Archive for category: News

It is without a doubt that 2020 was a year of disruption. As we head into 2021 and hope the toughest days are behind us, Destination CRM and industry pundits do not expect the world to go back to business as usual just yet, as many of the following predictions indicate. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems were critical in keeping customers happy during the pandemic, and CRM will continue to be a valuable player this year. According to an article on their website, Destination CRM and business experts forecast what will be in store for CRM in 2021.

• There’s No Turning Back From Digital – “Because [2020] the pandemic forced so many people to stay home, they turned to digital channels to fulfill their shopping and commerce needs. We’ll likely see a more pronounced and accelerated trend toward omnichannel commerce, personalized and data-powered customer experience, and the integration of contactless technology systems to reinforce retailers’ safety efforts.” —Jennifer Conklin, vice president and unified commerce sector lead at Capgemini
• Many of Us Are Staying Home – “Organizations are embracing the work-from-home concept, recognizing that it works pretty well while welcoming virtual agents into their workforces.” —Allan Andersen, global director of enterprise solutions at IPsoft
• We’ll Put Ourselves in Customers’ Shoes – “As we enter 2021, we know there’s no replacing our need for human connection. Whether digital or physical, marketers will have to rethink the entire transaction experience moving forward. We’ll continue changing the customer experience in real time as we instrument digital journeys and experiences that drive meaningful connection but must continue experimenting to find new ways to stay connected and engaged.” —Stephanie Buscemi, chief marketing officer at Salesforce
• We’ll Meet Customers Where They Are – “In a post-pandemic world, human interactions with customers matter more than ever. In 2021, we can expect to see a more profound confluence of CRM and unified communications technologies that enable natural face-to-face conversations, significantly benefiting the contact center.” —Cara Daly, senior director of product marketing at Vidyo
• Newer Channels We’ll See Increased Growth – “Chatbots today guide deep conversations, kick off complex workflows, take actions on your behalf, and escalate requests accordingly. The communication is personalized and contextualized. In 2021, organizations that invest in chatbots will accelerate their constituents’ trust because of the clear, 24/7 communication chatbots provide.” —David Karandish, CEO of Capacity
• Good CX Will Become Even More Important – “Because of COVID-19’s extensive impact on consumers in 2020 and its lingering effects likely to impact the beginning of 2021, consumers have been forced to rethink and retrain their approach to researching, interacting, and purchasing products and services.  This will be a pivotal year for data and analytics to identify the shifts in consumer behaviors and purchasing preferences vs. their previously exposed traits.” —Colleen Thorndike, director of client success and strategy at Valid
• We’ll Be More Precise in Our Targeting – “Personalization in B2B will be a huge focus in the year to come and beyond. Throughout 2020, we became conditioned to prioritize personalization efforts. Even when events come back, B2B marketers will be held to the new standard of thinking about their audiences and their evolving needs. To fuel this personalization, intent data will become a more important asset.” —Tom O’Regan, CEO of Madison Logic
• We Won’t Sacrifice Trust – “In 2021, businesses will thrive by prioritizing trust. Trust is about confidence in relationships. We took this for granted in the past, with the ability to fly out or meet prospects or current customers over lunches and dinners. With the shift to remote work, analytical capabilities can quantify trust and help us deepen it through screens rather than in person. This will create a chasm of those who embrace customer relationships and those who are solely focused on the sale.” —Jim Benton, CEO of Chorus.ai

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Infor recently announced that Jersey Electricity (JE) has commenced a roll-out of a cloud-based Infor EAM solution across its generation and distribution teams. This will be done in conjunction with Infor UK channel partner Progressive TSL. As a long-standing user of Infor’s enterprise asset management (EAM) system, JE recognizes the value of moving its existing Infor solution to the cloud and introducing Infor EAM Mobile to other areas of its business. Jersey Electricity is a vertically integrated power utility dealing in the importation, generation, transmission, and distribution of sustainable, low-carbon energy. Per the press release, Infor implementation partner Progressive TSL worked with Infor and the JE team to develop a business case highlighting the benefits to Jersey Electricity of extending and enhancing its existing Infor solution. Over the coming months, Progressive TSL will be rolling out Infor EAM 11.6, Infor EAM Mobile and Infor OS operating service across JE’s energy generation and distribution teams. JE can expect this new solution to be fully integrated with their existing systems.

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Merging systems together is an ongoing trend in the business technology world. Artificial Intelligence (AI) would enhance customer relationship management (CRM), and using both CRM and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems simultaneously would vastly improve the business operations. Another union to consider is Blockchain and ERP. Studies have been done and some have reason to believe that this decentralized, distributed ledger technology can significantly improve ERP systems by reducing security risks, and providing greater visibility and control to stakeholders. An article on BBN Times, written by Naveen Joshi, shares 4 ways Blockchain is reinventing ERP systems. They are:

1. Lower Expenses – An ERP system automates business processes, which means the hassle of maintaining paperwork and spending on more than one system goes out of the picture.
2. Complete Customization – One of the most incredible benefits of an ERP system is its ability to customize applications as per the requirements and demands of organizations.
3. Compelling Customer Service – With all the data available on a single platform, companies can better serve every customer who gets in touch with the sales team, whether for doubt clarification or information acquisition.
4. Streamlined Task Completion – Blockchain can provide greater visibility and control, allowing organizations to meet efficiency and accuracy goals.

Joshi points out though the initial application of blockchain was for cryptocurrencies, this sophisticated technology is capable of offering plenty of other capabilities that are worth notifying. One such feature, cryptographic validation function, holds enough power to curb the security issues. Thus, blockchain can be the right choice to fight hacking. This would be beneficial to protect a cloud-based service that stores, manages, and controls the data flow centrally in the ERP system is one of the most accessible paths from where hackers can make their way to carry out their nefarious activities. Security is one of many advantages Blockchain can add to an ERP system.

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An integral part of ensuring business success these days is making sure your company has a recruitment customer relationship management (CRM) in place. Customer satisfaction more than ever is the key competitive advantage. Happy customers establish brand loyalty and retention, bringing more profit and brand awareness. CRM expert Paige Reeve shares an article on Business 2 Community explaining with recruitment CRM, you can provide value to your target market by always keeping them engaged and informed throughout the whole sales funnel. This builds trust and credibility which leads to more projects and more clients. Reeve says using CRM may be simple, but it’s important to keep in mind these 10 best practices to fully maximize your software.

1. Set your goals and objectives
2. Get all the customer details right and complete
3. Make sure everything is cloud-based
4. Update and monitor progress daily
5. Automate tasks as much as possible
6. Keep communication transparent and consistent
7. Learn from analytics
8. Watch out for trends
9. Train staff
10. Invest in a scalable recruitment CRM

Reeve concludes that you have to consider the growth of your business and the direction you want to take it. Your recruitment CRM must have the necessary features and capacity to adjust accordingly and propel company growth in the foreseeable future.

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