Businesses benefit from customer relationship management (CRM) software in a variety of ways, from sales reps saving time searching for customer details to marketers effectively communicating with leads.
Yet,
CRM software is constantly evolving to keep up with emerging technologies and rising customer expectations. If you’re not aware of new developments, then you won’t be able to take full advantage of your software.
Find out what the future of CRM will look like in 2022 so you’ll be able to use your tools more productively in the new year.
6 CRM Trends to Watch
According to
ActiveCampaign, there are six CRM trends that will affect sales, marketing, and customer service teams in 2022. Let’s explore these predictions so you can prepare for them and leverage your software to grow your business.
1. Personalized experiences
Customers expect personalized experiences more than ever. A
2020 Salesforce report found that experience is just as important as products or services for 80% of consumers. Collect more first-party data and enable site tracking to be able to deliver more personalized
customer experiences. Of course, always be transparent with consumers about the use of that data (e.g. privacy policy).
2. Deeper systems integration
When your teams use multiple applications, information ends up all over the place. There are CRM solutions that integrate with other systems, centralizing data in one spot. This saves your team time searching for information and allows them to focus on delivering better customer experiences.
3. Advanced AI capabilities
CRM systems are incorporating more artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data in powerful ways, improving forecasting and providing more sales opportunities. A couple of examples include lead scoring and win probability, which help reps make smarter decisions.
4. More automated workflows
Automated workflows allow employees to spend less time on “housekeeping” tasks so they may focus on strategic initiatives (e.g. researching markets, developing new campaigns). As CRMs offer more
automation features, businesses will be to automate more of their
sales processes and marketing campaigns to free up teams and generate more sales.
5. Self-service portal integration
A self-service portal makes it easier for customers to find information and solve issues on their own rather than contacting customer service. Popular types of self-service portals are FAQ pages, resource centers, community forums, and knowledge bases. There’s increasing integration of self-service features, such as chatbots, with CRM software to unify communications.
6. Mobile CRM adoption
More companies are adopting the use of mobile CRM apps as it allows employees to access customer data anywhere. If you want to encourage mobile CRM usage in your company, make sure that your software offers a mobile app across multiple devices. Also, provide reps with a mobile device that has the CRM app pre-configured, as well as in-house training to
motivate your sales team.
Get Strategic with Your CRM
CRM software is powerful — but only if it’s used regularly and there’s a strategy to guide your teams. Otherwise, it’s just a wasted expense. Now is the perfect time to get your CRM strategy ready for 2022 so your employees will be able to use the software to achieve objectives, like close more deals and give customers personalized experiences.