Customer relationships are the bedrock of business success. That is why CRM software (customer relationship management) is such an integral part of so many organizations’ tech stack.
In fact, in 2023, more than nine out of ten businesses with 11+ employees use one (DemandSage).
While in the past, CRM was little more than a digital customer index, today, CRM is an unparalleled connectivity machine that has proven itself to be a cornerstone of sustainable growth and meaningful customer engagement.
As CRM technology continues to evolve, what does the future hold for this vital business toolset?
In this article, we look at the impacts of recent technological innovations and see what they can tell us about the trends in CRM in 2023.
1. AI
Few tools are poised to make as big of an impact on the world of work as AI (artificial intelligence) technology. In the CRM industry, we are already seeing hints of what’s possible and new capabilities are being unlocked every day.
- AI-assisted customer messaging- AI can enhance customer messaging through prompt-based suggestions, grammar corrections, improved phrasing, and data-driven personalization.
This can improve messaging alignment and help new team members learn your brand tone.
- AI chatbots- AI-driven chatbots can handle routine customer inquiries and support requests. These tools can help customer service teams reduce their FRT (first response time) and free up support reps to focus on more complex issues which can lead to faster resolution times overall.
- Predictive analytics- AI-powered predictive analytics can provide businesses with valuable insight that can help them anticipate buying trends, forecast product popularity, and create proactive and targeted engagement strategies.
2. Mobile
Mobile technology has gone hand in hand with cloud CRM since the earliest days of smart devices. With remote work on the rise in recent years, the capabilities of mobile CRM continue to advance at an incredible.
- Text messaging and SMS- While text and SMS messaging capabilities in CRM are not new, the true potential of these features is only now starting to be unlocked.
These popular communication channels boast higher interaction rates and improved engagement potential when compared to traditional communication channels (email, phone) and can help organizations reach their customers wherever they are instantly.
For more information on the ways a CRM system with text and SMS messaging capabilities can help your business, check out our article, CRM Features Highlight: Text Messaging and SMS.
- Omnichannel engagement- CRM mobile apps enable customer engagement across a variety of communication channels, including social media, email, text, chat, and phone.
A sales rep or customer support professional can engage with customers from a single platform on any device, ensuring timely and personalized communication.
3. Social CRM
Social media is an integral part of B2B customer engagement these days and mobile CRM apps that can integrate with social media platforms are becoming must-have toolsets.
- Influencer engagement- Influencer-based marketing strategies continue to grow in popularity. Being able to identify and engage with social media influencers who align with your brand can lead to better partnerships and collaborations that boost brand visibility and reach.
- Social listening and sentiment analysis- Social media integration allows organizations to track and monitor conversations about their brand, products, and industry. This can help them identify trends, gather customer feedback, and gauge customer sentiment and opinions about their products or services.
4. Automation
CRM automation continues to evolve to meet the growing demands of businesses looking for more efficient and effective work processes.
- Marketing and customer support automation-Sales automation has been a foundational CRM tool since the earliest days of CRM technology, and that isn’t going to change.
In recent years, however, we have seen the CRM tools that drive sales efficiency and productivity turned towards other areas of business — namely, marketing automation and customer support automation.
Automation features like behavior-triggered messaging cadences are well suited to streamlining marketing campaigns and customer support communications.
Advanced workflow automation tools can also be a process-optimizing game changer for these departments.
As businesses continue to look for ways to get the most ROI out of their software tools, CRM that can enhance marketing and customer support will be highly sought after.
5. Customizability
CRM was once a one-size-fits-all toolset that put the onus on businesses to adapt their processes to fit the requirements of the CRM. While many legacy CRMs still operate this way, modern CRM platforms can be customized and adapted to work the way you do.
- User-configuration- Older CRM systems require large administrative teams to configure and manage the CRM. Modern CRMs are changing that.
As CRM tools have developed, they have become more intuitive and easy to use, allowing a small team of admins to manage their CRM implementation in whatever way suits their business best.
This also means that changes and adjustments can be made quickly, allowing for greater experimentation and refinement.
- Modular and scalable- Modern CRM systems are designed with modular components and applications that can be added or removed based on the needs of the company, department, and even individual users.
This allows a small business to invest in a CRM for less upfront cost and scale their use as the ROI begins to bear fruit.
- Low-code/no-code customization- A low-code/no-code CRM platform enables users to customize CRM systems through visual interfaces, reducing the reliance on IT professionals and 3rd party support teams.
6. Self-service
Self-service has been an ongoing trend in business software tools for years. As the workforce has become more tech-savvy and technology has become simpler and easier to use, the desire and ability of companies to be able to address issues themselves has grown significantly.
- Knowledge bases- Knowledge bases are quickly becoming more user-friendly, comprehensive, and interactive. Content is being supported across a variety of mediums (text-based, video) and features like dynamic search suggestions make navigation and accessibility easier than ever.
- Community support- Customers are being empowered to help each other through community forums and tech support groups, creating a collaborative environment for sharing tips, solutions, and best practices.
The expenses of moderating these forums are relatively low when factored against the cost savings a business can see when customer service efforts are shared by the community.
7. Voice and conversational UI
A rapidly advancing technology with the potential to have a big impact on CRM, voice and conversational UI is revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers.
- Voice assistant integration- CRM platforms can integrate with voice assistants like Siri (Apple) and Alexa (Amazon) to enable users to interact with the CRM using voice commands.
- Voice UX design- As voice assist software continues to gain popularity, intuitive and user-friendly voice interfaces will continue to evolve, ensuring that users can navigate CRM systems effortlessly through voice commands.
8. IoT
The rapid rise of IoT (Internet of Things) devices is opening up new possibilities for CRM integration.
- Real-time product usage data- IoT-enabled devices provide real-time data on how a company’s products are used.
When integrated with CRM, this data can inform product enhancements and targeted recommendations, upgrades, or cross-sell opportunities. It can also be used to proactively inform businesses and customers when a product needs service.
- Integrated CRM analytics- Integrating IoT data with CRM analytics allows businesses to gain greater insights into customer behavior and real-world product performance and application
9. Hyper-personalization
Using many of the emerging and rapidly growing technologies discussed previously in this article, CRM enables businesses to create highly tailored and individualized experiences for their customers.
- Behavioral tracking and analysis- A CRM system can track customer interaction and activity across channels and devices to gain a better understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and patterns.
This customer data can help businesses create tailored interactions that lead to higher customer satisfaction and retention rates and a better customer experience.
- Predictive analytics- A CRM platform can leverage predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs. This enables businesses to proactively offer solutions, products, and services before customers even express a need.
10. The continued market growth of CRM
CRM has been growing at an incredible in the last decade and that is a CRM trend that is showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.
According to research by Forbes, the global CRM market was valued at $64.41B in 2022 and will grow to $71B by the end of the end of 2023. By 2030 the CRM market is expected to top $157B.
The US will continue to be the leading market for CRM adoption and use, but the Asian Pacific region is expected to see the highest CAGR (compound annual growth rate) in the coming years.
FreeAgent is the future of CRM
FreeAgent CRM is designed for today’s world of work and our robust toolset is ideally suited to supporting the varied work processes of modern businesses. FreeAgent is:
- Easy to use: FreeAgent works like you expect modern apps to work, providing a user experience that feels fresh and familiar. Teams love working in FreeAgent, leading to high adoption and greater ROI.
- User-configurable: FreeAgent can be configured by you to work the way you do. This means you don’t need outside support to add a form field, adjust a CRM automated workflow, or try out a new process.
- Customizable: With FreeAgent, apps, forms, and configurations are all completely customizable, allowing you to capture and connect your data in any way you like.
To see FreeAgent in action, get a demo, and discover for yourself how FreeAgent can help you have workdays full of impact.
