[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/05\/crm-for-sales-and-service-definition\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/05\/crm-for-sales-and-service-definition\/","headline":"CRM for sales and service: The potential and the pitfalls","name":"CRM for sales and service: The potential and the pitfalls","description":"CRM for sales and service pros makes their jobs easier, so they\u2019re more engaged, and ready to deliver a great CX. And happy customers make loyal customers.","datePublished":"2020-08-05","dateModified":"2025-02-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/marcia-yusavage\/#Person","name":"Marcia Yusavage","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/marcia-yusavage\/","identifier":298,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9929f6ff16e34cd6d43daf18411658f8565960b4c0fd78662963005f1aa9afb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9929f6ff16e34cd6d43daf18411658f8565960b4c0fd78662963005f1aa9afb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CRM-for-sales-and-service.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CRM-for-sales-and-service.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/05\/crm-for-sales-and-service-definition\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/crm\/","name":"CRM","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_relationship_management","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q485643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/service\/customer-service\/","name":"Customer Service","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_service","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1060653"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sap-sapphire-general\/customer-service-sapphire\/","name":"Customer Service","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_service","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1060653"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/sales-general\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sap-customer-experience-live\/sales-live\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sap-sapphire-general\/sales-sapphire\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},"Service",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/uncategorized\/","name":"Uncategorized","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Categorization","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5884621"]}],"wordCount":968,"articleBody":"If you\u2019re a sales rep or customer service agent, there\u2019s a good chance you don\u2019t expect much from your CRM in terms of doing your job. You need insight and data to help customers and to provide the personalized experience they expect today, but CRM likely doesn\u2019t deliver.Nearly ubiquitous, CRM technologies have been on the market for more than 25 years. Initially intended as productivity boosters to help companies drive revenue, many have morphed into complex management tools. For sellers and other front-line employees, CRM often is more of an administrative time sink than a helpful aid.SAP recently hosted a webinar on CRM for sales and service that featured Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Kate Leggett. \u201cCRM has a lot of potential, but it\u2019s not living up to its promise,\u201d Leggett said during the webinar.With customer engagement so important, this has to change. COVID-19 dramatically impacted consumer behavior and the way people engage with businesses, forcing many organizations to ramp up their digital operations in a hurry. Front-line sellers and customer service agents need to be equipped to provide a customer experience that meets today\u2019s increased needs and heightened expectations.CRM for sales and service: A sorry stateThe 2019 Forrester Data Business Technographics Global Business Workplace Benchmark Survey revealed a startling lack of confidence in CRM technology among users.\u201cUsers aren\u2019t satisfied with the state of their CRM technology,\u201d Leggett said on the recent SAP webinar. \u201cClose to 40% of sellers don\u2019t feel they have the right technology to do their job.\u201dCRM technologies have evolved into highly complex platforms loaded with features for specific purposes, making them hard to use. The Forrester survey showed that 43% of users aren\u2019t satisfied with the level of ease of use of their company\u2019s technology.Over the years, CRM has evolved into a tactical solution used by individual departments to manage their business objectives rather than a strategic solution to facilitate exceptional customer experience, Leggett said in the webinar.\u201cWe hear over and over that CRM is a management tool that doesn\u2019t help front-line employees deliver personalized customer experience,\u201d she said.      Sales and service working together: Aligning for success                Sales and service working together can dramatically improve CX, customer loyalty, customer retention, and the bottom line.      The power of good customer experience Organizations can\u2019t afford to run CRM this way when customer expectations continue to rise. With applications that make it easy to buy groceries online, order takeout, and access entertainment, consumers have become accustomed to getting what they need quickly on any device with a high degree of personalization.\u201cIf you can\u2019t deliver these experiences that customers expect, they\u2019ll walk away and take their business elsewhere,\u201d Leggett said in the webinar.When employees have tools that improve their workday and empower them with insight and data to deliver great customer experience, the payoff is huge. Customers who feel good about doing business with your company will be more loyal.According to Forrester, brands that excel in customer experience increase revenue at twice the rate of brands that don\u2019t. \u201cIn every industry that we have data on, there\u2019s a correlation between customer experience and topline revenue,\u201d Leggett said.For example, a one-point improvement in what the research firm calls its CX Index score translates to $58.51 in annual incremental revenue per customer for an automaker, according to Forrester\u2019s 2019 report, \u201cHow Customer Experience Drives Business Growth.\u201d      Improving the customer experience: A CX checklist                Improving the customer experience is mission critical for brands. Here's a checklist to help you make your CX resolutions \u2013 and keep them.      COVID-19 impactAs more people flock to the internet to buy essentials and conduct business like banking while under quarantine, customer experience has become even more of a priority.In the spring, many customer service organizations saw the number of inquiries skyrocket, from airlines flooded with cancellation requests to banks inundated with calls for financial assistance. Disasters like earthquakes are something many companies prepare for; a pandemic isn\u2019t usually on the list, which led to some poor CX, Leggett said in the webinar. For a lot of organizations, the crisis has forced a crash course in core digital transformation.Now, more than ever, companies need flexibility. \u201cIt\u2019s being able to change your business processes, maybe on a dime,\u201d Leggett said. \u201cIt\u2019s being able to do the right thing for your customer with the full understanding of who they are and where they are in their journey.\u201dA better CRM for sales and service For CRM to provide this critical flexibility and facilitate excellent customer experience, the technology needs to evolve in a few ways.First off, organizations need to view CRM as a strategic solution that enables them to support the customer throughout their lifecycle, rather than a tactical investment to manage departmental goals.To provide highly personalized and contextualized customer experience, sellers and customer service agents need a unified view of the customer that provides ample data and insight.CRM technology must provide this complete view with adaptable, role-based workflows so they employees can fully support customers, Leggett said.Leggett envisions CRM evolving into a strategic platform that allows companies to be agile and innovative to support customers\u2019 changing behaviors.When sellers and customer service agents have a CRM that makes their jobs easier, they\u2019ll be more engaged, productive, and in a position to fuel great customer experiences. Satisfied customers will come back for more.When CRM serves everyone \u2013 the customer, the seller, the customer service agent, and management \u2014 it becomes a truly powerful tool for building brand loyalty and achieving corporate goals.  More options. More conditions. More stakeholders. More circling-back.Modern selling is anything but simple.Intelligent sales enablement starts HERE. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"08","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/08\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"05","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/08\/\/05\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"CRM for sales and service: The potential and the pitfalls","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/05\/crm-for-sales-and-service-definition\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]