Customer Relationship Management Software: The Evolving Landscape 1
CRM Software: An Overview Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software market would grow at a CAGR of 9.09 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increased demand of CRM software from SMEs. The market has also been witnessing increased adoption across on-demand CRM Software Sub-segments. However, increased integration of new tools and workflow into existing CRM Software could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. CRM: The future CRM vendors are now beginning to offer integration with third-party, comprehensive social media applications that is adding a new social element in traditional CRM processes. These new social CRM applications enable a business to connect customer conversations and relationships from social networking websites into the CRM process. ISM sees social CRM becoming integrated in CRM platforms and applications for a more complete view of customers through the use of feeds from social media channels. 2
CRM vendors are now providing direct access to social media functionality. Social media can also refer to Web-based services that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. Computers and other technologies have shifted from one-way static communication to platforms for interaction and community building. In addition, ISM forecasts that the monitoring, filtering and analyzing of relevant social media posts for sentiment and other organizational purposes will be an increasing focus for the CRM industry over the next three to five years. Many CRM vendors see social media as a cost-effective method to improve their customer assistance options. Customers are no longer calling the help line when they have a problem they are tweeting about their problems, posting and finding the appropriate solutions within online forums or discussing problems on Facebook with their contacts. ISM sees more and more organizations building online communities (requiring components such as dialogues, forums, ideation, media sharing and blogs) for customer assistance, which increasingly come with tight integration into other CRM processes. CRM vendors continue to develop and release mobile CRM application modules, especially those that are bundled with or work on a large variety of handheld and/or wireless devices. ISM foresees mobile apps extending influence on the CRM marketplace as CRM applications will look and behave more like apps that are accessible on mobile devices. Consequently, CRM applications accessed on mobile devices will streamline their user interface and make their applications simple to use. Wireless components will increasingly allow users to make 3
business decisions in real time while simultaneously creating analytics in real time all of which support a growing movement toward real-time CRM. CRM software vendors are increasingly offering CRM software solutions via the SaaS model, which is also referred to as an on-demand solution and is part of the growing cloud computing movement. While not applicable for all organizations, the SaaS model is attractive because it can circumvent traditional problems with the CRM client-server model including initially high prices, time-consuming deployments and the need to perform software upgrades. The two major drivers of accelerated adoption of SaaS in organizations include initial cost advantages and increased proof of data security. Gamification, which utilizes game design techniques and mechanics to enhance user adoption of CRM applications, is growing in importance. Business leaders are increasingly conducting trials on CRM programs that leverage game elements that provide a clear sense of progress, instant feedback loop and reward incentives and directly accelerate the accomplishment of measurable performance objectives. Cloud-based CRM Services Will Continue to Gain Traction The other interesting development is the growth in non-traditional areas within CRM - Software as a Service (SaaS), Social CRM, Mobile CRM and Marketing Automation has all shown impressive figures too. Take SaaS - it's argued that a depressed economic climate has encouraged the adoption of SaaS CRM as a way to reduce costs, but there seems to be little evidence to suggest a fall in this trend any time soon: 4
CRM Interface is a Differentiating Factor "Application usability is becoming a more important issue within the enterprise, and CRM is no exception," says Mitch Lieberman, vice president, market strategy for Sword Ciboodle, a global provider of customer engagement solutions. "Users are picky about their workspace, now more than ever represented by the screen in front of them," which could be a laptop computer, an ipad, or a smart phone. In addition, users don't want to have to remember keystroke combinations such as alt-tab to make things work. "Data needs to be available through one UI [user interface], in context," he says. So the CRM software you use (or choose) should be accessible and comprehensible on both a traditional and mobile platform - with a customizable, user-friendly interface. Mobile Applications Will Empower Customer-Facing Workers and Consumers "In 2012, CRM systems will be bought in terms of the strength of the mobile component," Oram argues. "Vendors with strong mobile components will gain a significant advantage over those that lack it, and many vendors will play catch-up around native clients and security." William Band, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, agrees. "Mobility has become a key corporate priority," he notes. "In particular, the ability to use handheld mobile devices to support customer-facing workers like sales contacts and customer service activities in the field has clearly moved beyond its previous status as a specialized nice-to-have option and into the mainstream." After all, it's people, and not technology, who win over people. "Your customers don't live in spreadsheets; you need to go out and talk to them to understand who they are as people," Temkin said. 5
Challenges in Implementing CRM Relationships, not technologies, are what make CRM strategies successful. They connect people and get work done, deliver value, solve problems and gain insight into how better to serve customers in the future. Companies would never construct their offices without a blueprint. According to Gartner, however, more than 60 percent of companies that have implemented CRM did not have mutually agreed upon goals for their projects prior to the installation. Like a building without a bearing wall, a CRM initiative without goals will collapse. NiiD Technologies Solutions Offering in CRM Space We at NiiD Technologies believe that CRM is not merely a service implementation, it is a strategy. Our philosophy is to help our clients effectively incorporate CRM software in their existing infrastructure. To ensure that there is seamless integration we offer end-to-end CRM services such as: feasibility analysis implementation up gradation data migration post-implementation support Our value proposition is the deep knowledge and understanding that we have gathered over a period of 26 years in the industry. Additionally, our expertise in field of Sales, Marketing and Support Services will help companies to achieve their goals of improved customer reach, better customer relationship management and also increased ROI. 6