Customers are the backbone of every business, and every organization is constantly on the run to delight them. Happy customers translate into your company’s success and propel your business growth profoundly. According to a study by Gallup, organizations that effectively engage their B2B clients to witness 63% lower customer attrition, 55% higher share of wallet, and 50% higher productivity.
A key element that allows businesses to provide excellent services to their customers is a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. A robust CRM system helps companies make the best use of data to identify customer needs and interests, and analyze their buying behaviors, thereby enabling them to develop products fully tailored to their specific business requirements.
In this blog, we’ll dive deep into understanding the latest trends that will influence and shape the CRM industry in 2023 and how they will transform business function capabilities.
7 Cutting-Edge Trends that will Revolutionize CRM in 2023
1. Convergence of Big Data Analytics and CRM
As businesses continue to generate enormous volumes of prospect and marketing-related data, it becomes imperative to analyze it promptly to make appropriate decisions effectively.
Various developments in technology and data science will enable CRM systems to gather and interpret massive amounts of data in real-time to provide meaningful insights into multiple aspects, such as the productivity of sales teams, the efficacy of marketing campaigns, and the performance of contact centers.
The CRM applications of the future will be completely analytics-driven, allowing users to get the big picture of the customer and a single, comprehensive view of all sales and marketing activities. Indeed, the confluence of big data analytics and CRM is a trend that will bring about a fundamental shift in the way companies use data.
2. Unification of Disparate Customer Communication Channels
Many users of CRM tools formulate omnichannel strategies to communicate effectively with their customers. The strategies enable them to remain in touch with their customers on the channels preferred by the latter. The omnichannel strategies facilitate high levels of customer engagement and smooth experiences.
Despite the benefits of the omnichannel approach, there are strong indications that companies will discard it and connect with their customers using a single-channel communication framework. Recent developments in the IT domain have enabled firms to manage communications using a single application. The single-channel framework provides all the benefits of an omnichannel approach and prevents the hassle of switching between various channels, thereby enhancing the productivity of salespersons and customer service reps.
The single-channel framework also helps centralize all interactions with clients, resulting in the availability of a platform that can provide the people of a company with all the information they need to close deals.
3. Increased Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in CRM
AI is transforming various business functions, and CRM is no exception! Given that, its scope concerning CRM will only get more comprehensive in 2023. The advent of ChatGPT, Dall. E 2, Bard, and many other AI chatbots are a living testament to how much AI has advanced and forecast how far we can make it. Thanks to the radical development in Machine Learning (ML) and other AI-powered paradigms, chatbots are evolving into intelligent systems to present to users.
Advances in AI are also likely to result in a significant increase in field service efficiencies. AI-enabled applications help organizations specify criteria to automatically assign a customer ticket to the right rep and ensure he can access the necessary spare parts to fix the customer’s problem.
Another area where AI shows great promise is predictive modeling. Companies can use highly sophisticated AI-enabled algorithms to forecast sales with very high levels of accuracy. Similarly, businesses can use predictive lead-scoring techniques to rank prospective customers based on their purchase likelihood.
4. Association of the Internet of Things (IoT) and CRM
Yet another factor that will influence CRM trends in 2023 is IoT! In today’s world, data is everything, and IoT enables businesses to access gazillions of user data from a myriad of internet-connected devices that impact consumers lives every day.
With the global IoT market anticipated to hit $2,465 billion by 2029, growing at an annual rate of 26.4%, the value IoT brings to the table for consumers and businesses alike is unprecedented.
From helping companies run hyper-targeted campaigns to providing hyper-personalized customer experiences, IoT is truly a game-changer when it comes to CRM integration. Today’s IoT devices can be easily integrated with CRM data empowering businesses to gain insights into customer behavior across all touchpoints. And Salesforce is one such CRM giant that is constantly at work on developing and enhancing IoT and Salesforce integration solutions.
5. Emergence of Business Vertical Specific CRM Systems
Many experts believe the next stage in the evolution of CRM systems is verticalization. Some CRM solution providers like Salesforce already offer industry-specific solutions, and this trend will likely catch up in 2023.
The trend of verticalization is driven by specific needs of companies in certain sectors. For example, companies in the banking and financial services sector must follow very stringent procedures to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities by their customers. Likewise, hospitals and healthcare providers must ensure the complete confidentiality of their patient’s data.
CRM solutions developed for a particular industry can be configured more easily than their ‘general purpose’ counterparts. This is because verticalized systems are developed to align with various processes unique to that industry. Staying on with the example of the banking and financial services sector, CRM solutions developed for firms in the industry include various features that support the screening of customer transactions to prevent fraud.
6. Automation Improvements
Today, automation is the buzzword for businesses across all industries. While automation has been one of the core elements driving business management software, it will continue to influence CRM trends this year and beyond significantly.
In addition to improving the speed of business applications and processes, automation, when integrated with CRM, will enable businesses to foster automated decision-making, predictions, and forecasting from structured and unstructured data in real-time. Thus, helping organizations improve their accuracy and productivity in planning cycles.
The other perks that businesses can reap when they integrate automation and CRM are drastic cost reduction, improved accuracy, and enriched customer experience that can increase the business value in the market.
7. Voice and Conversational UI
Businesses are constantly on the hunt to make their products and services more user-friendly. And Alexa and Siri are authentic examples of how voice and conversational UI is making waves in the business environment.
In 2023, voice and conversational UI are making their way into the CRM world that will transform how we interact with technology evolving at a faster pace now more than ever before using natural language.
Compared to text-based interfaces, voice and conversational UI are more engaging, allowing consumers to connect to the system in a more personalized manner, boosting customer relationships which gives businesses a competitive advantage over their rivals.
Bonus CRM Marketing Trends:
- Mobile CRM Mobile compatibility has become one of the recent trends for most business applications, and CRM is no exception. Mobile CRM allows businesses to access customer data anytime, anywhere, in real-time, making business management uncomplicated.
- Social CRM Integrating social channels into CRM platforms has become the in-thing for businesses. By viewing CRM and social media data in a single place, businesses can understand customer sentiment, which can revolutionize how businesses present solutions to their customers.
- Self-service and simple CRM Self-service systems are driving transformation in the CRM space with low-code or no-code features that require minimal to zero technical support for businesses.
Conclusion
Now that you understand what elements will influence CRM trends in 2023, it is imperative to have one implemented in your business processes. If you’re looking for the perfect CRM tool to capture and gain more customer insights in real-time and enhance the value you provide to your customers, Salesforce is the right CRM tool to opt for.
About Solunus
At Solunus, we help you make the best use of the latest developments in the world of CRM to help you reach your revenue goals. Our strong focus on understanding your specific requirements coupled with our unparalleled expertise of Salesforce, the most widely used CRM platform, allows us to deliver the ideal solution to help you delight your customers and grow your business.
