In the fast-paced digital world, selling the best products, services play a significant role in a business; however, it doesn’t guarantee success. A company has to continuously serve customers well and build better relationships to stay in the market for long. In this article, we will be sharing top CRM trends for 2021 that companies should implement in their business.

This customized management software has become the go-to tool for businesses that utilize different technologies to build strategies that could therefore assist companies in analyzing customer data and increase sales. Besides this, CRM offers various other benefits to businesses, such as organizing contacts, managing communication channels, checking sales reports, etc. With the whole world going digital, businesses have to adopt the latest CRM trends to stay ahead of the curve.

However, they find it challenging to identify & integrate the best CRM trends. Therefore, we have done a thorough research and found the most innovative CRM trends that you can consider for the next few years.

Top 10 CRM Trends for Business in 2021

Here is the list of CRM industry trends that every business should keep an eye on to grow their business:

1. Artificial Intelligence to hold a special place in CRM

A CRM analyses a massive amount of data to provide personalization to customers. Different types of CRM tools capture essential data from sales, marketing, and contact centers to successfully execute business strategies.

The introduction of AI in CRM will help businesses understand real-time customer behaviors, including buying patterns and increasing conversions. Moreover, artificial intelligence is one such technology that has the power to transform the entire CRM industry. According to some research done by Gartner and Salesforce, the AI-powered CRM would help to enhance global business revenue by $1.1 trillion in 2021. AI with CRM would support automation and modify various running conversion instruments. Shortly, AI chatbots would predict the questions of customers and offer relevant answers. Also, they can provide better solutions to problems efficiently.

2. Customer Experience is the Topmost Priority

Customer experience is the most critical CRM Industry trend. The future of CRM will be heavily dependent on CX. According to Salesforce research, 84% of customers stated that CX is equally essential as products or services. Hence, CX is crucial for businesses that utilize CRM and their clients.

Usability is one of the concerns for CRM platforms; therefore, there should be an interface that’s simple to access. Professionals are expecting that the upcoming CRM systems will allow anyone to access data and analyze things quickly. Due to this, companies will be able to offer personalized customer support that displays the right content to users and further guide them towards the marketing channel. Also, upcoming CRM systems would start an era of targeted selection and intelligent segmentation.

3. Social CRM will Increase – CRM trends for 2021

You may be wondering what social CRM is? A social CRM is mainly the incorporation of social media channels in CRM platforms.

The combined power of CRM and social media will allow companies to have a more in-depth analysis of what users love to share on social media. Also, they will have proper knowledge about the perception of users about their brand. Using social CRM, businesses can determine potential problems of customers and provide various suggestions, ultimately building robust relationships with current and new customers.

4. Voice Technology and Conversational UI

With the advent of new SaaS tools, voice technology is becoming highly essential. Even though it depends on usability, it simplifies and makes tasks enjoyable. Based on one of Adobe’s studies on voice technology, 94% of users believe voice technology is versatile, and it saves time, and ultimately enhances the quality of life. For instance, Salesforce’s Einstein Voice Assistant enables salespeople to quickly monitor customer data and update their entire team about it.

SAM, a well-known CRM provider, has also supported voice technology. With this, many CRM solution providers will be looking forward to integrating voice technology in their systems soon. Hence, voice technology is one of the leading CRM trends for 2021.

5. Internet of Things in CRM

Industry experts believe that IoT will change the scenario of CRM. In the next few years, we would observe IoT usage in smart home devices, wearable devices, solar panels, self-driven cars, etc. It is anticipated that there will be 64 billion IoT devices in 2025.

Using IoT, companies can fetch an innumerable amount of data and improvise the experience of customers. Companies can also get in-depth details about customer usage and behavior to make personalized marketing strategies for users.

6. Mobile CRM is here to Stay – CRM trends for 2021

With the launch of new gadgets in the market every day, the process of doing business is evolving. Therefore, CRM platforms are also showing their interest by adopting the latest CRM industry trends.

Year on year, businesses are giving freedom to employees to work from home; due to this, the need for CRM resources to be utilized by varied stakeholders has arrived. Hence, companies need to offer compact CRM systems with offline-online usability. Moreover, salespeople are doing work on the go, the need for integrating innovative CRM features has arrived to fulfil the changing communication needs of the audience.

7. Businesses will automate various processes using CRM

In 2021, we would observe various businesses that adopt automation to provide next-gen experience to customers. Various tech giants in the CRM industry, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign, have started using CRM. They have established a front-and-center for the production and marketing section.

We expect that CRM will be the perfect synonym for automation. For example, companies will utilize chatbots to communicate and resolve any issues or automate email communications to serve users in the funnel.

8. Analytics would be an essential part of CRM

With the help of the latest Analytics tools, companies can determine the problems, solutions, and opportunities effectively. Hence, they are continually searching for new analytics tools that allow data analysis and reporting instantly. Moreover, modern analytics tools are useful for valuable insights on the sales pipelines, satisfaction of customers, and overall leads obtained. Even though no organizations have adopted CRM yet, it is heavily embraced and adopted by SMEs.

9. Next-level Integration of CRM with Other Processes

As per one of Salesforce’s reports, marketers utilize 12 sources to operate CRM software. Shortly, CRM platforms will rely on next-gen integration, where it will fetch data from multiple data sources and various third-party apps to collect customer data and extend platform functionality. For instance, by adding marketing automation and analytics tools into CRM software, businesses can observe customer behavior from start to finish.

10. A New Type of CRM User

With millennials entering the workforce, the CRM software will consist of a higher user base for the younger generation. Moreover, 28% of millennials consider CRM applications to play a vital role in their success compared to 18% of Generation X and 9% of baby boomers. This will be one of the rising CRM trends because the millennials and Gen Z will possess the purchasing power and upcoming generating to join the workplace. After 10 years, people involved in the CRM industry will rely heavily on technology to build high-performing CRM systems.