The days of businesses determining when and where to engage their customers is fast coming to an end. Most attempts to tell customers what to think or how to buy are now met with a skeptical eye from today’s buying public. As the world enters an era of consumer managed relationships, the power has swung firmly back in favor of the customer. To meet this demand, brands must be able to both keep in touch and connect with the consumer. Read on as we detail how a customer relationship management (CRM) tool allows small businesses to capitalize on this evolving sales dynamic.
According to MarketingTech, today’s consumer is more connected than ever before. Be it a mobile phone, tablet or laptop computer, people around the globe are constantly connected to the internet via digital device. This increased connectivity has also created an environment where consumers are willing to volunteer personal information with businesses on the understanding that this data will be used to add value and improve their customer experience.
A well designed CRM tool will allow small businesses to easily manage and leverage this volunteered information. In a recent article, appearing in Business 2 Community, author John Oechsle states that there are four specific trends to look for in 2017 that are set to make CRM solutions even more appetizing to businesses looking to increase both in sales and overall performance.
These CRM trends include:
Predictive analytics will become more advanced.
CRM predictive analytics technology will give small businesses even greater insight into the way they approach customer engagement and sales by drilling deeper into existing customer information the company aggregates.
Mobile application adoption will become essential.
The newest waves of mobile app design seeks to make their use an integral and regular part of managing customer relationships. With the power of today’s smartphones and the ease of using native-built apps, we will see more and more reliance on these powerful tools.
Integrations will dramatically increase.
CRM connectivity and integration are only going to increase, and small businesses are going to begin to look at the incorporation of additional products and services into their CRM to be a must. CRM solutions with the right integrations can be easily monitored. This provides a central hub that empowers members of your team with a current snapshot during customer interactions.
Social media will play a significant role.
When customers have positive experiences on a business’s social channels, they’re 71 percent more likely to recommend that business to others. Given that so much communication is now done through social channels, businesses must meet them where they are and effectively manage social engagements by employing a CRM solution with strong social media capabilities.
MDL Technology’s partnership with Microsoft Dynamics can help a company optimize its CRM for sales success in the following ways:
- Easily manage leads, accounts and contacts with internal and external communities.
- Track analytics and metrics analyses seamlessly whether a team is mobile and on the go or with offline account access.
- Leave outdated data tracking behind and integrate social media and sales intelligence in order to keep conversations relevant to what’s happening in real-time.
A managed CRM solution will give small businesses the foundation needed to capture the right data, develop meaningful predictive analytics, utilizing integrated tools and social to make their customers feel that despite all the technology and automation in the world, they’re still receiving individualized attention. In 2017, that’s what will get the buying public’s’ attention and drive sales in small business.
