4 CRM Trends for 2019 and beyond

How CRM will evolve in 2019 and beyond

The use of CRM is growing, and in a highly competitive market, it is crucial to be up-to-date with the trends. Top CRM vendors like Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP, have been making improvements in key CRM functionalities. Each have AI capabilities, and with the ability to improve conversion rates, boost sales, gather pertinent data, and improve customer satisfaction, standing out from the crowd is not a simple task. With changes and improvements in technology, 2019 will be an exciting year for CRM as we move from standard to more complex features and functions.

4 CRM trends that you’ll see in 2019

1. Conversational AI-Powered CRM

Combining Artificial Intelligence with CRM will fuel the focus on conversational CRM systems in 2019 and beyond. There are many new developments in the CRM world like text and face recognition, but voice functionalities will lead in 2019. Just like the voice assistants on smartphone, AI-powered CRM, such as Salesforce’s Einstein, enables organizations to get information from simple to complex data by using voice commands. The lesser-known, Zia, from Zoho CRM, is a voice assistant that allows users to easily and quickly access information through mobile or desktop applications.

The use of voice is changing the way we live and work, and integrating it into CRM will only make tasks simpler, allowing for dictation instead of manually typing or to quickly access information through voice commands. There is no doubt that AI is this the future of CRM for 2019 and beyond and here are some stats to prove it:

*It is estimated that by 2021, an additional $394 Billion in revenue could be gained from AI adoption in CRM activities in the United States. -Statista.com

*Of 1,028 organizations worldwide, 28% said they have already adopted AI and another 41% said they will do so within two years. -IDC’s AI/CRM Economic Impact Survey

*AI associated with CRM activities will boost global business revenue by $1.1 trillion by the end of 2021.-IDC White Paper

2. IoT in CRM for proactive, predictive and prescriptive customer service

IoT in CRM is the future of customer service. IoT is believed to be one of the main drivers of CRM as it will give a big boost to CRM in terms of having CRM systems work better for organizations, driving sales, and improving customer service and satisfaction. One example of such integration is the ability to analyze information generated from connected devices, and if any issues are reported, even fixing them remotely.

As everything is becoming connected to the network, varying industries will be transformed and IoT in CRM will be able to handle this transformation by being able to better automate customer service to solve problems faster, more efficiently and even before they occur. In 2019, IoT will profoundly impact CRM as the vast amount of valuable data gathered from customers and potential customers will dramatically improve and enhance the function of CRM.

* By 2020, about 12.86 billion installed bases of IoT will be in use in the consumer segment.- Statista.com

*The installed base of Internet of Things devices worldwide is forecast to grow to almost 31 billion in 2020. -Statista.com

*In 2019, the global IoT market is predicted to reach $1.7 trillion.-IDC

Integration — The ability to integrate with other corporate systems, such as the need to integrate a CRM system with an ERP system

3. Increase of Mobile CRM usage

Mobile CRM delivers full CRM capabilities on almost any device that can connect to the network. Enabling real time access at any time and place, it’s no surprise that this trend will continue to flourish in 2019. With mobile device usage continuing to grow, it’s only natural that the number of CRM users that access their system on smartphones and tablets will continue to grow as well.

An increase in mobile CRM usage means increased efficiency, access to more accurate information, improved customer experience, and eliminating the need to learn new software. With 91% of companies with 10 or more employees having a CRM system in place, it is pertinent to ensure that these systems are accessible on a variety of devices and internet speeds.

*48% of users access CRM through their smartphones and 45% access CRM through their tablets.- SuperOffice.com

* The use of mobile CRM increases the productivity of employees by 15%. -SuperOffice.com

* 65% of sales reps who use mobile CRM achieved their sales targets compared to only 22% for those who use traditional CRM systems.- Capterra

4. Hyper- individualization for unbeatable CX

Many companies have years of data in their CRM systems that will enable them to provide customers with an unbeatable hyper-individualized customer experience; a trend that will be evident in 2019. Hyper-Individuialization, also referred to as “extreme,” or “deep” personalization is an experience that delivers service wherein customers feel valued and appreciated because organizations understand them and will know what they want and when they want it.

“Hyper-Individualization is a key objective for the future of CRM. The ability to have each customer interaction defined by the customer themselves will make Hyper-Individualization possible in 2019 and beyond. When customers know the business is all about them, they have the potential to become brand ambassadors for your brand.” — Stephen Fioretti, VP of Product Management for Oracle Service Cloud

Hyper- individualization will be crucial in 2019 and beyond as it will give organizations a competitive edge on customer experience and engagement. It means gathering the right data as opposed to more data and being able to answer the question to why instead of what — insights that will provide more accurate and useful recommendations, thereby greatly improving the customer experience.

*By 2020, customer experience will become the key brand differentiator — taking the place of price and product. -VisionCritical

*To deliver personalized customer experiences in 2018, 94% of marketers focused on personalization technologies and their data and analytics and customer profile data management capabilities. -CMO.com

*75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer if they are recognized, are offered relevant recommendations, and remember their purchase history. -Accenture

CRM and Digital Transformation in 2019

Digital presence is already more apparent than ever, and more so in the future. With an increasing amount of information being available, decisions that companies make have become even more crucial — making sure that they are targeting the right customer, at the right time, and with the right offers — all of which are possible with customer-related data available through digitalization.

“In 2019 CRM systems will need to use information from different but tightly related sources over time, including social signals, communication frequency, omnichannel support, and customer analytics; and collect them to generate meaningful relationship intelligence” — Asokan Ashok, CEO of UnfoldLabs.

In 2019, having a deep understanding of customers and a strong digital presence will lead to a seamless multi-channel experience, strong customer relations and increased profitability. Companies that transform digitally have customers that are six times more likely to try a new product or service from their preferred brand, four times more likely to refer your brand, and two times more likely to make a purchase with their preferred brand, even when a competitor has something better to offer at a lower price.

Final thoughts

2019 will bring an increase in spending on CRM as companies realize the importance of not just knowing but understanding their customers. As technology such as voice and mobile capabilities are used in CRM, it improves not only the customer experience, but the user experience as well. The trends for 2019 — those that allow CRM to use technology more efficiently or that integrate digital technology — has allowed CRM to evolve to what it is today and there’s certainly more to see in the future as CRM becomes increasingly crucial for companies.

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This post was written by Balaji Ramachandran, Founder & CEO of SoftClouds. His mission is helping clients understand CRM, Cloud, IoT and AI, to stay ahead and ready for future trends. Bala has over 20 years of entrepreneurial and innovation leadership that has helped shape today’s CX software industry.