Your CRM, But Better: Why Artificial Intelligence Will Accelerate Your Business Growth
The adoption of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is one of the most notable transformations in modern business operations. With in-person sales strategies on hold given the COVID-19 pandemic, CRMs have become indispensable tools for maintaining customer relationships and developing new prospects in a socially-distanced world. Your CRM is a repository of every element of your customer engagement, a resource that all teams can access throughout the sales lifecycle. It is a powerful tool when well-maintained and consistently utilized but, when neglected, can quickly devolve into your company’s equivalent of a cluttered junk drawer: useful for storage, but little else.
Thankfully, AI is automating CRM technologies, making them more nimble and — à la Arthur C. Clarke’s famed adage — “indistinguishable from magic.” AI applications are doing the work of a full team of data scientists and doing it ceaselessly in pursuit of improved CRM efficiency and deal flow for your business. Here are three reasons why integrating AI technology in your CRM workflow will accelerate business growth:
#1: Integrating AI with your CRM automates processes and liberates your employees.
Your CRM is only as powerful as the data it holds, and managing data can be a time-consuming and error-prone endeavor when done manually. If your CRM is outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate you cannot create successful customer touchpoints, making the hard work of your teams — from marketing to sales — all for naught. You can free your employees from mind-numbing data entry and frustrating information silos if you adopt AI in your existing CRM. With an AI-driven CRM, your teams have greater bandwidth to focus on what matters: your customers.
#2: Integrating AI with your CRM coaches your teams and optimizes your processes.
Liberated from managing data entries in the CRM and bolstered by confidence in the accuracy of their information, your sales and marketing teams can invest their time optimizing their account strategies and outreach. Introhive, the B2B AI platform we began creating in 2012, has two interesting intelligence solutions to mine your organization’s unique, historical deal data for takeaway lessons.
- Our Deal Coach AI algorithm uncovers the key indicators in the relationship-building process that led to a successfully closed deal. With these insights, your team can replicate what worked and bypass what didn’t to accelerate sales.
- Similarly, the Introhive Time Coach dashboard allows your whole team to visualize where their efforts have made the greatest gains in the sales lifecycle, revealing where and when teams can pivot their approach with a client most effectively.
From a manager’s perspective, having increased visibility in the sales funnel can help them quickly identify problems and spot high-performing team members, elevating company performance overall.
#3: Integrating AI with your CRM maps your network relationships and generates more business opportunities.
One of the most powerful applications of AI integration with your CRM is the ability to run relationship analytics within and adjacent to your network. When you know who’s who at key accounts, and can link relationships across networks, you reach prospects you’ve previously missed and can predict their needs based on past deals. Having insights into a contact’s seniority, department placement, and past communications not only helps you best assess where your business relationship stands but also reduces key person risk in the event of staffing changes on either side of the relationship. Having a robust, automatically-updated CRM is a fail-safe that ensures your entire organization has an accurate picture of current business ties and communications, and future prospects. It can also be a comprehensive onboarding tool that assists new hires in quickly familiarizing themselves with your company’s network and business strategy.
As we near the end of a tumultuous year, consider how in 2021 your CRM can do more, and do it better, with AI. Adopting a CRM is just the first step in working more efficiently and strengthening business ties. You can level up, work more intelligently, and drive revenue with AI integration. AI-driven CRMs ignite a positive feedback loop of productivity and growth: more reliable, automated data means happier, more productive employees giving more attention to your customer relationships. Stronger relationships means happier customers who will be more engaged, remain loyal, and passionately advocate for your business. Clarke would agree: that’s magic.
Jody Glidden is the founder and CEO of Introhive. Founded in 2012, Introhive is the fastest-growing B2B relationship intelligence service and data management platform. The company was recently recognised by Deloitte’s Fast 50 and Fast 500 Awards and was named the 2020 MarTech Breakthrough Award winner for best CRM Innovation Software.
