In this postrecession economy, businesses are finding it increasingly important to change the way they communicate with customers. Traditional ad campaigns and marketing channels are no longer enough to capture the hearts and minds of consumers. These new trends in technology and “always on” communications also work to magnify the problems that typically interfere with company success.
Without Customer Relationship Management (CRM), businesses often struggle with the inability to track customer interactions and have no central source of information. Customer data is critical to the organization in order to develop targeted and effective marketing campaigns and accurate forecasts and sales reports. In an ultracompetitive landscape, the companies that will achieve the biggest success will be those that can interact with customers frequently and meaningfully, leverage customer insights, and meet expectations.
During the recession, most industries combated economic instability with intense cost-cutting measures. CRM implementation initiatives were a target of these cost-cutting measures and during this period experienced negative and modest growth from 2001-2009. However, as organizations now look for new ways to grow and gain a competitive advantage, CRM application spending is once again on the rise.
The recession is not the only thing that has influenced the direction of CRM. With the rising popularity of smartphones and social networks, consumers are demanding more information through these channels. Additionally, businesses have found that marketing through new technologies can be cost-effective and give them greater access to customer information.
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