Today, businesses are becoming more aware of the benefits of investing in customer relationship management (CRM) solutions.
More and more companies are shifting towards implementing CRM software into their organizational structure, which is why this market has been growing consistently over the past few years.
What’s Ahead? While many companies have been working hard to implement CRM platforms successfully, others are still researching their predictions and trends.
Making sure that your company is ready for 2022 may require you to use what you have to try out new technology or even readjust your entire business model to accommodate CRM solutions.
In light of that, let’s take a quick look at some of the upcoming trends in the CRM market that companies should watch out for:
1- Virtual assistants will have a big impact on CRM solutions
As virtual assistants become more common, companies are looking to integrate them into their business structure.
As these technologies continue to become part of everyday lifestyle, they will also likely be made available for companies that need assistance managing their customer relationships.
More specifically, virtual assistants will have a significant impact on CRM solutions because they will automate workflows and perform tasks faster and more accurately than humans.
This is limited to back-end tasks and includes automating front-end processes when it comes to interacting with customers. For example, virtual assistants can be programmed to maintain customer information, so you don’t have to strain your resources managing records.
They can also automate communication by sending out standard emails or other messages based on the information available in your CRM platform. This will free up human staff to focus more on personalized experiences with customers instead of having them do repetitive tasks.
2- CRM systems will become more user-friendly and customizable
One of the biggest complaints from companies is the lack of usability that they can get from CRM solutions.
For example, some CRM platforms are only designed for a specific industry – which may mean that you won’t be able to use it unless your company falls under this category.
More importantly, many users find it hard to define their own rules or workflows within the CRM platform.
CRM platforms will become more user-friendly and customizable because companies are looking to integrate them into their existing business models.
For instance, expect to see CRM systems that have embedded chatbots or virtual assistants so you can automate tasks without having lengthy processes first. If anything, this is one of the biggest trends in CRM solutions because you can expect every company to have access to them within the next five years.
3- There will be more focus on customer journey mapping
If there’s one thing that has become clear about CRM solutions, it’s the fact that focusing on your audience or customers is always a good move. Companies are looking for ways to build customer profiles through social listening.
Compared to the traditional method of using surveys or questionnaires that have limited information, social listening enables you to capture more specific data that can be used to develop better campaigns or even improve your products.
As a result, we expect to see more CRM platforms focusing on customer journey mapping to provide better experiences. This will include automation of certain actions to improve engagement in many cases.
Not only does this create a more personalized experience for your customers, but it also reduces the amount of work needed to manage these accounts, which is a win-win situation.
4- Blockchain technology will be used to manage customer data security
One of the biggest concerns for companies is managing customer data effectively and securely. More often than not, this has led to some organizations being hacked, impacting trust among consumers. With that in mind, more CRM platforms are expected to incorporate blockchain technology into their business models, so you don’t have to worry about managing customer data on your own.
For example, some CRM platforms (and even payment solutions) will be able to use blockchain technology to create customer profiles that only authorized personnel can access. If you think about it, this is an excellent way to keep your customers’ information safe without having the hassle of managing the process yourself. This is one of the biggest reasons why blockchain technology will be a big part of CRM platforms in 2022.
5- Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions will improve CRM analytics
One of the biggest problems that companies face when using CRM software is how to get meaningful insights out of vast amounts of data which can often go into terabytes or even exabytes. From this, you have to have a system that can analyze these enormous amounts of information and extract meaningful insights for your company.
As expected, AI-driven analytics is one of the biggest trends in CRM solutions because it will make business decisions faster by comparing vast amounts of data. This includes customer behavior as well as events that occur with your company.
While big data and analytics will still play a massive role in CRM systems, there’s more to it than just this single aspect which is why AI will be a big part of it.
6- Social media data will be used more extensively to personalize customer interactions
Based on information collected from social media platforms, more companies are now using it to improve their CRM systems. For instance, you can use social media data to personalize your interactions with customers by looking at the type of content that people like or engage with.
If anything, this has caused many CRM systems to start supporting social media interactions as a way for companies to improve their branding using better-targeted ads. In some cases, you can even buy and sell data from social media users that are then used to create customer profile which is an excellent move for marketing-focused CRM systems.
7- More organizations will focus on building mobile CRM systems
The rise of smartphones and mobile devices has changed the way people interact with companies. This is true whether you talk about social media, email, or even customer service.
As expected, this has led to more organizations shifting their focus on building mobile CRM systems that can help them manage their interactions with customers. This includes activities like customer service, marketing, and more which is a big part of building an effective CRM strategy.
Mobile CRM solutions are expected to have grown exponentially in the number of users by the end of 2022, with a considerable chunk being driven from Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries like India and China. In other words, there’s no denying that mobile CRM systems will play a big part in CRM strategies this year, so more organizations should take advantage of this.
Final Thoughts
On a final note, CRM has become a hot topic around companies over the years because of its ability to help improve business operations by tracking valuable interactions with customers. It will be interesting to see what happens with CRM-based solutions going forward because of how effective they can enhance your business. Best of all, many companies are already taking steps to improve their CRM solution, which is a good sign of the state of play in 2022.
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