According to Apps Run The World, the cloud CRM market will reach around $34.5 billion by 2025. And with Grand View Research research stating 91% of companies with ten or more employees use a CRM, the appetite for CRM digital transformations is definitely growing.
From contact management and data insights to marketing automation and pipeline monitoring, there is no end to what a CRM can do for your financial services organisation. Your CRM can become the bedrock for your entire digital transformation, but only when implemented correctly.
So to help you plan a successful CRM digital transformation in your financial services organisation, we’ve put together a guide that’ll help you assess, understand, and successfully implement a transformation strategy and avoid 5 common mistakes. Just keep reading.
Key CRM features to assess for your digital transformation
So, what do you need to consider when planning your CRM digital transformation for your financial services organisation? Here are some key factors fueling CRM transformations that will help you assess and improve your own CRM capabilities.
Mobility: Around 81% of marketers use their CRM from multiple devices, according to Onpage Express. Accessing vital customer information and company insights from anywhere is a game-changer for your company’s flexibility. How mobile is your CRM?
Analytics: How advanced are your CRM’s analytics functions? The beauty of using a CRM is turning infinite data into meaningful insights. So make sure your CRM is up to the task by thoroughly revising your data capabilities.
AI: Artificial intelligence supercharges CRMs with even better functionality, data processing capabilities, and automated services. Assess your CRM’s AI and see if you’re using it to its fullest potential.
Portals: Does your CRM have user-friendly self-service portals for customers and teams? How much customisation does it allow? Portals should be a key consideration when evaluating your CRM’s effectiveness.
Social media: Integrating social media channels with your CRM will be pivotal in enhancing personalisation, customer relationships, and supporting customer service teams. How many channels have you successfully integrated?
Chatbots: Does your CRM come with a chatbot? Connecting a chatbot to your CRM can drive serious engagement, streamline customer support processes, and help you gather essential customer data.
The importance of CRM digital transformations
CRM software has the power to connect every part of your financial services business, from sales and marketing teams to customer support and social media.
And their ability to drive efficiency, increase productivity, streamline business processes, and produce more useful data insights make them a transformational priority for many financial services businesses. Let’s dive a little deeper into the importance of CRM digital transformation for financial services businesses.
Access better insights and data
Investing in your CRM technology and tools and enhancing user adoption across all teams can seriously upgrade your data sharing processes and deliver deeper customer insights than ever before.
Create targeted marketing ads
Your CRM will help you better understand your customer’s problems, interests, demographics, and behaviours. A crucial part of your CRM transformation strategy should be monitoring these insights and using them to improve customer targeting and ROI dramatically.
Enhance customer experiences
Research by Capterra revealed that 47% of CRM users say CRM technology greatly impacts their customer satisfaction rate. This comes as no surprise. The more information you collect and collate through your CRM, the more personalised and proactive your customer support will be.
Create more efficient processes
A primary CRM digital transformation goal for many financial services organisations is to increase efficiency in all business areas. Whether it’s speeding up the sales process, automating emails, or using a chatbot to take the weight off support teams, CRMs have the potential to save your business countless hours on repetitive tasks.
Increase revenue and growth
Salesforce indicates that CRM software can increase sales by as much as 29%! Investing in a CRM with great sales tools and training your sales teams to use them appropriately can significantly improve sales pipeline management and performance.
Common CRM digital transformation mistakes to avoid
Now you have a firm grasp on why so many financial services companies are heavily investing in their CRM digital transformations, let’s take a look at some of the common pitfalls you need to avoid during your digital transformation processes.
1. Not keeping teams in the loop
For a successful CRM transformation, you need to focus on user adoption and get complete buy-in from end-users from the start. Otherwise, you’re investing in technology that teams will never use to its full potential. Offer training to any employees impacted by CRM upgrades or new implementations and thoroughly explain the systems before going live.
2. Choosing the wrong technology
This may seem obvious, but it’s a massive mistake we see financial services making all the time. They latch on to the latest CRM fad without really thinking things through. So take the time to thoroughly assess numerous CRM options, integrations, and upgrades before making any decisions – especially regarding their scalability.
3. Not establishing KPIs
If you’re not 100% clear on the specific goals you need your CRM digital transformation plans to achieve, how can you know it’s successful? Begin any new CRM transformation project by first understanding your key success metrics. Then assess the impact of your transformation against these metrics regularly to ensure you’re on track.
4. Not integrating with other systems
For a successful CRM digital transformation, you need to use the technology to integrate as many parts of your financial services organisation and business processes as possible. Many organisations don’t connect enough platforms together, leading to siloed workflows and reduced ROI.
5. Doing too much too soon
When you come across a new CRM tool or are implementing a brand new system, it can be tempting to deploy as many features as possible. But without proper change management and user adoption training, you can easily confuse or frustrate end users, harming the success of your digital transformation.
Your secret for a successful CRM digital transformation
We hope you’ve found this blog insightful and are in an excellent place to start developing your CRM digital transformation strategy. If you want to ensure a smooth CRM digital transformation execution, prevent delays and costly errors, and maintain quality, why not talk to our QA and testing specialists here at Assured Thought?
At Assured Thought, we listen closely to understand your organisation’s unique goals and challenges to develop a bespoke testing and quality assurance program to complement your CRM objectives.
Whether you need us to evaluate your current CRM infrastructure or help you implement a brand new one, our specialists will integrate flawlessly into your already established teams to minimise risk and maximise opportunity.
Get in touch with us today to develop a tailored testing strategy for your financial services CRM software.
