Why AI Is the Future of Your CRM

Imagine a world where your business can effortlessly anticipate customer needs, provide seamless interactions, and leave all your clients feeling truly valued as a customer. Such a utopian vision may seem far-fetched, but with the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), this dream is becoming a tangible reality.

The realm of customer relationship management (CRM) is currently experiencing a metamorphosis of unprecedented proportions. As technology evolves at an exponential rate, AI has emerged as the driving force behind a revolutionary era of personalized customer experiences. In this age of heightened customer expectations, businesses are fervently seeking ways to forge deep connections and build lasting relationships. Fortunately, AI has stepped onto the stage, ready to reshape the landscape of CRM and propel companies toward unparalleled levels of customer engagement and satisfaction. With recent research showing that almost 50% of companies are prioritizing AI over other IT projects, businesses that fail to embrace AI will quickly fall behind the pack.

In this article, we'll delve into the remarkable possibilities that lie ahead as AI shapes the future of CRM. By exploring the transformative power of AI in CRM, we'll examine the potential it holds for businesses and consumers alike. From advanced data analytics that unlock invaluable insights to intelligent chatbots that provide instant and personalized support, AI promises to redefine the boundaries of customer interactions.

How is AI used in a CRM?

While there is currently a lot of hype around AI and its uses in the context of business operations, it's still in its relative infancy. As the Harvard Business Review has noted, AI-Powered CRM tools can offer real value as long as you don't treat them like a digital crystal ball. There are currently four major ways AI can be implemented in CRM platforms. These are as follows:

Machine learning

Machine learning (ML) is a branch of computer science and AI whose earliest iterations go back to the 1960s. ML uses data and algorithms to imitate the ways humans learn. This allows it to gradually improve the accuracy of its output. Since its inception, radical increases in storage and processing power have seen ML used to power innovations such as Netflix's search engine recommendations and self-driving cars.

In CRMs, ML is predominantly used in customer segmentation and personalization efforts. With recent data demonstrating that 66% of customers expect a business to understand their needs, there is no doubt this field of AI will continue to grow, and quickly.

Predictive data and analytics

Predictive analytics, including sales forecasting, have enormous potential for sales teams looking to leverage AI in their CRM. However, in a recent study, 44% of respondents say they lose over 10% in annual revenue due to low-quality CRM data.

And while it may be easy to blame the AI-powered tools, the reality is that these issues stem from human mistakes. It can't be stressed enough how important it is to feed accurate, clean, and bias-free data into your AI to gain valuable insights into customer behavior, sales predictions, and sales performance.

Remember, in CRM systems, generative AI isn't designed to replace humans. Rather, it's designed to help sales teams speed up their business processes, provide valuable insights about sales predictions, and increase sales efficiency.

Along with our powerful CRM, TigerLRM has full and part-time sales professionals who are dedicated to helping your team achieve sales success. Our team can help onboard your reps, identify and define new sales processes, and support you in assigning and tracking leads.

Workflow automation

Workflow automation is helpful in most verticals, but when it comes to sales pipelines, it's invaluable in saving time and money and turning leads into valuable customers.

Automation can assist in mapping the customer journey and ensuring your customers are getting the information they need to make an informed decision. At TigerLRM, our easy-to-use sales enhancement modules and one-click automation tools are designed to streamline your workflow and free up your sales reps to focus on what they do best — selling.

Mapping the customer journey

The customer journey refers to all the interactions a person has with your company on their path to purchasing a product or service. Every customer journey is unique to the individual, and mapping the path they take across your various marketing touchpoints is essential in understanding how and why your leads ultimately convert to loyal clients.

Mapping the journey of your customers allows marketing teams to develop consciously curated customer paths that increase the likelihood of conversion, creating the best outcomes for the brand and your clientele.

In the past, mapping a customer journey meant sifting through vast amounts of data, which was often stored in segmented and disparate locations.

However, with advancements in technology, AI is now able to tap into a complete history of how your customers have interacted with your brand — from online reviews and social media visits to products visited and purchases completed.

These insights can be leveraged by both applications and human agents to identify customer needs and predict client behaviors. Sales teams can then use this information to craft bespoke experiences that speak directly to your customers’ needs.

Sentiment analysis

One of the most interesting elements of how AI can be used in CRM technologies is its ability to capture and analyze how customers perceive a company's products and services. This is also known as sentiment analysis and involves artificial intelligence being able to scrape text (interactions via email, SMS, and chatbots) to determine customer “sentiment”. Recent research studies have shown that highly developed sentiment analysis can be more effective than humans in recognizing emotion. However, there are concerns about how this will play out in terms of privacy, and companies need to keep in mind how they store and use this data, particularly as we move into the future.

What are the benefits of AI in CRM?

Companies across the globe are already seeing wide-ranging benefits from implementing AI into their CRM systems.

Increased productivity

When implemented with precision, AI-Powered CRM platforms can act as the ultimate virtual assistant, taking routine tasks and administrative duties off your sales team's hands. This allows them to focus on building strong relationships with customers and closing deals.

In fact, in recent research, 61% of workers surveyed said AI helped them to be more efficient and productive across their workday.

Improved customer segmentation

Customer segmentation is essential for sales teams looking to define their target audience, personalize their messaging, and improve client retention.

However, manual segmentation is a time-consuming process, with marketing teams having to sift through large amounts of data on customer behavior.

Artificial intelligence promises to take these laborious tasks off your hands.

Firstly, it can mechanize the segmentation process, improving operational efficiency.

It can then be leveraged to automate a range of personalized messages to your customers, targeting leads and closing more deals.

Simplified lead management

As your business grows, so too will the number of leads. Sifting through and following up on these leads is an arduous task, no matter how exceptional your team of sales agents is.

Through AI-powered automation features, your team can engage prospective customers with tailor-made experiences that require minimal human intervention.

By implementing AI in your lead management, you can ensure no lead is left behind.

Closing more deals

In their most sophisticated iterations, CRMs with AI integration can be trained to identify customers' purchase intent and provide them with the right information to maximize their chance of converting.

These platforms can identify bottlenecks and leaks in the sales process and provide actionable insights and intelligent recommendations on the best next steps in the sales cycle.

AI in CRM: Challenges and solutions

Challenge: Data processing

ML algorithms that are used to build data sets for AI require massive processing power and need to be trained on large data sets to ensure their predictive analysis is of the highest quality.

While multinationals with large IT departments may have the time, money, and infrastructure to create and train their own AI, this isn't a realistic option for SMEs and individuals looking to leverage AI for their sales professionals.

Solution: Choose a CRM that integrates with existing AI

At TigerLRM, our platform integrates directly with ChatGPT, one of the most sophisticated natural language processing tools on the planet. All your team needs is a ChatGPT account (our Sales Enablement team can help you set this up), and you can start feeding your documents straight into the TigerLRM system. Once you have 'trained' the AI, your team can use the Tiger AI assistant to gain answers quickly and easily, informing and streamlining your sales cycle.

This will make sure your sales leaders can make data-driven decisions from accurate insights into customer behavior.

Challenge: Data bias

AI data bias, also known as machine learning bias or algorithm bias, refers to the fact algorithms tend to reflect human biases. The implications of data bias have wide-reaching effects when they play out in the real world, as was seen with Amazon and their gender-biased machine learning recruitment agent.

Further to these biases, which may already be built into trained models, algorithms in AI-based CRM systems are built upon data that your team enters into the system. If this data is inaccurate or outdated, it may cause the AI to skew unnecessarily.

Solution: Feed quality data into a quality CRM

Before starting to feed data into your AI, it's essential to create a thorough AI-Driven CRM strategy. TigerLRM's platform allows sales teams to upload select documents into Tiger AI assistant, so you are in control of the data AI uses when providing your team with information. This makes sure your team can make informed decisions based on quality content.

Challenge: Lack of human touch

Anybody who's spent time online knows the frustration that comes with dealing with chatbots. While conversational intelligence has come a long way in the last few years, it can still only provide limited answers to a range of predetermined questions. Current-day AI isn't sentient, and despite its human-like responses, it can't replace a real, live human being.

Solution: Choose a CRM that offers a customer service management team

At TigerLRM, our sales enablement team is always available to help you populate your CRM and integrate AI into the platform.

Further to this, our team can support you in sourcing new leads, including names, email addresses, and phone numbers. We can provide you with a detailed view of your sales funnel, including insights into your team's strengths and weaknesses. Combine this with our CRM and Tiger AI assistant, and watch your sales vision become a tangible reality.

Getting Started with AI in CRM

While the benefits of AI in CRM software are undeniable, artificial intelligence is still a relatively new technology. Teams need to be aware that AI isn't a magic bean from which sales effortlessly grow. Before implementing AI into your CRM, or indeed any aspect of your workflow, it's important to have a clear framework. Ad-hoc attempts to integrate AI will result in inaccurate data and may hinder your processes rather than improve them.

Here are some elements that need to be considered in your journey to AI success.

Build actionable customer data

The importance of continuous clean data can't be stressed enough. High-quality input means high-quality output‌ — it really is that simple. Your CRM system should be able to capture a range of customer info, such as contact details, interaction history, and purchase history. This may require a range of strategic application architecture, including well-designed CRM forms, deduplication rules, and social app integration.

Integrate and clean up your customer data sources

Customer data can be spread across multiple sources, such as financial systems, your CRM, and feedback via social media and email. It's essential to integrate all this data in one place.

Once you've sourced the data, conduct an audit. This may include validating addresses, filtering spam, and checking for duplicates. Segment the data into categories so that your AI has organized, accurate data to evaluate.

As mentioned earlier, Tiger AI assistant allows your team to upload all of these documents into one place where they can be searched for relevant information as needed.

Define metrics, goals, and actions

Define your metrics and goals based on your specific organization. Decide who you want to target, when and how. This data can then be used to train your AI on what is important and when to take action. You can then set up your CRM to automate certain processes, such as follow-up emails and SMSs.

Govern your AI strategy

AI implementation is just the start of your journey to creating sales success via your CRM. Your IT and business teams need to continuously track and audit your strategy. Further to this, your team should create ethics guidelines that follow local data security guidelines.

Building intelligence in your CRM is just like building intelligence in a human. It requires continuous data feeds and algorithm updates. Your organization should be looking to constantly improve its data input and upgrade tools, plugins, and infrastructure.

Moreover, your HR team should be recruiting the best people to drive your AI in CRM strategy forward.

Moving into the future with AI in CRM

Utopian visions and media hype aside, artificial intelligence offers real value for sales teams looking to take their performance management to the next level.

For SMEs who think AI is beyond their budget or technical capabilities, TigerLRM has the solution you are looking for.

Contact our team today to start leveraging AI in your CRM today.