Social, Mobile and Personalization - The Future of CRM

Social, Mobile and Personalization - The Future of CRM
By Saira Riaz
Customer data is a critical commodity for businesses as it not only defines the problems faced by clients but also helps in creating effective strategies which target the right audience for your products. Therefore, recent trends in technology concentrate on communication as well as effective collaboration. These new trends suggest that a business requires a central source of data to track customer interactions, tasks, contacts and any deal in the pipeline. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) works as a single platform for customer data and helps in interacting with clients in a frequent manner.
In this competitive world where we see advancements in technology every year, companies can only achieve success with meeting the expectations of their customers. A web-based CRM initiative among businesses has been for cost-cutting measures as well as increasing the operational efficiency of the employees. And many CRM solutions provide economic stability to the companies with such benefits. According to recent surveys, organizations are now looking for new ways to gain a competitive advantage and CRM solutions are evolving with this demand. Now, CRM apps are cloud-based instead of hosted on-premises. Similarly, customers require capabilities such as personalization, analytics and mobility from CRM which can also integrate with social networking platforms to ensure growth.
Social
With the increasing use of Smartphones and social networking sites, customers demand relevant and useful information about the products through these channels. Similarly, businesses can devise out-reach marketing strategies solely based on networking channels which is cost-effective. This ensures both businesses and consumers to mutually benefit from such programs as well as easily access or share information. In today's age of information, web-based CRM has become an essential part of businesses to grow. The integration of social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. with business marketing strategies is what has given birth to the concept of Social CRM services for both customers and businesses.
Mobile
The use of mobile apps is on a continuous rise in recent years as Smartphones and tablets are replacing desktop computers in the work environment. In fact, businesses are not confined to cubicles anymore and many employees prefer to work on the move with the help of mobile devices. In the last three years, communication which was limited to telephones has moved to IM and mobile apps on almost every collaboration platform is available. CRM is no different as mobile-based apps have also made its way into the business world and will be making waves in near future. More and more CRM vendors want to provide their customers with an extraordinary experience and connectivity while on the go is a huge part of it.
Personalization
Personalization is one of the most sought-after features of a web-based CRM solution which ensures effective interaction with potential customers around the globe. With customer relationships tailored according to the requirements of an individual, companies can ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. Personalization is and will be a huge new trend among CRM vendors in 2014 to satisfy existing customers and ensure growth. With such advancements, web-based CRM solutions will help business strategies for the future as well. It will also help in gathering business as well as competitor analytics to make intelligent business decisions.
Saira is a social media writer and technology analyst who keeps her focus on the upcoming industry trends. She writes about hip new apps being used widely around the world and her take on these solutions. Currently, she is writing for Banckle and other customer service apps she comes across in her research.
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