Business today is, more than ever, conducted on location and on the move. Instead of being restricted to the office, the shop floor or the warehouse, companies now need to be ready to operate from wherever their employees are – that could be on the road, in a home office, or in a hot-desking situation. In this increasingly mobile business environment, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems need to be accessible anywhere, anytime.
The power of smartphones, tablets, netbooks and other mobile devices in people’s professional lives has given employees the capability to set up wherever and whenever they need to – including coffee shops, hotel rooms, trains and planes. The one proviso is that their companies’ systems need to support this remote activity. It has become increasingly clear that traditional office infrastructure needs to change along with staff work patterns – and this is especially important where customers are concerned. This is a scenario born from developments in technology, and as new research from Maximizer Software shows, CRM is keeping up with the trend – for the most part.
The research report, entitled ‘Everything, everywhere, right now’, shows that firms are indeed making CRM systems more usable for staff who are on the move or working off-site. The independent survey of nearly 1,400 small and medium-sized firms in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) reveals that nearly half of SMEs that use CRM systems have now upgraded them to include mobile access and functionality.
This growth is substantial and is expected to continue, but it does not match the steep mobile CRM market growth trajectory predicted earlier. A major research report in 2009 laid the benchmark for SME take-up of mobile CRM, finding that many smaller company CRM users had already deployed mobile CRM (33%) and 63% more would add this capability in the next two to three years. In 2012, steady further adoption of mobile CRM has indeed taken place, Maximizer’s new research reveals, with 46% of SME CRM users in EMEA now having mobile CRM capability – significantly short of what was predicted, but still substantial.
The main perceived barriers to adoption of mobile CRM as identified in this study include systems costs, information security and integration with existing systems. This is a wake-up call for CRM systems providers, given that there are already a number of successful CRM systems on the market designed for SMEs with an affordable entry point, inbuilt saleability, proven mobile capabilities and the ability to be customised to the user’s business. Evidently, awareness of these solutions amongst SMEs needs to be improved.
There is no doubt, however, that general economic concerns are affecting business investment levels throughout the world, and this overall slow business climate must be taken into account when assessing the steady, rather than meteoric, growth in CRM adoption. Nevertheless, this study’s findings regarding the perceived barrier of cost to mobile CRM adoption indicate that there is evidently further market education to be done by the industry amongst the SME audience.
Security concerns are very much in the news, generally in relation to remote and cloud applications, and not without some sound basis. Data protection laws have recently been tightened, with a draft revised EU data protection directive currently going through its due process. Equally, user firms are anxious not to lose control of their own confidential information on customers. This research finding underlines the need for user companies to satisfy themselves about robust security features in the mobile CRM solution they choose. It also should encourage CRM system suppliers to offer convincing proof points about the security capabilities of their systems.
Half of this study’s respondents highlight concerns over integration with their existing systems. Again this is highly astute, given that there are innumerable cases of apparently affordable solutions escalating in price when integration services are added on. Once again, when appraising candidate mobile CRM solutions, users need to look for reference points and client examples that demonstrate the ease of integration – especially where the system has been tailored to suit the user’s industry and application.
Whilst these concerns weigh on companies looking at web-accessible CRM solutions, feedback from those that have already upgraded show the benefits far outweigh any potential difficulties. One such example is South African based refrigeration technology firm Minus 40. The company is based in Cape Town with an office in Johannesburg, but its network reaches as far as Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and beyond. Given Minus 40’s geographical spread, on-the-move access to its CRM system is essential; so, in 2011, Minus 40 upgraded its software to enable mobile access.
Steven Davison, Minus 40’s managing director, notes: “Sales representatives who need to travel and visit sites can now link to the CRM system via the web, while the office in Johannesburg works directly on the central database, hosted online”. He adds that being able to access the firm’s CRM system “anytime and anywhere provides us with a very simple way of staying in touch with all our customers and delivering first class customer service, which is very important to Minus 40”.
There are clear benefits to mobile CRM, as ensuring that staff can gain remote access to all the sales, marketing and customer service information available – no matter where they are – is becoming a fundamental requirement for any business. As this study concludes, further efforts are required from CRM vendors to increase awareness of affordable, secure, easily integrated mobile CRM solutions. With less than half of EMEA businesses capable of remote access, it appears a sizeable number still need to catch up.
Companies using CRM systems need to take on board the fact that the way business is done is changing and that they need to keep up with competitors. Sales, marketing, servicing and other core functions are all being transformed in a multi-access, always-on business environment – and customer expectations are changing along with them. For staff dealing directly with customers – such as salespeople or those making service calls – having access to inventories, previous communications, service histories and other records is vital. Those firms that aren’t ready to act and react in accordance with the latest information simply because their CRM can only be accessed back at home office risk alienating both prospects and customers alike, who demand a more agile business environment.
