Since General Soft LTD has been specializing in the development and implementation of custom software solutions for business for more than 8 years, we carefully monitor new products and trends in the global IT industry. Today we will share with you analytics and research results in the field of CRM applications. They will help you better understand the features and key functions of systems, which are preferred by leaders in 2019-2020.
Industry demand for CRM solutions among global businesses
According to research agency Gartner, in 2019, although the growth rate of demand for CRM-systems has decreased, but this category of software products still remains a leader in the field of IT: an increase of 20%, while in 2018 this figure was 15.6%.
The most popular CRM-systems, as well as in 2018, among companies with a predominant share of remote customer service: thus, 35.7% of companies have implemented technology, primarily for customer support services. Marketing is still the fastest growing area of CRM use: demand for this category of business was 25% of the total number of users. The growth in popularity of specialized systems for narrow areas of business was as much as 13.7% for the year. This confirms the trend towards the transition to personalized solutions for individual business tasks.
The expert survey data of the research company showed that the leaders in terms of business interest this year: solutions that operate on a common platform with a maximum number of tools for integration and scalability, Artificial Intelligence toolsets, systems with open API and a single graphical user interface.
Client systems trends in 2020
According to Select Hub, 2020 will be an era of implementing all kinds of tools that rely on user experience. The TOP-7 most significant trends of this year will include the following criteria:
1. Buying experience - is the most valuable
SalesForce survey data shows that 84% of customers rate their experience at the same level as a company product or service. Thus, customers are open to buying products from a new company or brand, but the results of the user experience are not so easy to obtain. After all, in fact, the service the client sees is compared to the most successful service he has ever met.
That's why the business evaluates the importance of acquiring a new client as 500% more expensive than retaining the existing one. And, therefore, one of the most valuable features of a CRM-system is the ability to provide an individual package of services or goods, focused on customer values based on user experience with the help of various tools.
2. AI's growing role in software products
SalesForce predicts that in the next couple of years the frequency of use of artificial intelligence will increase by 257% in fundamentally new areas. Thanks to this, according to Infoholic Research, by 2023 the CRM market capitalization with AI capabilities will increase to 72.9 billion dollars.
The most significant development of the use of artificial intelligence will be received by the following areas:
- Segmentation of the target audience and simulation of customer data.
- Programmable advertising channels, advertising and media purchase.
- Personalization of mono channel experience.
- Systematic introduction of data from offline to increase online experience.
- Creation of dynamic web pages and websites.
So, the greatest distribution of AI already this year will receive in the field of automation of business processes, conversational tools, and analytics.
3. Upgrading mobile CRM applications
Back in 2012, the Aberdeen Group noted the importance of introducing mobile sales technologies as an online tool in its report Best-In-Class Companies Deploy Sales Mobility Practices to "Seal The Deal". But for 7 years the relevance of solutions not only has not decreased, but also increased with the transition of company traffic to the mobile Internet.
According to the MarketWatch report for the beginning of 2020, mobile CRM "learned" a lot of new things:
- Ensure the security of users' personal data.
- Improve the level of perception of information by the user through an intuitive interface;
- Make all applications available through the cross-platform;
- Create conditions for a quick transition from offline to online sales tools.
The availability of such opportunities is especially important for offline sales.
4. Enhancing social adaptability CRM
The presence of social channels in networks where the audience is concentrated allows the brand to strengthen contact with potential customers and increase the loyalty of existing ones.
Thus, SalesForce report on marketing trends in 2019 shows that social channels play the biggest role in lidogeneration and attraction of advertising investments for payback.
According to experts on business process automation using interaction platforms, the presence of a positive brand opinion in social networks increases the chance of buying by 71%.
Thus, the data of the B2B and B2C market research last year showed that 40% of potential customers will be ready to communicate with the company only if they have a choice of communication channels, and 78% of customers generally prefer multichannel interaction.
5. Improve and simplify the user interface
Current user interface design concepts return to minimalism, maximum simplicity and intuitiveness in design.
If we talk about the development of CRM over the past 4 years, their functionality, capabilities and, consequently, the design has developed rapidly. This is a positive side in terms of platforms for the office. But if we talk about offline sales, the interface should be as clear and simple as possible to easily manage business processes on the road from client to client. This is the opinion of many technical experts, including those from business consulting.
Setting up an individual user interface and breaking down the functions of CRM systems into separate plug-ins or a mini-application is the best solution to this issue. This is where global market developers are currently concentrating.
6. Enhancement of application integration with external system software products.
The MTA conducted an analysis that highlighted key applications and add-ons for integration, which have been archived since 2018. Except for usual systems of automation of electronic marketing, now analytical systems and CDP-platforms became significant. It is also worth considering that marketers still have to visit up to 12 services and external control and optimization systems. Therefore, the CRM-system should be easily integrated to obtain external data.
Huge prospects open and loT which, under forecasts of analysts, only for 5 years will increase world capitalization of the industry practically twice - to 39 billion dollars. Thanks to "the Internet of things" users of CRM-systems will have an opportunity to unload huge arrays of the data in reduced terms and to carry out the deeper analysis of complex information streams.
7. From omnichannel to channellessness.
Today, the average client is able to contact the company in many ways and channels, which are mainly already integrated with CRM. But the quality of service can be significantly reduced due to the fact that one representative of the consulting department or service desk makes up to 1100 customers in a working day to serve interested of all channels.
IT market innovators see the solution in channellessness Marketing: when all customer communications can be done on a single screen and single tab. Jeff Nicholson from Pegasystems suggested this concept in an interview for Forbes back in 2017. Today, this has become particularly important when customers go online.
Outcomes and forecasts
According to Gartner, the CRM market will continue to grow over the next 2 years - at least by 13.5% per year. This is understandable, the expansion and increasing market saturation due to the introduction of new channels and applications will be in demand even more than today.
General Soft LTD specialists are closely watching all innovations on the Western and European market. We guarantee that we will promptly introduce all the know-how into products for your business or develop conceptually new solutions. Right now we can discuss your needs and tasks to implement effective CRM solutions. Apply to us for free, expert advice.
