Key Insights
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- Cloud-based Customer Relationship Management is no longer an opportunity, it is a necessity.
- We expect to see increased adoption of emerging technologies in the contact centre. These technologies may include AI for real-time voice translation and IVR personalisation.
- On-the-go salespeople need to be able to manage their sales process from anywhere, at any time.
- Businesses are urged to lead the way in sustainability, the reduction of waste has been placed at the forefront of customer and employee mindsets.
In a post-trust era, companies must prioritise the customer and the employee above all to survive and thrive. Customer Relationship Management [CRM] may sound like it is all about the customer but, as with all the best things in life, it makes day-to-day business interactions more enjoyable for everyone.
Our aim is to go beyond the now, preparing companies for technologies of the future. We talk to three key Atlantic Technologies partners, Natterbox, Salesforce and SalesTrip, about the trends shaping your CRM opportunities as we move into a new decade.
‘Globalisation, personalisation and disruptive experiences’ with Natterbox
The phone plays a vital role in improving customer service by allowing businesses to personalise communications to the individual. Despite this, while the digital world is witnessing a whole host of exciting innovations, many businesses’ telephony systems remain in the dark ages, delivering slow, frustrating and un-personalised experiences.
AI: This will change in 2020. We expect to see increased adoption of emerging technologies in the contact centre. These technologies may include AI for real-time voice translation and IVR personalisation, which will disrupt the market and help brands who are looking to place the customer experience at the heart of their strategy.
Personalisation: One thing is for certain, customer experience is now a key differentiator for organisations, over price and product. Without personalised, effortless and contextualised customer support and service, it is impossible for an organisation to provide a great customer experience. According to Gartner, by 2022, 50% of large organisations will have failed to unify engagement channels, resulting in the continuation of disjointed and siloed customer experience that lacks context.
‘The Era of Simplicity’ through Salesforce
Echoing Natterbox’ ideas of globalisation, Salesforce look to mobile as the key to efficient, effective working. “On-the-go salespeople need to be able to manage their sales process from anywhere, at any time. Providing them with a way to update leads and opportunities, access intuitive dashboards, and more can speed up customer interactions and make workforces more efficient.” As companies crave a more unified view of the customer, will the new decade mark the start of a more modernised marketed approach through Salesforce technologies?
Customer Identity: Automation through AI, intelligence from the InternetOfThings, and accessibility through social media mean that customers and employees alike will benefit from a truly seamless process. Companies become empowered with ideas for meaningful, real-time interactions with their customers. However, in order to analyse the data needed for hyper-personalised experiences, companies rely on multiple data sources. Perhaps 2020 will mark the start of a more simplified approach for unified results.
Customer Service: 71% of customers expect companies to communicate with them in real-time, and 40% won’t do business with a company if they can’t use their preferred communication channels. Human agents aren’t going anywhere, but AI interactions will rapidly increase over the next 18months to keep up with increased customer expectation.
Cross-company Integrations: Nearly eight in 10 customers also expect consistent interactions across departments, making the mission a full-company endeavour.
‘Save Time, Money and The Planet’ with SalesTrip
60% of professionals feel that corporate business travel is crucial to company growth. SalesTrip have identified three key factors that will impact decision-making as we move into the new decade; subscription-based pricing, economic uncertainty and sustainability. Through their expense management and travel booking tech, SalesTrip paints a clear picture through data, enabling companies to make more effective spend decisions moving forward.
Subscriptions: Fluctuating airline and accommodation costs will see increased pressure for companies to rethink the transaction-based pricing of their existing technology systems. 2020 welcomes a refreshed way of thinking. Welcome to the scene, subscription-based travel and expense systems. The benefits? Businesses and their finance teams will be empowered by more foreseeable commitments to spending. We can all enjoy greater control of employee spend through real-time visibility of changing travel costs.
Certainty: Businesses crave better spend management as economic uncertainty continues to prevail. Businesses and customers alike have an increasingly globalised view of the world meaning we are aware of changes to the global political climate. Some factors have already been reported as impacting sales representatives’ ability to travel and close business. Kneejerk reactions will see travel bans imposed but this is the worst thing businesses can do. You have to spend money to make money and so intelligent expense management tools will help to control and prioritise spend where the best return is deemed. 2020 political trends will see that finance teams are forced towards this laser-focused view of employee travel spend vs revenue and we’ll see business travel evolve from a revenue drain into a revenue driver
Sustainability: As businesses are urged to lead the way in sustainability, the reduction of waste has been placed at the forefront of customer and employee mindsets. Corporate travel technology enables a clearer picture of your carbon footprint, meaning that companies can create more environmentally conscious plans. Decision-makers will continue to problem-solve to reduce wasting carbon-footprint, time, and money when it comes to corporate travel.
“Human interaction is more meaningful than ever and vital to the success of growing a business. So it’s no wonder that business travel shows no sign of slowing down. In the same breath, 40% of European and American corporations have witnessed the tangible benefits of improving sustainability when it comes to engaging their workforces, increasing productivity and boosting employee morale in the long run.” Manoj Ganapathy, SalesTrip
If 2019 was the year of understanding, 2020 is the year of action.
Salesforce has become a household name. This means that cloud-based Customer Relationship Management is no longer an opportunity, it is a necessity. When approaching decisions to move forward, you must not only ask yourself what you can gain from Digital Transformation, but what you are missing out on by not jumping on board.
