Does your customer relationship management strategy have what it takes to reach Generation Y? It’s estimated that by 2021, an additional US$394 billion in revenue could be gained from artificial intelligence adoption in CRM activities in the U.S.
As companies grow and technology evolves at a faster-than-ever pace, collecting, storing and providing data is becoming a bigger and bigger task. No customer — and certainly not your millennial customer — will wait around if you’re not able to provide an answer or solution right away.
As we leave behind the information age and move into the experience age, information, systems and increasingly more businesses are driven by technological advancements — with things like AI, in-the-moment data sharing, and mobile connectivity. An intelligent CRM system is a no-brainer when deploying a dependable and up-to-date customer management strategy.
Previously, the idea of communication and customer experience simply was to make things accessible, but the experience age is all about creating an experience and building an emotional connection that makes an impact — all in the name of attracting new customers and retaining loyal ones.
In the wealth management and financial services industry, the rise of intergenerational wealth is considered by some experts as one of the top trends that will influence the paradigm shift in the wealth management industry in 2020.
In fact, forecasts indicate that by 2030 millennials will hold five times as much wealth as they do now for a total of $20 trillion in assets globally, with baby boomers expected to pass down another $30 trillion in assets by 2050 in North America alone.
Millennials are America’s largest living adult generation, which means attracting and retaining Generation Y customers should be top of mind for any business. To attract and retain, businesses have to speak their language, and learn to communicate in the way they do — often this means through technology and social media.
While every business and industry has different needs, in the age of the customer, intelligent CRM is one way to offer exceptional customer service in a way that compliments the millennial customer’s expectation of an immersive and on-demand experience.
Proper integration of the right CRM system for your business, exceptional customer service and forward-looking digital features (think built-in AI capabilities!) are the key to attracting the next generation of customers who value instant communication and access to companies and brands above all else.
Following are four key ways investing in an intelligent CRM solution will help you earn the loyalty of this fast-growing, influential segment of customers, maximize your day-to-day productivity, and ultimately increase your profitability.
1. Personalization: Never Miss Another Milestone
As many as 68 percent of customers leave if they feel you don’t care about them, based on one study. Thanks to increased automation, it’s easier than ever for millennials to leave one company for another at the click of a button.
Innovation is crucial to survival in this age, but it’s important to note that across many industries, this likely does not take as high of a priority as it should. For example, in the wealth management and financial services sector, only about 20 percent of client-facing interactions today are done digitally by industry professionals, recent research from Nucoro shows.
Only 55 percent of these same companies will be around in 10 years if they fail to innovate digitally with solutions like intelligent CRM, it suggests.
Integrated CRM pulls data from back-office systems and third-party applications, essentially doing all the heavy lifting for you so you never have to miss another milestone that could make or break your customer’s loyalty. Let it automatically prompt you with timely, appropriate reasons to call your clients, whether it’s a birthday, new job, or the birth of a new family member.
2. Use AI to Automate Tasks, Saving Time and Boosting Productivity
Digital literacy is needed now more than ever when it comes to companies and their clients. To maintain, strengthen and acquire new and existing client relationships, updated technology that integrates into existing customer management processes is a non-negotiable. That means artificial intelligence capabilities are merely the next step in the client retention and engagement process — especially where Generation Y is concerned.
On average, financial advisors spend only about 50 percent of their time in client-facing interactions, with the rest of their time spent on administrative and other tasks. Why not increase that face-to-face client time by integrating an intelligent CRM system that alleviates administrative burdens so you can spend time building relationships instead?
AI-powered CRM enables advisors to review their clients’ portfolios, recent transactions, interests, etc., with ease, and prior to any personal interactions. That helps deepen and strengthen the client-business relationship. Historically, these are all things that would be tracked offline — a manual, labor-intensive task that often fails to comply with heightened regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities.
In addition to the many perks of intelligent CRM systems mentioned above, built-in AI capabilities offer a variety of other benefits, chief among them the cost-effective and efficient ability to automate workflows and streamline client processes.
Some companies offer digital assistants that not only generate data-driven recommendations but also present those recommendations and tasks in order of highest value based on industry best practices or company-established guidelines.
Combining vertical-specific industry best practices with a modern, service-oriented architecture means timely information and actionable insights are delivered directly to your fingertips — a key differentiator for any business looking to level-up on its customer service.
3. Be Part of the Social Media Conversation
We live in a social media world that infiltrates every part of our daily lives. Ninety percent of millennials use at least one social media platform, and roughly three-quarters of Facebook users and 60 percent of Instagram users visit these platforms twice a day, research shows.
What’s more, it’s not just millennials who use social media: The same study shows that roughly 69 percent of baby boomers are active on at least one social media platform — an increase from 51 percent just five years ago, making a social media presence for your brand non-negotiable.
Your intelligent CRM system knows your customers better than you ever will. Integrating intelligent CRM into your growth strategy allows you to streamline all your marketing initiatives and personal customer touchpoints easily, by centralizing all of your social media efforts into one accessible platform.
The rise of social media gives customers much more negotiating power than past generations, thanks to their ability to control the conversation not just with you but with their peers as well. While specific features may vary, based on the level of integration, social CRM capabilities generally speaking will allow you to stay informed about your customers’ personal milestones and highlights.
You’ll never miss an opportunity to follow up and offer the best recommendations, identify brand mentions and customer trends, and gain insight into best practices and tips for engaging with a current or prospective client based on the analytics gathered.
What’s more, social CRM isn’t just about following your customers and getting them to “like” your page and posts. It’s about providing value — whether by resolving a customer complaint quickly online, or offering a discount to a new customer. It’s an effective way to ensure you’re always apart of the conversation!
4. Eliminate Costly Mistakes Through Automated Compliance, Best Practices
We are in the age of the millennial, but also the age of heightened regulatory reform. Organizations that fail to adopt systems that track all client communications and interactions will be at risk. The financial services industry, for instance, has been rocked in the past decade as much by scandal and turbulent markets as it has by the resulting culture of control, transparency requirements, and demand for high-level accountability.
Investing in modern, integrated CRM software with a centralized security model, flexible auditing capabilities, and a repository of client interactions and customer risk tolerance documents will ensure your business’s longevity if the need ever arises, without impeding your ability to serve and earn the trust of all your clients — millennials or otherwise.
Integrating the software with compliance systems in addition to third-party applications — including market news and other relevant data — provides unprecedented abilities to leverage best practices, from accurate and meaningful reporting capabilities to interdepartmental collaboration, with everything always pointing back to a focus on proactive customer service, revenue growth, and automation that increases productivity.
It’s not just about meeting your customers’ needs anymore. Building relationships that are meaningful and that actually last is essential to your business’s long-term success. What’s even more important to consider is the power of influence loyal millennial customers could provide for your business.
Seventy-four percent of millennials believe they can affect the purchasing decisions of fellow millennials as well as those of older generations, including baby boomers, one study shows.
Millennials are much more likely to rate their experience with a service or product online, meaning people are going to hear about their experience with your brand whether you like it or not.
Utilizing antiquated technologies and customer service tools will undoubtedly drive away your most important segment of customers. With millennials expecting fast and accessible customer service any time of day, it’s crucial to your business’ success to recognize that and address it with the right tools.
Technology constantly evolves to meet consumer needs. As you can see, it’s nearly impossible to stay competitive in today’s marketplace without innovating to meet these needs. Regardless of which CRM solution you end up choosing for your business, there’s no reason that with proper integration, you can’t adopt a client-centric business model tailored to millennials, baby boomers, and everyone in between — one that understands their needs, motivators and interests, while also fostering loyalty to your business and brand.
From alleviating administrative burdens to retaining top talent, to leveraging enterprise information to drive revenues, and automating regulatory compliance and best practices, intelligent CRM is a one-stop-shop for elevating your business in 2020.
By investing in a next-generation CRM solution that is built specifically to help your business effectively service and resonate with your clients — not to mention increase the time you are able to spend on activities that grow your business and revenues — you can rest knowing you are doing everything possible to propel your business to the next level. The only question now is, which CRM solution will you choose?
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