CRM Trends for 2012

Customer relationship management (CRM) software provides businesses with the tools to deliver high-class customer service. So, as we move in to 2012 we bring you the top trends for the forthcoming year based on Forrester's predictions.

• Eradication of data silos - there will be a shift as organisations move away from departmental data silos and invest in solutions that aid the understanding of the customer experience from start to finish.
• Process Management- With budgets still under scrutiny more organisations will look to better management of business processes to enhance efficiency.
• Social CRM - many reports emerging highlight the business value that Social CRM can provide. Therefore, organisations will begin to invest in CRM technologies with Social CRM tracking capabilities, such as Sage CRM v7.1.
• Mobile CRM - as customer demands increase as they search for the all important "added value", it is important for organisations to empower their mobile workforce with access to customer data from any location. Solutions such as SalesLogix CRM already have comprehensive Mobile Clients.
• Cloud - The move to cloud business applications will continue to grow in 2012 and CRM is no different. There are lots of Cloud CRM applications in the market that make CRM both accessible and affordable to businesses of all sizes. Sage ACT! SaaS is an ideal solution for the small business as it offers full ACT! functionality for a manageable monthly fee.
• Business Intelligence - Business Intelligence is a phrase that we are all familiar with however the majority of businesses rarely use such tools. As there is a rise in levels of competition it is predicted there will also be a rise in BI investment as businesses try to maximise the value of their data.

The trends highlighted by Forrester have been criticised for being outdated. However, as a CRM vendor, we believe these are sound predictions as many organisations need to go back to basics and get the fundamental CRM components right before progressing their CRM strategy.

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