CRM technology is constantly evolving. Businesses that can keep up with tech development will come out on top in 2022.
CRM has become a standard tool for growing businesses. In fact, as a company owner, you’re most likely using one already.
That’s why it comes as no surprise that CRM has grown rapidly. The value of this part of the market will likely reach nearly $130 billion in the following years. And with all that growth comes a variety of changes.
The technology behind CRM is constantly evolving. The goal is to help companies store customer data, create marketing strategies, implement sales techniques, and much more. Of course, CRM handles all this already, but better efficiency is always the end goal.
At the same time, new developments are driving businesses to adapt. If you want to get the most out of your CRM, you need to know about the most important trends in the technology and adjust your operations accordingly.
This article will share some of the leading CRM trends that will likely impact your business in 2022.
The CRM Trends for 2022
In the competitive CRM space, certain trends have emerged, becoming prominent and influencing the way CRM is used across all industries.
Understanding the following movements in CRM development will allow you to use the technology more efficiently.
1. Customer Intelligence Leads the Way
The modern market has seen its share of changes. In particular, customer decision-making and behaviour have gone through a thorough transformation.
Whether it’s B2B or B2C, the way customers choose what, why, and when they want to buy can shift. Naturally, CRMs have to adjust to every change to collect precious customer data.
This task is among the most important when it comes to CRM. When you have sufficient customer information, you can determine the most efficient marketing strategies.
Then, a chain reaction occurs. More insightful marketing strategies create a better customer experience. With that experience comes trust that eventually leads to customer loyalty, more repurchases, and greater customer lifetime value.
All that growth starts with CRM. Through data gathering, CRM can tell you what your customers expect, what drives their decisions, and what is their preferred delivery method.
But what makes the current customer landscape so different from what it was before?
The modern market is shifting more and more towards customer satisfaction. Right now, that’s the most important metric in almost every industry. Representatives don’t see closing a deal as their top priority but rather getting the customer to use the service or product.
With these changing dynamics, CRMs have to accommodate the customer-centric market. This means more precise quantification and prediction of customer behaviour with a particular focus on their needs.
The ultimate goal of modern CRMs is to meet customer needs and expectations. Whether it’s in the sales or service space, customers expect companies to understand a great deal about them. They want meaningful conversations about their needs.
Customer intelligence offers the right solution. It provides valuable insight, puts it in a relevant context, and offers accurate predictions. As a result, companies using the technology are able to adjust their sales for the most efficient delivery.
2. The Rise of AI
CRMs and AI have existed for some time, but the two technologies haven’t been properly integrated until the past five years.
Since 2018, the usage of AI in marketing has started to grow drastically. As language processing and machine and deep learning entered areas of marketing, the industry started to transform.
The increase in AI use didn’t happen by chance. People were spending increasingly more time online, producing incredible amounts of data every minute, let alone hour.
The sheer volume of data made AI a necessity. There was no other tech solution that could process all of that information in a meaningful way quickly enough.
Simultaneously with AI, CRMs have become a staple of every industry. Integrating one tech with the other was only a matter of time, and that time has apparently come.
With AI capabilities for analysis and prediction, CRMs will become even more efficient. The combination of these two technologies will drive businesses towards better decisions, and we can expect to see these novel solutions emerge throughout 2022.
3. Using CRMs to Create a Seamless Customer Experience
As mentioned before, customer experience is king in modern markets. The majority of executives and customers themselves see it as a decisive factor.
Pricing and even product and service quality have taken a back seat as customer experience became the primary reason why people choose specific brands.
Naturally, this change had a massive impact on profitability.
Retaining a customer is five times more cost-effective than acquiring new clients. It comes as no surprise that customer experience plays a significant role in customer retention. If not kept at a certain level, it can cause people to reduce their purchases or leave the brand altogether.
Companies are now striving to create a superior experience for their customers. If they succeed, they can improve loyalty, avoiding significant drops in revenue. Of course, CRM systems are adjusting to the strategies focused on customer experience.
However, even the modern, robust CRMs have a significant challenge in that regard. Businesses need to focus on becoming more convenient to work with than the competition.
And that competition doesn’t necessarily have to be direct.
Customers now compare their experiences across various industries. Once people learn what a good customer experience is from one company, they’ll expect the same from all others, even if those businesses are in a completely different sector.
These market circumstances have made it necessary for CRMs to gather and process data from a much broader sample. Furthermore, they made another trend more pronounced.
To create the best possible customer experience, CRM systems now need to focus on personalised content.
While personalisation as a marketing strategy is nothing new, it has lately become absolutely crucial. An individualised, precisely-targeted approach is essential for customer-centric businesses. To accommodate this, intelligent CRM platforms that can respond to customer behaviour in real-time are being built.
4. Increasing Mobility
It has become clear in the past decade that business is no longer confined exclusively to the office.
Demanding customers and work processes are making work on the go a necessity. Furthermore, the COVID pandemic and the large amount of remote work it created has shown that remote access to business tools is paramount.
Of course, CRMs are included in those tools. Companies that can leverage mobility in that regard are more likely to improve their brands.
Besides the basic convenience and functionality, mobility brings several other benefits. Having mobile solutions for CRMs means intuitive and handy user interfaces, cross-platform functionality, easy transition from on-site to online work, and powerful security.
The value of mobile CRMs is already very much apparent. As technologies keep progressing, businesses that adopt mobility will find themselves at an advantage.
5. Using a CRM to Enhance Customer Privacy
Private data has come under the spotlight in recent times. In particular, people have become more aware of the importance and value of their data, as well as the risks associated with data breaches.
As companies keep gathering information about customers, they also take on the responsibility for that data. Customers today understand that their data is collected from web forms, applications, and even social profiles.
With this increased awareness comes a greater ethical obligation of businesses to protect the information they gather. Unsurprisingly, CRM vendors have taken that responsibility particularly seriously.
Of course, data gathering is crucial for every business. With sufficient information, brands can formulate strategies according to how their products perform on the market. On the other hand, maintaining customer confidence, loyalty, and trust is every bit as important.
This is where CRMs with expanded data-protection features come in. These systems can utilise various features, such as encryption, malware protection, advanced authentication, and much more, to maintain the balance between data collection and security.
In 2022, companies that pay particular attention to customer data protection and choose their CRMs accordingly will be more likely to strike that balance.
SSL certificates are one form of online security that can prevent data theft. This is a particularly important element for businesses that make their sales primarily online. Modern customers have grown to expect security on the websites where they purchase products or services, so it’s paramount to get that aspect right.
Automation Agency can help you set up an SSL certificate and add encryption to your data. Our Web Heroes will take care of all technicalities, and your website will become more secure for transactions.
6. High Connectivity
Customers use many touchpoints when interacting with businesses. In the digital era, brands can’t rely on a single channel for this interaction. Instead, the information customers find is often outside of the company’s direct control.
People look for brands through Google, social media, and dedicated review websites. Companies that can connect all those touchpoints will ensure success. However, less than a quarter of businesses today are creating those connections.
With the variety of touchpoints in mind, modern CRMs are built to improve connectivity. The key is to integrate business processes across different platforms and systems, and CRMs are catching up to that demand.
More customers are finding brands and buying online than ever using different channels. Brands will be able to accommodate this type of customer behaviour only by choosing highly-integrated solutions.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
With a significant portion of business being done through digital technologies, brands will need to pay special attention to the choice of tools they use. In that regard, having a cutting-edge CRM will be crucial.
If you make sure to keep track of the latest developments in this technology, your business will be ready for success in 2022 and in years to come.
And if you need help in integrating a modern CRM into your business, Automation Agency can help. Feel free to get in touch, and we’ll start working on the optimal solution for your business right away.
