Today’s customers are connected and that means they’re more powerful and vocal than ever before. The use of CRM among businesses continues to grow in the quest for greater customer experience and customer engagement.
It’s a highly competitive market, and businesses must stay up to date with CRM trends. With vendors busy making improvements in key CRM functionalities, 2019 is going to be a busy year. A recent article on Bizcommunity suggests four key CRM trends sales and marketing professionals need to look out for.
1. Making CRM AI-powered and data-driven
Data surrounds us, and data mining helps businesses understand customers, their emotions and buying habits. CRM technologies using AI can help build a 360-degree view of customer lifecycles and create a range of opportunities in the process.
In consumer banking for example, every brand touch point is unique and personal. Targeting is precise thanks to a complete view of customers’ financial history, portfolios and potential. Loyal customers with good credit scores can be rewarded with competitive interest rates and avoid the need to continually provide their details to different divisions.
Businesses can also benefit from AI’s next-generation technologies, such as intelligent chatbots that boost customer experiences and streamline interactions. It also creates a sense of instant gratification – something Buyer 3.0 is continually seeking.
As we see greater integration of AI with social channels such as WhatsApp, cross-channel communication becomes seamless and continuous.
2. Social engagement is serious business
From customer sales through to service engagements, it’s important to monitor customer sentiment. CRM systems allow businesses to stay close to their customers 24/7 by sentiment analysis through social engagement. With this information, sales and marketing professionals can change perceptions and increase customer retention.
3. An eye on millennials
Comprising technology adopters with high buying frequency, power and influence, millennials are a significant demographic right now. Drawn towards brands with a purpose and values similar to their own, they are looking for products and services that give back to society. Rather than relying on traditional marketing channels, businesses need to focus on the social proof of brand impact and value.
4. The rise of voice search and assistants
Search is increasingly driven by voice and digital assistants. By 2020, more than half of all searches will take place via voice search. Combining Siri with machine learning capabilities has meant their capacity for recognising human speech has improved significantly. Gartner predicts businesses that adapt their websites to support visual and voice search will see an increase in digital commerce revenue.
Using Dynamics 365 to meet these trends
Every CRM strategy should be based on a system that adapts to trends, unlocks potential and delivers exceptional customer experience.
Cloud-based CRM technologies such as Dynamics 365 help sales and marketing efforts thanks to social insights, business intelligence and campaign management. It is highly configurable, so can cater to new trends and future developments.
The marketing function of Dynamics 365 is flexible, simple and designed to fit any industry. Demographics can be pinpointed and marketed to with creative, meaningful and personalised customer experiences, while Dynamics Social insights provide real-time sentiment analysis so customer communication is deeper and relationships more meaningful.
Whether you’re a company in need of CRM specialists or a CRM professional looking for career opportunities, our highly-skilled team will help you find the perfect match. Get in touch today!
