.
Here are ten top CRM trends and predictions to look out for in 2021 and how they impact business success, performance, and brand image.
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1. AI and Big Data will become Market Accelerator in CRM Systems
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that has widespread awareness with the introduction of personal assistance in the form of chat bots, personalized recommendations, and image recognition capabilities. Similarly, Big Data emerged with the cutting edge innovations in cloud computing and machine learning models. According to the economic impact model of IDC, AI in CRM systems tends to boost up the global business to $1.1 trillion from the time period of 2017 to 2021.
The key role would significantly impact the jobs market and the adoption of AI projects by 2021 by a factor of 10 as compared to 2016. AI comprises of string underlying algorithms and technologies that design a CRM tool capable of discovering insights and providing recommendations to the businesses regarding business decisions.
Some other ways in which AI will impact CRM activities are:
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- Improve lead generation
- Speed up the sales cycle
- Address customer concerns quickly
- Optimize pricing
- Increase business revenue
- Reduce the cost of support calls
- Improve branding and marketing campaigns
- Reduce the cost of additional resources
- Loss prevention through forecasts
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2. Social CRM will Gain Ground
Social CRM encapsulates omni channel into one channel. All social media platforms and the sources collecting customer data are integrated into a CRM platform. It provides an exceptional benefit of getting a comprehensive overview of customer interests and views related to your business. It gathers all the customer data with a clear understanding of brand sentiments and ultimately gives insights into effective decisions.
Organizations can strengthen their relationship with customers by responding to them in a thoughtful manner. In this way, potential customers could be grabbed from various channels and a firm clientele-base could be established.
Read: Startup Growth 2020 – Factors, Challenges, and Solutions
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3. Investment in Voice Technology will be a New Normal
One of the most exciting technologies in SaaS tools is voice technology. A step ahead of all high-scale innovations, now voice technology will be employed in a CRM system for seamless conversation and process automation. For instance, along with many others, Salesforce is already investing in Einstein Voice Assistant as it is expected to give wings to the scope of CRM systems.
In the year 2021, bigger investments are predicted in voice technology to make it part of a CRM system for the automation of several regular processes. Among those, customer support and 24/7 service is the one ranking. This does not only adds to brand credibility but makes the experience enjoyable for staff and the customers.
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4. Use of AR and VR Technology
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are changing the way companies used to engage with customers. From customer interactions to marketing strategies, AR and VR tend to incorporate a wide range of use-cases that help businesses get a competitive edge. This amazing trend plays a critical role in customer satisfaction and retention. It increases the buyer’s experience and transforms consumer behavior to what is required.
Similarly, CRM systems can employ AR and VR skills to improve sales efficiency. One aspect is to optimize the coaching and training through these technologies. The real-time customer data and business information can be used to configure the decisions and provide remote assistance to trainees for the good of the business.
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5. The Intersection of IoT into CRM Systems
According to recent surveys, the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is expected to reach 64 billion by 2025. Determining the pace with which the smart devices are penetrating in regular practices of businesses. Whether it is in the form of wearable devices or the smart sensors that used to transmit data signals to the stations, IoT devices act as advanced solutions for CRM systems as well.
Enterprises using the data generated from IoT devices can gather it in CRM system directly to view, manage, and understand it in a highly efficient way. This can help in increasing customer experience and thus companies can monitor and keep track of their clients proactively.
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6. Customer Experience is the Key
Considering the trends, Customer Experience (CX) is something that can never be overlooked. It helps business entities ensure a satisfied clientele-base by delivering them the services they expect. An enhanced customer experience is connected to many other aspects. These include customer satisfaction, customer acquisition, customer retention, etc.
A satisfied client contributes to an increased brand image. It gives wings to business sales and eventually becomes the reason for business success.
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7. Integrations will add more Power to the Elbow
Integrations of third-party apps and tools have always contributed to the enhanced capabilities of a CRM platform. In 2021 as well, major improvements and additions will be seen in the integrations with CRM systems. Each integration gives power to the CRM system with respect to functions and automation.
With the passage of time, more useful integrations will be available that will give more hands to your CRM system.
Also Read: SugarCRM Integrations – One Size Fits All Solution for SMBs
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8. Advanced Analytics Capabilities
Through AI-enabled features, the CRM analytics will be improvised that will give more actionable insights to your CRM system and help business entities streamline the way to success. Effective business decisions and dynamic marketing strategies could be designed based on real-time business performance against certain key parameters.
Similarly, advanced analytics incorporate the features that critically evaluate business performance. Moreover, they help accelerate the attributes that can give more profit to businesses in a certain time period.
Also Read: Sales and Marketing Trends 2020: An Overview in the light of Advanced CRM Platforms
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9. Expedition in the use of Mobile CRM
The usage of mobile CRM is grooving in organizations. Mobile CRM is predicted to gain momentum in 2020 and beyond. The reason is the increased number of mobile phone users and their density that call out for an even more digital CRM solution that customers could manage through their personal handy devices. Mobile CRM is getting improvised with the requirements of businesses.
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10. Self-service will be Prevailing through CRM
Automation is connected to the CRM systems now, the personal assistants and bots tend to provide automated customer support at any hour. Thus, the sales pipeline can be managed automatically for certain common operations. By collecting customer data and asking questions, a more customized solution or service can be given to customers accordingly. Thus, customers can get their answers without any delay and help business entities ensure credibility in the market.
