Jan/Feb 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

More than half of companies sur- veyed recently by Computer Economics indicate that they are investing in new CRM capabilities. AI, machine learning and automation are driving this new in- vestment, said the research firm. More than a third (35 percent) of companies in the survey have CRM in place but plan on investing in new CRM capabilities in the next 18 months. Another 19 percent are imple- menting CRM for the first time. Despite some new capabilities, a CRM system still must perform the basic tasks always associated with CRM, warned Computer Economics analysts. It must be a source of customer knowledge by centralizing and organizing all information about customers and their previous in- teractions with the organization. It should help sales professionals find upsell and cross-sell opportunities, achieve better segmentation of customers and improve the overall customer experience. Most CRM systems also include ca- pabilities for knowledge management, community development and social media, said CE. Integration of marketing and sales is also common with campaign management, content management, media planning, web marketing, email marketing and other marketing automa- tion features that bring a greater number of qualified leads to the sales force. E-commerce is an important integration point as organizations seek to build a complete view of the customer regard- less of the channel used. “It is these new capabilities that are driving this latest round of investment,” said David Wagner, vice president for re- search at Computer Economics. “AI and machine learning are allowing for the automation of many sales and marketing functions, freeing up time for personnel to do higher value work.” CRM Investment Heats Up at your service: Xaas Redefine Next-Gen Personal Collaboration Experience New Yealink T5 Series Business Phones New Discoveries at Booth 407 :www.yealink.com | :sales@yealink.com T53W T57W T54W T58A with camera Source: CompTIA CRM Adoption Stages Source: Computer Economics, 2018 Blockchain Augmented reality Drones (hardware) Biometrics 3D printing Drones (applications/analytics/managed services) Robotics 5G 34% 27% 25% 24% 23% 23% 20% 20% No Activity Considering Percent of Organizations Implementing In Place, No Further Activity In Place, Increasing 0% 15% 30% 12% 14% 19% 20% 35% 45% January - February, 2019 | Channel Vision 53