The Role of Artificial Intelligence in CRM
Will Choate
Carrier Sales 2 at Sethmar Transportation // University of Kansas Business Graduate
AI is the Future of CRM
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the expansion of computer systems that can execute intricate tasks that would typically involve human intelligence.
AI powered technologies are becoming more and more critical to the world of business. More specifically, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software with AI powered features is becoming increasingly relevant, and it is almost required to improve the customer experience and gain a competitive advantage in today’s society.
All companies should invest in these AI powered systems. This will allow their CRM software to go through big data sets and generate predictive results. In addition, it produces more of a customized client journey because these intellectual systems take account for historical data and learn from experience.
AI powered CRM will provide endless benefits for your company
Combining AI with CRM is beneficial to companies who use it. Some specific examples of these benfeits are boosting customer retention and efficiency, resolving support concerns quicker, enhancing lead generation and more precise forecasting.
According to SalesForce.com, the top-rated categories of CRM activity that is most impacted by AI are customer support, digital commerce, partner management, product/service marketing, and customer analytics.
However, there are additional categories that are also impacted from the presence of AI.
Customer Service
· AI-powered CRM can provide convenient virtual bots or human agents to interact directly with your customers. This process flow of virtual bots includes answering to customer engagement, determining the response, then delivering feedback.
· Providing predictions to future customer actions which will allow any company to launch a strategy and develop engagements.
· Having intelligent algorithms will make customer segmentation simpler. Also, automated segmentation will make sure there is successful communication at any time to your specific group of customers.
Sales
· Many AI powered CRMs are knowledgeable from previous decisions and historic patterns to score the finest leads for sales.
· Some CRM software can detect and act in response to the most important leads first by utilizing lead scoring algorithms.
Marketing-
· AI CRM software can automatically link all key performance indicators and marketing data to develop promotion efficiency and manage marketing campaigns.
· Allow businesses to examine their customers through social media networks for a greater sense of how they understand your brand.
How do businesses successfully apply AI to boost CRM?
1. Automation- AI provides businesses automation within their social media processes that will boost customer satisfaction because of quick customized responses. Also, it will allow automation for transactions giving a convenience for customers and at the same time allowing support agents to spend more time on more complex situations.
2. Incorporating agent knowledge- AI powered customer support solutions make sure that human agents can optimize their performance. AI assisted customer support helps agents stay up to date on customer data, comes up with resolutions more quickly, and makes agents more productive.
3. Advancing Phone Experiences- Sales teams can use AI tools to perform in call voice analysis. These tools can analyze speaking patterns and word choice that can determine emotional states. This tool even monitors calls and scores client experience.
4. Examination of Sales Calls- Sales teams can apply AI call analytics software to record discussions and customer calls, acquire records, and secure notes at a specific time.
5. Keeping Up-to-date Customer Records- Businesses use AI to gather tons of customer data and contact details. In addition, AI can instantly update the internal database for your agents that use the customer database. This will make sure that everyone on the team has updated access to information about the customer.
6. Evaluating CRM Patterns for Precise Lead Scoring- Salesforce is a huge software company that offers AI-powered CRM that will produce accurate lead scores from analytical resolutions for businesses. Also, it will generate recommendations for when and how to communicate with lead customers centered on variables of industry data, demographic, and geographic.
7. Improved Language and Voice Recognition Systems- AI hugely impacts voice recognition systems, where support teams can give customers a better experience with the best support solutions. This aspect is very significant for both the customer and the company because it saves time and cuts down costs.
CRM Vendors
Major CRM Vendors who have all invested in AI driven CRM include Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Adobe, and the market leader Salesforce. These vendors are my recommendations for your company because they show that their Artificial Intelligence systems are capable of more competences than ever. The main reason that these systems are so powerful are because of the AI tools that are integrated with the CRM.
Kevin Hurley of Nudge.ai, has provided some examples of these AI tools that have changed the Business to Business sales world. This includes Chorus.Ai, Quill, Conversica, Nudge, People.ai, and Troops
Salesforce Testimonials
Below are a couple of Salesforce reviews that show how these AI systems improve efficiency for their company.
“Salesforce lets us focus our teams on innovation, creativity, and deploying the best product that we can into the marketplace.”
-PAUL CHEESBROUGH, CIO, NEWS INTERNATIONAL
“Salesforce gives our investment advisors a platform to build deeper relationships and deliver an enhanced experience to their clients.”
-BRIAN SHENSON, VICE PRESIDENT ADVISOR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, CHARLES SCHWAB
My Experiences with AI functionalities
One main thing that companies have incorporated into their systems to enhance customer experiences are chat bots. I can say that these bots have been very helpful and convenient for me. Some examples of companies that I have had this encounter with is first through Facebook messenger, Starbucks, Lyft, and Pizza Hut virtual bots.
Every day most CRM systems are processing huge amounts of data in their data warehouses. Some of the biggest businesses in the world who are constantly analyzing customer behavior and patterns are Netflix, T-Mobile, and Amazon.
Amazon’s strong CRM has been amassing customer data through searches, wish lists, and just browsing. I’ve been an Amazon Prime member for quite some time, and they have analyzed and tailored my own experience on the site. For example, it will show me items that I may like to purchase based on my past purchases.
Some more companies that come to mind when I think about AI functionalities are Twitter, Tik-Tok, and Netflix. All of these companies use AI tools that show intelligent algorithm capabilities based on my history and searches. All three companies do a similar thing where they give you a “for you page”, which contains information or videos that I might be interested in seeing.
Every company that I have mentioned throughout this article have shown success within their industries because of strong AI capabilities and tools. This is why every company should invest in AI-powered CRM or incorporate these powerful tools.
AI is the present and the future.
Will Choate is currently a senior at The University of Kansas. His major is Supply Chain Management with a concentration in Information Systems. He has recently just graduated from Johnson County Community College and continued his academic career at KU.
He plans to graduate in May of 2021, and is looking for opportunities in Information Technology sector or Supply Chain Management field.
Sources:
https://www.salesforce.com/crm/reviews/
https://nudge.ai/artificial-intelligence-sales-tools/
https://saaslist.com/blog/ai-enhance-crm/
CEO High Performance Marketing Boot Camps | Partner at WizeWebz
4 年Will, thanks for sharing, very insightful!