Customer is the King, and to be honest, the customer has always been at the center of every business. There is no other element that drives a business to success. You can try to think about different ways in which a business survives without a customer. The conclusion would be none.

The concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) started many decades ago. The intention was to track the transactions between the company and the customer. Time has passed, and the concept has witnessed tremendous evolution. CRM is now a method to retain existing customers and convert potential leads in the market.

The Modern CRM Trends

Every industry has moved on from the traditional CRM approach. It is all about being modern for a win-win situation. The current trends of CRM make customers happy, which in turn make a company happy. In this article, we will review some modern CRM trends that are prevailing in 2022.

1. It’s All About Experience

The cat is out of the box, and Schrondiger’s experiment is over. It is not a secret anymore as what the entire concept of CRM revolves around.

Customer Experience, also known as CX, is the center of all business operations, especially after-sale operations. CX is precisely what differentiates one brand from another. It holds an equal reputation to that of a product or a service. Earlier concepts dealt with establishing a relationship with a customer by simply delivering the best product or service. This has changed as the best product or service must be accompanied by the best CX.

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Companies with his CX find it safe to experiment with their new launches. A food delivery company can assume sustainable growth as a cab aggregator as well, provided it has a high customer experience.

2. Artificial Intelligence Is Taking Over

As per the recent reports, nearly 14% of the global Chief Information Officers have put Artificial Intelligence to work.

The deployment is for the best. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has started boosting the bottom line of companies. It is expected to continue serving every industry for a long time. The technology is still developing, and it is safe to assume that AI will play more significant roles as the technology advances in the future. The question as to how AI enhances CRM is well-justified with e-commerce giants as a perfect example.

The recommendation that we get immediately after typing the product that we are looking for is AI. Suggestions help customers to find the relevant products by showing us appropriate keywords. For example, t-shirts could be for men, women, children, formal, or casual. A customer can select the option that applies to them and proceed with shopping.

3. Data-Driven Process

CRM has, for a long, been looked at as a process to visit a customer’s home often to greet them. The feedback collection was also considered a part of CRM for a long time.

Both the actions are still relevant, but they have got technological upgrades. The chances of the representative faking the selections were higher earlier. A company now gets authenticated sets of feedback from the customers. This gives the company reliable data to analyze to make improvements in its processes.

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Many data management tools are available in the market to arrange the collected data. Once arranged, the tools generate reports presented to the management, who then decide for the future of the company.

4. Availability Of Relevant Tools

This point is an extension of the previous point. This takes the last point a step ahead by only focusing on the tools.

The two most prominent tools in the market are Salesforce and HubSpot. The corporate world seems to be the biggest player that has everything of its own. The CRM tools are one of the exceptions. The CRM tools offer both options to a company. A company can opt to fulfill either its general needs or specific needs.

Relevant tools have enhanced CRM by offering automated assistance tools. Companies now get auto-generated reports containing the analytics of all the crucial data entered by it. These reports can also be customized in cases where a decision regarding a specific issue needs to be taken.

5. Integration Is The Key

There is no restriction on the number of sources from where a company can receive data. The data here refers to purchase inquiries or technical resolution requests. Data obtained from all the sources must be integrated into a single access point.

Customers benefit from this as the company’s team members don’t have to approach the concerned person from another department to get the information. For example, a sales representative can assist a customer in scheduling the service maintenance of an air conditioner themselves instead of asking the customer to get it done by someone else.

The same applies to the telecom industry. A call center representative can provide information about plan upgrades and current outstanding invoices instead of redirecting the customer to two different departments.

6. User Interface, A Rising Star

The concept of CRM is now technological. Hence, the user interface plays a vital role in managing a relationship with the customer.

This can be viewed from two sides, with one side belonging to the customer and another side belonging to the backend team. Customers wish to have all the essential functions in their portal to help them get the job done. For the backend team, it must provide all the essential information quickly so that they can resolve a customer’s query.

Image Source: The UX Blog

The user interface has gained tremendous importance in every company. This has taken CRM to another level for employees and customers.

7. Culture Of Self-Service

A company and its representatives cannot be available for a customer 24/7. This is a bitter pill that must be swallowed.

Customers have started to understand this since they have experienced longer wait times to talk to a representative. CRM now promotes the culture of self-service, wherein customers can resolve their issues themselves. This was a huge bet to play, but it worked out for the best.

Many customers themselves prefer to resolve their issues without any assistance. The key, however, is to integrate the customer’s portal with the backend system of the company. Every input that the customer enters from their side must immediately appear in the backend. This can otherwise lead to a customer having a bad experience with the company.

Final Words

The traditional approach to CRM became a base to modern CRM trends. It would be safe to assume that the current CRM trend will serve as a base for future CRM trends. The best thing is that start-ups are expected to create healthier competition in the market with CRM not just at the center but at the very core of their development plans.