Trends in the Russian market CRM systems

Main article: Trends in the IT market in Russia

2023-2024: Technological trends in the development of CRM systems

TAdviser spoke with experts from the Russian CRM systems market and highlighted a number of technological trends that are relevant in 2023-2024.

Microservice architecture. When an analogue of a foreign solution may not yet exist on the market, companies are looking for opportunities to add services with their own hands. This makes microservice architecture not just a fashion chip in development. It is more justified than ever by real business benefits. This approach allows you to develop each of the platform modules independently of others, change processes and improve them without affecting other services, quickly develop the CRM system, releasing improvements and releases in a matter of hours. Here, the contractor market is much wider than the platform solutions market.

Artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things. The development and application of artificial intelligence and machine learning allows you to automate processes, predict customer behavior and offer personalized recommendations, provide more convenient services, as well as optimize marketing strategies and improve the quality of service. AI-based solutions are in significant demand, especially among large customers such as companies in the retail and financial sectors. Customers see AI as an opportunity to improve their competitiveness, speed up decision-making, and simplify data analytics.

The introduction of AI in CRM systems allows you to speed up the processes of processing applications, automate interaction with current and potential customers, reducing the number of errors and improving this interaction at different stages. These technologies reduce the burden on employees and minimize resources for routine work, as well as, as a result, reduce personnel costs, - comments Maxim Nartov, Director of Business Development at Nexign.

Neural networks and machine learning become megatrends, since with the growth of data, existing algorithms cease to work effectively. When, for example, a major retailer fights for a specific segment of the market, much depends on how interesting the offer it makes and how accurately it determines the target audience. These tools also help to analyze a large amount of information, make a forecast and predict the actions of customers. For example, AI can determine that 90 out of 100 people exhibit a specific pattern of behavior under certain conditions, and assume how changing these conditions will affect sales. But to draw such conclusions, first you need to accumulate large amounts of data - this is the next stage of automation, an order of magnitude more difficult than everyone else, - explains Vladimir Vigura, product director of NOTA MODUS. Recovery (ex-T1 CRM Collection).

Low-code, No-code. Solutions based on them allow you to quickly deploy MVP, make changes at the request of the business. In this case, you can look at the effect of the implementation and continue to develop with the help of your expertise, with minimal involvement of contractors. Low-code also makes it possible to adapt the CRM system to tasks using quick development and modification tools. In addition, low-code significantly reduces dependence on highly competent IT specialists.

The shortage of specialists who will adapt and refine the platform leads to the popularity of design solutions. When working with them, expensive programmers are less needed and more so - people who know the functionality of various units of the system well and know how to configure it for a specific customer, "says Vladislav Ignatenko, head of financial sector at NORBIT (part of the LANIT group).

At the moment, there are not so many mature and technologically developed Russian CRM systems, the architecture of which contains the principles of low-code. However, leading CRM platforms cover most of the customers' requirements, and thanks to low-code tools, we can migrate from foreign IT solutions faster, implementing projects in 3-6 months of active work, - comments Alexey Shubin, CEO of Klientomatika.

Convergence of CRM and BPM platforms. The latter help to build a clear regulation and structure of business processes. Building process chains comes to the fore in many areas.

CRM vendors often become developers of BPM platforms and implement CRM functionality on this basis. And manufacturers of BPM products, in turn, strive to enter the CRM niche by implementing the necessary functionality on specific projects and forming a pool of reference clients. Customers who have implemented their CRM solution on the low-code BPM platform are often satisfied with the choice, believing that this is an ideal balance of flexibility, labor and the ability to cover specific functional requirements as fully as possible, "said Julius Goldberg, Head of GlowByte.

"Non-voice" communications. Bots with artificial intelligence, chatbots, online consultants are developing. According to the analytical agency NOTA, 26% of companies already use chatbots to interact with customers. The introduction of such assistants significantly increases the level and speed of service.

The integration of ChatGPT variations and similar solutions to automate communication processes and improve its quality will allow you to remain at a high level of service, while reducing indirect costs for working with the client. Global changes should not be expected. The trend that people are 21st century oil will continue. Companies will use all available funds to retain and attract customers, - comments Pavel Baklykov, Commercial Director of Mad Brains.

Transition to the development of companies own CRM solutions based on an open-source stack. This is often done due to the inability to find the right CRM solution with the necessary functionality. Development projects are often carried out with the involvement of external resources to obtain the necessary subject and technological expertise right at the start, as well as faster production of development results.

Increase system security and security. The trend is due to the fact that the requirements for the protection of personal data by the state are being tightened, there are more cases of leaks. CRM as a system that directly stores personal data becomes very sensitive in this part. Additional certificates and warranties are required from cloud providers who host the appropriate CRM solutions.

UX is of great importance so that users do not waste time working with the software, and the system can lead the client throughout the business process.

Development of robotization of processes and automatic processing of client requests and tasks. Rapid implementation and large platform capabilities help to make internal integrations faster and better, to remove operations from employees, to remove the human factor in errors.

Develop and improve mobile solutions for accessing CRM systems from users' phones and tablets. For CRM systems, mobile applications are being developed that allow you to receive company products and services from anywhere in the world at any time.

Integrate with social media to track customer activity and behavior on social media.

Omnicality. Vendors are introducing this functionality into their solutions, making it almost mandatory. Omnichannel enables customers to significantly improve customer experience and gain clear benefits.

Focusing on online channels and increasing process efficiency requires CRM systems to seamlessly integrate with self-service channels and work in "assisted self-service" mode. It is extremely important to maintain the consistency of data between channels at the earliest possible stage in order to ensure successful placement of an order or transaction, says Maxim Nartov.

Cloud technologies. Instead of the traditional local deployment of CRM solutions, more and more companies prefer a combination of CRM with cloud services. This approach enables customers to get more flexible and comprehensive solutions.

Technologies for managing marketing, including through integrations, and the task of building a single client profile through CRM are also developing. The main trends next year will be formed around the intellectualization and robotization of customer relations. There will be increased interest in moving to fully automated customer response where possible. Technologies for predicting customer behavior and building processes regarding these forecasts will also develop, - says Anna Kuznetsova, head of BPM/CRM practice, NAUMEN.

According to experts, customers need first of all the flexibility of systems and the ability to expand its functionality. Therefore, interest in microservice architecture and Low-code tools is growing.

In general, the voiced trends will continue and will develop in the coming years. Particular attention will be paid to expanding the use of machine learning, artificial intelligence and neural networks. Both customers who can successfully implement these technologies and integrators who have received the necessary experience and expertise will benefit from this.

2022

By developing their products to replace imported ones and supporting any strategies of large Russian companies, Russian system developers CRM and system integrators take into account technological trends.

The main trend in 2022 is market participants calling the spread of the low-code/no-code approach, which has become widely used to automate customer relationship processes.

Automation should be fast and cheap and often without the involvement of third-party performers, − says Alexey Kolmay, director of the CRM area of ​ ​ ELMA, − and low-code allows you to do this.

In addition, notes Roman Gnatko, Director of Business Development at NORBIT, the focus on low-code/no-code campaign provides more flexible modeling and configuration of business processes. With the advent of such platforms, it became possible to reorient from "boxes" to the implementation of specific requirements, tasks and processes of the customer, adds Tatyana Malyavina, commercial director of Amber.

According to Aurika Savchuk, Director of the Interaction Management Solutions Department at GMCS, low-code/no-code technologies have proven themselves well in the solutions of foreign vendors and are now actively developing as part of Russian CRM platforms.

An example of a Russian low-code and no-code solution − the T1 CRM platform, in which each client, each integrator can independently configure modules using ready-made tools, - said Kirill Shchukin, director of CRM T1 Consulting.

With the growing relevance of low-code/no-code technologies, experts associate another very noticeable trend on the market - the transfer of the focus of automation from customer relationship processes to all business processes of the company, that is, from CRM to BPM. According to Dmitry Pereponov, head of the Business Process Automation department at CROC, this trend is especially strong in B2B sales, as well as in marketing communications in the B2C segment.

In a situation where many companies were left without IT systems in principle, BPM is the best solution to gradually close all automation needs, − explains Dmitry Smirnov, director of consulting at the CRM department of KORUS Consulting Group.

As Julius Goldberg, head of import substitution at GlowByte, notes, some traditional CRM vendors began to first name, and then develop their systems as BPM platforms. At the same time, they implement classic CRM, operational risk management, collection, and procurement process management, and much more, for which individual products were usually bought earlier.

The result of evolution from CRM to BPM can be the choice of a single platform on which you can solve not only tasks related to the organization of sales, but also automate related processes: service, work with complaints, logistics, project management and even search and hiring personnel, Tatyana Malyavina believes.

The third trend has been observed in the CRM market for several years. This is a request for omnichannel, that is, the organization of "one window" for communication with all types of clients through all possible digital channels.

Today, CRM is simply obliged to have integration with all instant messengers, in-line telephony and provide the ability to work with smart bots for support on the first line, − says Alexey Kolmay.

This greatly simplifies the work of business users and reduces the time that is lost on switching between systems. The emphasis is on creating a single point of communication within CRM and building a customer journey map within the system for customers, which is relevant for both B2B and B2C segments.

The technologies of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as the automation of business processes using software robots, did not lose their relevance in 2022. Roman Gnatko highlights related trends in expanding ML/AI functionality in order to increase the analytical capabilities of operating CRMs and improve recommendation services for solution users, as well as the emergence of more developed RPA services for further automation of operational processes related to the commercial activities of companies.

Robotic processes help eliminate the human factor and save sales managers from routine operations. Such processes can automatically change the status in the funnel when certain triggers are triggered, can automatically form KPs with the correct discount calculations or contracts with the required conditions for this transaction, − leads the example of the director of the CRM-direction of ELMA Alexey Kolmay.

Closes the list of technological trends of the year − UX orientation.

Now everyone wants corporate systems to be "like in an iPhone" - simple and understandable. After all, if a company employee tries to convey business values ​ ​ to a client through an "unloved" system, how will the client perceive this value?, − asks Kirill Shchukin, director of CRM T1 Consulting.

2021

To prepare material on trends, TAdviser interviewed domestic experts representing both vendors and integrators of CRM systems. The first in the list below are the most frequently mentioned trends. It is worth noting that many technological trends remain relevant for several years - their constant development brings users more and more new opportunities, continuously improving processes.

The development of artificial intelligence

The development of artificial intelligence (AI, AI) in conjunction with CRM systems and the introduction of virtual assistants allow you to free employees from routine work, saving resources and time.

Robots come to the rescue when there is a need to emulate user behavior, or if third-party systems do not allow integration. AI can analyze reporting and immediately point to problematic issues, focus the attention of specialists on a really important thing, "says Denis Seleznev, CEO of First Form.

Marketing campaigns using predictive models, recommendation engines, chatbots have already become the de facto standard in CRM divisions. And the distribution of ML and AI in CRM and client analytics will only increase every day, predicts Vladimir Nosikov, head of Marketing Management at GlowByte.

AI significantly increases the results of marketing campaigns, making communications more personalized, adds Sofya Totmakova, head of Customer Excellence at Navicon. According to her, in parallel with the increase in communication channels, there is now a significant increase in customer data sources. Therefore, systems of the CDP (Customer Data Platform) class are becoming increasingly widespread, which allow you to store the entire amount of data. For effective work with them, AI is actively used according to the out-of-box model.

Soon, AI-based chatbots will be able to use the collected data for high-quality timely responses to the client and forecasting, and provide additional information that can be useful to the client.

Together, this will allow you to more actively solve the problems and tasks with which the client contacts the company, - we are sure of Elma.

Extending low-code capabilities

The trend for the development of low-code functionality continues. Businesses require rapid launches of new systems and the prompt introduction of new digital products to the market.

Everyone wants to quickly recoup the investment. This pushes modern vendors to invest colossal funds in low-code technologies, - says Roman Gnatko, director of business development at Norbit.

Sofya Totmakova from Navicon, adds that the introduction of the "designer" made it possible to abandon large-scale improvements to the platform at the time of its purchase.

Odyssey Consulting Group (formerly Columbus East) notes that companies are ready to offer services quickly, so flexible solutions are needed. In the current situation, it sounds like "better fast than perfect."

Vladimir Vigura, Product Director "T1 Consulting," believes that the request for low-code and no-code is associated with the desire of the business to independently conduct experimental developments and not depend on programmers, who are always few.

Aurika Savchuk, director of the interaction management solutions department at GMCS, notes that low-code technologies are now used not only "inside" CRM systems, but also "outside." This is, in particular, the expansion of the possibilities of integrations with instant messengers and social networks, various bot designers, which are not only part of the platforms of large vendors, but also offered by less mature market participants.

Omnicanality

An important trend is omnicanality. It allows you to remove part of the load from managers by automating the tasks of processing applications through all connected interaction channels, and also gives a full-fledged picture of the set of client touches. Regardless of the communication channel, all client-related activities are represented in a single information space.

Based on the collected data, it is much easier to build personal work with the client: offer similar or related products, make targeted special offers, determine the best time for communication and carry out other types of activities aimed at quality building of relationships with the client, Elma explains.

The company 1C-Rarus"" adds that omnichannel is used not only for manager communications during live communication with clients - a robotic version of communications is also used, when a number of important information is used to notify the client and receive feedback through robotic channels: voice assistants,, chat boats feedback forms in e-mail.

Synergies between CRM and BPM and ECM

If work in CRM ends at the stage of receiving payment, then there are often problems at subsequent stages, where the company must fulfill its obligations to the customer to provide the goods or services.

As noted in Elma, the synergy of CRM, BPM and ECM allows you to build a number of processes, closing all stages of working with the client: the process of selling, forming and agreeing on an agreement, making payments, internal processes for executing an application, delivery processes, forming closing documents, and so on. Also nearby are service processes that regulate and structure the work of the entire company.

OpenSource Distribution

The development of inhouse expertise, the political situation, tax changes lead to demand for open source software. At the same time, vendors are already adapting to this demand, releasing support for popular open standards.

According to Vladimir Nosikov, head of Marketing Management practice at GlowByte, all this benefits the market as a whole.

Industry solutions

Many customers require industry-ready or horizontal solutions. This trend is noticed by Roman Gnatko, director of business development at Norbit. According to him, this is due to the desire to launch projects with minimal deadlines, risks, resource costs and using the best technological practices inside.

Today, companies do not think in IT systems, but in scenarios. Small vendors are ready to offer scenario solutions ready for implementation, - said Evgeny Lebedev, director of customer relationship management systems at Odyssey Consulting Group (formerly Columbus East).

Others

Aurika Savchuk, Director of the GMCS Interaction Management Solutions Department, mentions two more trends. The first is that CRM is gradually becoming best practice from the cloud - the number of implementations is growing, and an internal user experience is being formed. The second is related to CRM mobility. According to the expert, vendors will improve mobile versions by adding new useful features for working with customers "from the phone."

Nobilis Tim speaks of a decrease in the share of vendor software in the landscapes of large customers. According to the specialists of this company, all key players are now in one way or another implementing their CRM platform or a group of microservices around the anchor platform.

In 1C-Rarus, trends include the digitization of the entire process of satisfying a client's request in an organization - not only primary sales and communications, but also connecting other departments to the process. At the same time, control over the transaction continues to remain with the manager, who begins to control the processes supporting the transaction as well.

Another trend, according to 1C-Rarus experts, is associated with the development of sales forecasting tools, when planned indicators are predicted based on different models of customer behavior in B2C or when, in addition to planned indicators, managers confirm them with a weekly forecast with a reference to specific customers for B2B sales.

Evgeny Lebedev from Columbus East also refers to trends as a new client approach to projects, in which customers are ready to release quick MVP solutions to the market in order to get a business result and only then refine the service.

2020

The trends of the Russian CRM systems market in 2020 are influenced by both the general situation in the country and the world - first of all, the coronavirus pandemic, and the current technologies that are now at the peak of popularity.

Connecting all possible communication channels to CRM

The pandemic deprived many industries of the opportunity to personally interact with customers and showed that it was time to move from discussing the advantages of omni-channel to its active implementation.

Therefore, CRM systems are in demand now, which allow you to manage all communication channels from a single window, integrate with mail services and PBXs and provide tools for analyzing interactions on each channel, "says Daria Kagarlitskaya, architect of CRM solutions at Navicon.

Connecting the maximum possible communication channels with customers to CRM allows you to communicate with customers from a single system using a convenient tool for him: messenger, chatbot, telephony, email, as well as see end-to-end analytics on how the client came to the company, adds Olga Gurskaya, Director of the CRM Department of Korus Consulting Group.

Demand for industry and niche CRMs

There are more and more niche players on the market offering relatively inexpensive CRM products for specific tasks (working with social networks, searching for tenders, booking, etc.) or for specific industries (construction companies, travel companies, real estate agencies, hotels, fitness clubs, etc.).

Since customers want to receive results as soon as possible and for little money, it becomes more difficult for vendors to compete with niche players who have been offering adult high-tech systems on the market for a long time, "said Aurika Savchuk, director of the interaction management solutions department at GMCS.

Olga Gurskaya from Korus Consulting adds that industry expertise and understanding of the customer's business processes are in demand on the CRM market, which are valued much more than experience on specific technological platforms.

The experience of recent years shows that companies have begun to prefer CRM systems developed specifically for their industry, and with tools covering the maximum number of key processes, - confirms Yuri Vostrikov, commercial director of Norbit.

Moving to the Cloud

One of the most significant trends in the Russian market is the transition to cloud solutions. For customers, this is justified primarily by the possibility of reducing the ever-increasing costs of supporting and developing their own infrastructure.

To some extent, this process is restrained by the law on personal data (especially for foreign CRM platforms), but at the moment all leading manufacturers have functionality that allows using cloud solutions in full accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Thus, we are confident that in the coming years this trend will only intensify, "says Artur Akhmetov, co-head of oCRM practice at GlowByte Consulting.

According to Yuri Vostrikov, commercial director of Norbit, the benefits of CRM in the cloud apply to companies of all sizes, industries and forms of ownership.

The main advantage of such solutions is flexibility and low cost of ownership. The client receives a ready-made and up-to-date service for use, and all concerns for supporting and updating the basic infrastructure fall on the shoulders of the provider. The speed of starting systems in the cloud is always faster than when implemented in your own infrastructure, "he says.

The entire process of working with customers in a single CRM

One of the trends is associated with the desire of customers to get a single platform in which all information about customers will be concentrated, and in which suppliers, sales managers, marketers, and top management of the company will be able to work.

Such a platform of a single Customer Journey becomes CRM. Its aggregating function allows you to collect information about the client from different channels, start pre-configured business processes and generate reporting. All key vendors on the market are finalizing their platforms so that they cover the entire process of working with buyers, "says Olga Gurskaya, Director of the CRM Department of Korus Consulting Group.

The CRM system collects such a portrait of a client, thanks to which the company has no questions about who he is, what he is interested in and how to communicate with him, adds Daria Kagarlitskaya, architect of CRM solutions at Navicon.

However, simply collecting data into a single profile is no longer enough. We know what the customer wants today, but what will they need tomorrow? The ability to be proactive and be one step ahead is the next requirement for the CRM system, which we have seen recently, she clarifies.

Change project approaches through low-code technologies

One of the most current technologies in current CRM is low-code development. Thanks to it, systems have additional flexibility when modifying for the tasks of a specific business unit, and do not require deep programming knowledge from specialists.

The commercial director of Norbit, Yuri Vostrikov, says that with the advent of low-code technologies, the company has changed its approach to performing large projects:

Now, together with the customer, we define the outline of the MVP (minimum prototype), which describes what the client now needs most, and quickly implement the demo example. Then, in SCRUMAgile the "-" mode, we do the adjustment of the system every month. As a result, after the annual project, the customer receives a system that meets all expectations.

Expanding Analytical Capabilities in CRM

Many vendors embed additional analytics in CRM, as customers want to see sales reports in various sections in a convenient interface. To implement such capabilities, for example, Salesforce bought the BI manufacturer Tableau, and Microsoft implements built-in data analytics capabilities from CRM systems in Power BI.

CRM Intelligence

Over the past few years, major CRM platform manufacturers, in line with the general trend in IT, have been focusing on developing products based on the use of artificial intelligence.

The advantages for business are obvious here, says Artur Akhmetov, co-head of oCRM Glowbyte Consulting. Predictive analytics, for example, allows for faster response to change, and automating tasks that were previously impossible without human input sensitively reduces operating costs.

In the near future, the possibilities of artificial intelligence will only grow, which will certainly affect the functionality of CRM platforms, he said.

Improving customer experience is still a priority for companies, adds Maxim Solovyov, managing partner of Masterdata. According to him, the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies, machine learning, as well as in-depth client analytics contribute to a significant improvement in key business indicators.

AI-powered scenarios will help shape the right strategy for customer engagement, give sellers the right information, and optimize campaigns, product configurations, and prices. In-depth client analytics will help build hyper-personalized customer interactions. Since clients expect interaction taking into account their history, preferences, context and intentions, says Maxim Solovyov.

One of the current trends is also the development of ML models for CRM systems. Such services help to predict sales and outflow of customers, rank customers by the degree of loyalty to marketing mailing.

We develop solutions with ML technologies for analyzing big data, including external data about the consumer: from social networks, advertising platforms, their cookies, etc. According to various estimates, business efficiency from the use of machine learning increases by 5-7%. For example, for one TV service provider, our LANIT Omni has created a customer outflow management model that took into account more than 130 different events, "says Yuri Vostrikov, commercial director of Norbit.

Other trends

Maxim Solovyov, managing partner of Masterdata, notes that in 2020, amid a post-pandemic, many companies abandoned large investments in CRM amid uncertainty. Therefore, the business is now focusing on the development of new commercial areas, such as online sales and launches of new products.

This trend is observed not only in V2S companies, but also in V2V. It is worth noting that the business will increasingly strive to provide personalized communications with its clients to form a better client experience, he said.

Vladimir Nosikov, co-head of GlowByte Consulting's aCRM practice, calls digitalization and client experience (CX) the main trends.

In 2020, it is important that key products and services can be obtained remotely and ideally without interaction with people. The same applies to CRM - it is difficult to overestimate the importance of digital channels when interacting with customers. The tasks of personalization, dynamic selection of proposals, web analytics and UI/UX optimization are more relevant than ever. Gone are the times when the main thing was to sell the product, and everything else remained in the background. Now the main thing is that the client trusts the brand and wants to use its products. I.e. companies must engage in customer experience in order to maintain and increase market share. In terms of customer relationships, this means that you need to work with feedback from customers and employees, control key CX metrics, analyze client paths and X-data, "says Vladimir Nosikov.

Daria Kagarlitskaya, architect of CRM solutions at Navicon, is among the trends in the demand for analytical CRM systems that not only perform various operations, but help, for example, in planning. Among other trends, she also notes the demand for the introduction or refinement of tools related to online purchases, sales, bookings. This need exists for a variety of companies, from FMCG manufacturers to real estate players. All this together allows them not to depend on physical offices.

Gleb Melnikov, Technical Director of RosBusinessSoft CRM, believes that programs with classic CRM functionality are beginning to lose to industry CRM solutions, as well as universal CRM platforms. At the same time, the demand for deep implementation of CRM in the broad sense of the word is reviving.

2016-2017

Extending System Functionality

One of the main trends in the development of the CRM market is the process of expanding the functionality of systems.

In recent years, the market has required solutions that combine all processes in the company, i.e., both front and middle and back office at the same time. To increase the margin of the business, each leader wants transparency, and "partial transparency" no longer meets the needs, "Nikolai Savelyev, Business Development Director of the CRM Department of Norbit, told TAdviser (Lanit Group of Companies).

Sofya Totmakova, head of the CRM department at Navicon, along with the expansion of functionality, notes the transformation of popular solutions on the market into systems of the Multichannel (or Omnichannel) Management class, that is, into IT developments for the integrated management of all communications of companies with customers.

Traditionally, customer-oriented businesses, such as banking or retail, have implemented CRM to improve customer communications. At the same time, in large industries - pharmaceuticals or FMCG - such systems have automated the coordination and control of the work of company sales representatives and account managers or partners. For a long time, the business set the task for integrators or vendors of CRM systems to translate these business processes into digital "rails." Today, in most large and medium-sized businesses, it is solved in one form or another. They were replaced by comprehensive solutions that automate all types and types of external communications with market participants, clients or partners, "Sofya Totmakova said in a conversation with TAdviser.

The Multichannel Management concept, which formed the basis of the new generation of CRM systems, implies remote control of the company's external communications through various channels: direct visits of sales representatives, communication of call center specialists with customers, responses to requests on social media platforms. Information about each experience of the client's interaction with the company is recorded in the CRM system, which allows you to build a communication strategy with him and adjust it later.

Based on the most up-to-date customer information, as well as the entire customer data set, this concept can be used by Marketing, Sales, and After-Sales staff to communicate with the customer. As a result, any communications with the client are coordinated with the company's overall marketing strategy, - added the head of the CRM department at Navicon.

Personalizing Marketing Experience

Another trend that CRM market participants notice is related to content marketing software. As the company "grows up" in terms of IT infrastructure, there is an increasing emphasis on personalizing marketing experience.

With Alexandra Niznika Novardis help for software content marketing such as, SAP Hybris Marketing sales and marketing teams can begin personalizing customers' journey before those customers come to them, the CEO said.

They can explore relevant social media posts and offer recommended content based on previous browsing history. They can customize their website based on a search query someone used to search. They can better track the effectiveness of content and associate this with real sales data to determine which content will lead to more conversion, and ultimately stimulate sales for their organization, "Novardis CEO told TAdviser.

Incoming sales tactics have really overtaken outgoing sales in the past few years, so, naturally, users of CRM systems will watch how they can attract even more potential customers with a more holistic idea of ​ ​ the performance of their content, added Aleksandr Niznik.

Ivan Erokhin, Development Director of the Center for the Implementation of Business Systems of Jet Infosystems, also speaks about the personal approach. In his opinion, it is necessary to learn how to analyze the behavioral characteristics of the client and form the demand for each client individually.

The need for integration

Modern CRM systems must be in one connection with other solutions and services. This speeds up work and, in general, increases its efficiency.

Sofya Totmakova, head of the CRM department at Navicon, notes that due to the growing interest in comprehensive automation of interactions with the client, the modern generation of CRM systems cannot work in isolation from other modules and components of the IT infrastructure: for example, analytical models, accounting and financial systems. To solve these problems, CRM integrates with external data sources, or analytical modules can be built directly into the CRM system.

Aurika Savchuk, Director of the Department of Multifunctional Client Solutions and Services GMCS, talks about the interaction of CRM with external systems and increasingly popular sales channels such as social networks and instant messengers.

Customers prefer CRM systems that have a ready-made set of out-of-the-box integration tools. This saves the project budget. For example, Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers out-of-the-box integration with popular social networks for case collection, Skype for Business telephony, email client, SharePoint portal, online OneDrive storage, Office documents, and other applications. An alternative is to develop a solution independently, or with the involvement of an integrator. On our CRM projects, we offer customers the most convenient and technologically possible way of integration, "Aurika Savchuk told TAdviser.

Partial cloud cover

Increasingly, business users are choosing not a local CRM installation (on-premium), but a connection to the cloud infrastructure. Storing and processing data on virtual power, among other things, helps users to seriously save on the installation and maintenance of the IT infrastructure, as well as ensure uninterrupted operation of the equipment and minimize the risk of information loss due to the availability of backup capacity.

As Sofya Totmakova, head of the CRM department at Navicon, notes, users have become less afraid of data loss or leakage thanks to the improvement of information security tools from leading cloud solution providers - the developers of "private" clouds have especially succeeded in this.

As a result, for example, the segment of Solutions SaaS for CRM is growing almost 2 times faster than the CRM market as a whole. Therefore, today all major vendors and developers of CRM solutions have adapted them to a virtual environment - one of the pioneers of the "cloud" movement was Microsoft, which offered its partners and customers developments in the "intelligent" cloud of Microsoft Azure, - said Sofya Totmakova.

However, not yet in all areas the clouds have taken root. Some industries are not yet ready to "move away" from their data.

Aurika Savchuk, director of the Maykor-GMCS multifunctional client solutions and services department, notes that despite Gartner's forecasts, according to which by 2019 more than 85% of new customer service and support packages will be delivered in the cloud model, in Russia not all customers are ready for this.

In my opinion, the on-premium model in the next couple of years will dominate the public sector, in production, in telecom and in a number of other industries, where the attitude towards personal data is very reverent, - said the representative of Maykor-GMCS.

The importance of mobility

For the full operation of CRM systems, support for mobile devices is needed. Information about the work of employees and communications with the client is often recorded on tablets or smartphones, so their integration with CRM is very important.

This is especially true for "field employees" - sales representatives who make an average of 10-14 visits a day to customers and partners of the company and rarely have access to a full-fledged IT infrastructure. Therefore, the team's mobile devices must be integrated with the CRM system: this, for example, helps to effectively plan visits of representatives to customers, and also makes it possible to get any information about the client online. Modern CRM systems use all the advantages of mobile: access to photo, video cameras (for example, to fix the display of the manufacturer's goods in retail), geolocation. CLM module for conducting interactive presentations right during the meeting. For more efficient use of mobile CRM tools, specialized companies are developing external software: for example, Resco Mobile CRM connectors help configure the integration of mobile devices with CRM systems on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform, "said Sofya Totmakova from Navicon.

Alexey Makeev, partner, director of AT Consulting's Siebel CRM practice, notes that mobility is still a weak point for most CRM platforms on the market.

Some restrictions and flaws constantly pop up there, although vendors are working hard to improve, the expert added.

At the same time, as Ivan Erokhin, Development Director of the Jet Infosystems Business Systems Implementation Center, notes, with the growth of remote work capabilities, the need to maintain knowledge bases and have a platform for collaboration is increasing.

This allows enterprises to be more flexible in terms of transferring knowledge between employees and reduce the cost of office needs, he said.

CRM Intelligent Tools

The transition to cloud infrastructure spurred the development of cognitive ("intelligent") CRM tools. Better than before, data visualization tools now help you take a fresh look at company data or customer information and allow you to make decisions, for example, about its reliability in an extremely short time.

At the same time, mechanisms such as predictive/predictive analytics or machine learning make it possible to predict the client's behavior and make the most accurate target offers to him. At the same time, it is hardly possible to predict in the near future the appearance of algorithms that can communicate with the client better, or at least at the same level as the manager, - explained Sofya Totmakova.

Alexey Makeev also speaks about the demand for analytical tools. According to him, they allow you to analyze the history of the client, identify behavioral patterns, predict behavior or respond to events in real time.

To automate such processes, not only a serious CRM platform is needed, but also a powerful analytical tool, he added.

Increase the efficiency of loyalty programs

Automation and increasing the efficiency of loyalty programs are now in demand even where previously these tools were not a priority in the development of the roadmap, for example, in distribution.

As Maria Bar-Biryukova, Deputy General Director of Korus Consulting Group of Companies, notes, serious changes are taking place now in the B2C segment - many companies are moving to new forms of loyalty (for example, migration from a discount system to a bonus one), which requires not only flexible IT solutions that can change together with the realities of the market, but also an excellent industry expertise of the integrator.

Other trends

In addition to the trends listed above, integrators and vendors of the domestic CRM systems market also talk about several more trends. In particular, these are boxed industry solutions that allow you to get results from implementation in the shortest possible time.

The market is now very dynamic and the possibility of a "quick start" is becoming more relevant than ever, - Maria Bar-Biryukova commented on this trend.

The trend for import substitution continues.

In commercial structures, due to the fall of the Russian ruble relative to the dollar/euro pair, and in the public sector - for political reasons, taking into account the continuation of sanctions pressure, - explained Alexey Chaplygin, head of CRM/BPM systems at 1C-Rarus

Other interesting trends include the emergence of all kinds of "robots" that help users, and an increasing bias towards working with Big Data.

2014-2015

Import substitution

One of the most notable trends of recent times - import substitution - has also been reflected in the CRM market. Moreover, if in business the main reason for the transition to domestic solutions is the financial side, then in the public sector - this happens more for political reasons. The depreciation of the ruble against the European and American currencies increased the decline in demand for foreign solutions and at the same time increased the demand for Russian products.

"You can see a decrease in competitive pressure from foreign brands. Thus, one can note the tendency to import substitution of expensive foreign systems with cheaper domestic ones, "says Mikhail Kadykov, CEO of Monitor CRM

.

A similar opinion is held in the KliK System company:

"With the depreciation of the ruble, the introduction and maintenance of foreign software has increased sharply in price, therefore, in the issue of choosing a CRM system supplier, customers are increasingly inclined in favor of a domestic manufacturer."

Korus Consulting also notes an increase in the position of domestic decisions.

"In the context of the import substitution trend, CRM solutions based on the 1C platform occupy more and more serious positions in our market. We can also note the active work on the Russian market of the company "Terrasoft," which positions its product as an exclusively domestic solution, "says Maria Bar-Biryukova, Head of the CRM Department of the KORUS Consulting Group of Companies.

Increasing mobility

Mobile solutions are one of the main trends in the Russian CRM systems market. In demand over the past few years, they have become a mandatory part of CRM solutions.

Mobile applications make it possible to quickly access the customer base, view the history of relationships, and make decisions without reference to the workplace.

Mobility is called one of the main trends of recent times by the majority of integrators surveyed by TAdviser. Thus, Georgy Ivanov, head of the First BIT Paveletskaya project office, notes that now more and more mobile applications are appearing on the CRM systems market, which allow employees to access the client base at any time anywhere and receive full information about it.

Maria Bar-Biryukova, head of the CRM department of KORUS Consulting Group, speaking of mobility, adds that in any industry this allows you to organize the work of employees "in the fields," while constantly monitoring their activities. In some companies, this allows you to reduce the number of jobs in the office. In addition, according to her, mobile solutions for direct customer attraction are in demand, such as an appointment with a doctor, numerous applications for buying goods, etc.

Cheap "cloud"

There is "polarization" in the CRM market: cheap "cloud" or complex projects. Moreover, the first option is mainly chosen by small and medium-sized businesses.

"Small

businesses do not have funds for automation and go to the'clouds', which work according to their monetization scheme (making a profit from the project by introducing paid services, displaying ads, posting links, etc.)," said Alexey Kudinov, director of CRM solutions at 1C-Rarus.

Modern realities - an unstable course ruble and uncertainties in the economy - dictate the need to reduce capital expenditures, and the "clouds" are one of the main incarnations of this trend.

Companies prefer the most economical automation options, paying attention not only to the cost of implementation, but also the cost of subsequent maintenance and expansion of the CRM system.

"The

SaaS model itself allows you to implement CRM in a short time without capital expenditures and configure the system yourself. In addition, cloud CRMs do not require technical administration from the client and easily scale due to accessibility from anywhere in the world where there is Internet access. At the same time, the subscription fee for SaaS CRM starts from about 2000 rubles/month. All this radically reduces the risks of investing in the system, "say Mango Telecom (Mango Office brand), adding that now the cloud segment is growing at a faster pace.

Yuri Vostrikov, director of CRM business development at Norbit (Lanit Group of Companies), shares a similar opinion, noting the active development of cloud services in the small and medium-sized businesses sector.

"This is due to the fact that using online services, the end customer, with a minimum of investment, will be able to quickly optimize their processes."

According to Katerina Kostereva, managing partner of Terrasoft (TS-Consulting), 90% of small business clients prefer cloud versions of CRM.

"In general, the statistics are as follows: small business - 90% in the cloud, medium business - 50/50, large - up to 20% of customers work through the cloud, all others - while on-site."

Despite the fact that the majority of CRM market participants talk about the growth of the cloud segment, some companies record the opposite dynamics. In particular, Mikhail Kadykov, CEO of Monitor CRM, notes a decrease in Russian companies' interest in CRM according to the SaaS model.

"In an environment of economic instability, companies prefer not to incur additional fixed costs," he says.

The new law on the storage of personal data somewhat slowed down the development of a number of cloud CRM systems in Russia.

"For example, SalesForce.com customers seriously thought about switching to alternative platforms, as they fear violation of the current legislation," says Maria Bar-Biryukova.

Microsoft, according to her, on the contrary, signed an agreement in advance with several of the largest Russian data centers, and now the client can use the solution "in the cloud," but without the risk of being punished. Some other vendors also position the presence of a Russian data center.

Demand for analytics

During a crisis, the desire to identify ways to optimize and increase sales is especially great, so customers are showing increased interest in analytics and forecasting tools. Therefore, modern BI solutions are increasingly becoming part of CRM, pushing conventional transactional systems into the background and weaving into traditional customer business processes.

"If traditional CRM allows you to collect information about how the customer is working, how quickly the client pays the bills, how often he uses the services of the company's service center, whether the online store visits, and a lot of other information, then analytical approaches, in particular, Big Data, allow you to enrich this knowledge, for example, with news in the media or reviews about the company, as well as information about the work or life of clients in social networks, "says Maxim Andreev, director of business applications at CROC.

The most popular tools now are such as forecasting sales and predicting the client's refusal of the company's services. Moreover, the latter is especially relevant for telecom operators and financial organizations. This is important in order to have time to take preventive measures against the care of the client.

Another actively developing analytical tool of CRM systems is the assessment of the client's insolvency risk. This functionality is traditionally interesting for B2C in the financial industry, but now it is also of interest in the B2B sector.

Emerging BI features include modern visualization tools, which are increasingly classified as a separate class of solutions - Data Discovery.

"For analysts responsible for strategic issues of brand development, product line, portfolio of services offered, this is an unusually useful tool. For example, we used this functionality in a pilot project for one customer. Its goal was to identify the centers of influence of some customers on the choice of others, for the subsequent point struggle for the loyalty of the "right" client, "explains Andreev

.

Svetlana Gudkova, Development Director of the CRM Department of GMCS, notes that those companies that are able to predict demand and "listen" to the client environment are more successful.

"CRM makes it possible to analyze each channel through which the consumer receives information about the product, service, etc. Knowledge of the needs of the customer, their attitude towards the company or brand and the speed of reaction is what the business needs now and what it is ready to invest in. "

Socialization of CRM

The active trend of recent times is the socialization of CRM. At the same time, two directions can be distinguished here. The first includes integration with social networks and the provision of services through interaction platforms based on the principles of social networks.

"Social media

integration is a very active trend this season. Given the increasing competition, the advanced company wants to prevent any problem in order to maintain the right image in the market, "confirms Maria Bar-Biryukova, head of the CRM department of KORUS Consulting Group.

Svetlyn Savov, Deputy CEO of FTS (FCS McNomie), gives an example of a ClickDimensions solution that can track a visitor's behavior on the company's website and social networks.

"ClickDimensions uses the latest search technologies to identify the information available on social networks about a potential client. For example, ClickDimensions identifies the profile of potential contacts on LinkedIn and attaches a photo of the contact from his LinkedIn profile to the CRM system profile along with all related information, "Savov explains

.

The second direction includes corporate social networks.

"Corporate social networks can be turned both" inside "the organization - in order to increase the efficiency of interaction in the company, and deployed towards customers, which allows you to increase the client's awareness of the product and its support, as well as involve customers in the development of products and services of the company. For example, at CROC we recently introduced the corporate social network Jive, which we use not only for internal communications, but also for interactions with clients, "says Maxim Andreev, director of business applications at CROC.

CRM transformation

The Russian market for CRM systems is quite saturated. Over the past 1.5 years, it has developed in a qualitative direction, the requirements for solutions have become more complicated, the very concept of CRM has been transformed.

"Actually, we are talking about xRM - complex integration solutions that draw data from a variety of systems and, in addition to traditional tasks, allow you to manage services, products, resources. To date, Maykor-GMCS has several such projects in different fields. In particular, now for one company from the field of communication, we are developing an xRM system, which is part of a BSS solution that combines personal accounts, billing and related subsystems, "says Svetlana Gudkova, Development Director of the CRM Department, Maykor-GMCS

.

Integration of CRM with other services

The current trend is the integration of CRM with other information systems, such as business intelligence and process management systems, or the integration of relevant modules into CRM, integration of communication, social and mobile technologies into CRM, which ensure more effective interaction between company employees, as well as between employees and customers.

"CRM systems at the design stage are synchronized with IP telephony to account for calls, with the company website to account for traffic, etc. This allows companies to significantly reduce labor costs and optimize budgets, "says Georgy Ivanov, head of the First BIT Paveletskaya project office.

Mango Telecom reminds that at the time of launch in the fall of 2012, CRM Mango Office became the first cloud CRM system on the Russian market aimed at SMB enterprises, which was integrated with VoIP telephony and included business process management tools.

"Today, integration with telephony is a common opportunity in this market," the company notes.

The development of the CRM market is influenced by business needs and general technological trends. Business now needs CRMs that can be integrated into the corporate IT environment to implement a systematic approach to organizing business processes and implementing a client-oriented marketing concept.

"No one will be surprised now by a CRM system with the ability to integrate with ERP systems and professional applications, this is simply necessary for holistic business process management," FTS believes.

Marketing Director ELMAAlexey Budin gives an example of the ELMA CRM + platform, which combines operating CRM and a business process management system.

"This approach allows you to control the dynamics of sales and gives confidence in the stable operation of business processes of interaction with customers," Budin said.

Shift of emphasis in favor of SMB

The market is becoming more mature, the number of implementations in companies of the SMB segment is growing, which, if it does not provide the main demand for CRM, then occupies a significant and increasing share in it. In close connection with this process will be the growth of the cloud segment.

Georgy Ivanov, head of the First BIT Paveletskaya project office, also speaks about the shift in emphasis in favor of small and medium-sized businesses as one of the main market trends. He recalls that previously CRM systems were the prerogative of mainly large companies, and the rest kept customer records in Excel or in handwritten form.

Svetlana Gudkova, Development Director of the CRM Department of Maykor-GMCS, also notes the peak of demand for CRM systems in the small and medium-sized business segment. According to her, SMB companies are ready to implement boxed solutions and take ready-made processes as a basis in order to get a quick economic effect.

2012-2013

CRM Mobility

See also: Mobile CRM

The Russian market is developing in line with global trends. In 2013, the demand for mobile solutions increased, although it did not reach a certain peak in development. However, market participants expect that the mobility of CRM solutions will continue to develop as a trend in 2014. So, for example, they believe in Tops Consulting (Tops Consulting).

In Russia, mobile CRM versions are offered by many large vendors. For example, here you can mention mobile CRM from 1C-Bitrix, Monolith: CRM, BPMonline CRM Mobile from Terrasoft (Terrasoft, TS-Consulting), Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Oracle Siebel CRM, SugarCRM and others.

Oleg Palenov, CEO of Manzana Group (Manzana ES Em), connects the growth of the mobile CRM direction with the growth of competition for the client's attention and at the same time increasing the requirements for communications with them. Thus, the mobile trend manifests itself not only in the emergence of mobile versions of CRM (when employees on tablets and smartphones can work with the system), but in the development of tools for CRM systems for working with mobile data sources, including applications.

"Many are already tired of spam mailings and SMS messages informing about another unnecessary action. It is important to note that most of them are already little effective! Now companies pay more attention to the analysis of their information about the client, about his purchases and its potential, on the development of new communication channels with consumers. One of these channels that will be convenient for customers is mobile applications that can be integrated with the CRM systems of companies, "he explained

.

"Socialization" CRM

See also: Social CRM systems

Another new communication channel is social networks, which are also integrated with the CRM system for various purposes: from the ability to respond more quickly and efficiently to customer reviews, mentions and complaints, to promoting the company through games, special offers and promotions aimed specifically at this client.

"The

company's communications with the client at the moment when the client is near a retail chain, shopping center or plans to go there are much more effective than mass mailing. By applying these capabilities, many of our customers, retail chains and other b2c companies working with multimillion-dollar customer bases are significantly improving the quality of communication with customers now, "says Oleg Polenov from Manzana Group

.

Indeed, the systems presented on the Russian market are developing social functionality very actively. For 2012-2013, many of them offered appropriate tools:

• The HootSuite service came to Russia and integrated with the VKontakte network. It will allow centralized management of corporate pages on this network, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +. From HootSuite, you can respond to comments. With HootSuite, you can listen to what customers are talking about (and automatically publish your RSS stream to your social profiles. For small companies, HootSuite provides a free version. It is single-user, but allows you to maintain 5 social profiles and enter 2 RSS feeds into them.

• Terrasoft (Terrasoft, TS-Consulting) has integrated its CRM products (Terrasoft, TS-Consulting) CRM and [[[BPMonline CRM|[BPMonline CRM]]) with the system for professional monitoring of Russian-language social media YouScan. YouScan tracks mentions of brands, products, competitors in blogs, forums, social networks (Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter, YouTube). In addition to YouScan, IQBuzz, Brandspotter, Wobot, Buzzware provide similar capabilities .

• The Ukrainian company E-Consulting has developed a module for integrating the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system with the YouScan social network monitoring service. The module allows you to find and analyze what users write about the specified names of companies, services, brands, competitors in social media and automatically add records to CRM by initiating customer processes.

• SaaS CRM system amoCRM has added a new feature - integration with Facebook. Moreover, unlike most competing CRMs, it not only pulls up information from the user's Facebook profile to enrich the client's card, and not only adds new contacts to the amoCRM client base, but also helps the manager develop relationships with clients.

• ASoft CRM users have the opportunity to organize effective customer support by integrating this CRM system with the Copiny service. Recall that Copiny is a support forum that integrates with the company's website and social networks (VKontakte, Facebook, Twitter).

• Terrasoft CRM has been integrated with the social base of contacts Cardomat.ru. Cardomat.ru is another social "Wiki CRM" (such as Jetka and SaleSpring.ru). It is filled by the users themselves in exchange for new contacts for themselves. So, this service was integrated with Terrasoft CRM to be able to synchronize contact information with this CRM system. The solution provides for both importing information from the Cardomat.ru catalog to the Terrasoft system and exporting it from the system to the site.

As for Western vendors, all the largest CRM suppliers already offer the appropriate capabilities. In 2012, SAP and Adobe decided to release social web monitoring systems. The Adobe Social solution allows you to measure the results of marketing campaigns on social networks not by the number of likes/comments, but by real income. And the SAP HANA Social tool is able to process huge amounts of data from social media in real time to monitor public opinion. Both solutions are intended for users of Adobe Marketing Cloud (formerly Adobe Digital Marketing Suite) and SAP CRM, respectively. Earlier, Oracle bought the Collective Intellect social media monitoring service. IBM and Salesforce have similar solutions: IBM Cognos Consumer Insight and Radian6.

Cloud CRM

See also: Who benefits from SaaS CRM?

Now in the world 34% of CRM sales are in cloud technologies, in Russia - about 10%, according to Gartner for 2012. According to Gartner's forecast, cloud technologies will account for more than half of the global CRM market by 2020. This trend certainly has a very strong influence in the Russian market, where the lion's share of CRM clients from the environment of small and partially medium-sized businesses prefer to use SaaS CRM.

For large businesses, SaaS CRM is about solving the issue of territorial distribution of offices and employees, as well as reducing infrastructure costs.

"Medium and small businesses are also benefiting from the use of CRM in SaaS format through savings in system startup, administration, support and upgrades. And mobile applications help employees to always be aware of things, "said Asoft Commercial Director [1] Alexei Fitiskin.

One of the promising trends this year was the realization by cloud CRM developers that it's time to turn from a sales tool into full-fledged multifunctional platforms.

"For

example, since March 2013, we have been working on creating the FreshOffice ecosystem - we are creating a set of business applications united by common logic on a single cloud platform and expanding the functionality of our systems," Igor Sugnach, CEO of FreshOffice, told TAdviser .

We add that the largest CRM services in the cloud in Russia are: BPMonline CRM, Salesforce CRM, amoCRM, Customer Base, Megaplan Sales, Zoho CRM, ASoft CRM, Simple Business, On-CRM.ru, FreshOffice CRM.

It is also worth mentioning NetSuite CRM, Oracle CRM On Demand, 1C:CRM, Claris CRM, CRM-on-demand.ru, ROSKADR, Highrise, Skynell, SAP CRM On-demand, ClientoBox.

CRM and Analytics

Analytical tools penetrate deeper into information systems, and CRM is no exception in this case. Dmitry Krasyukov, Deputy General Director of SAP CIS (SAP CIS), noted that the growing amount of information that requires a completely different approach to storing and processing client data. For example, there are a number of innovative tools that allow you to segment your customer base faster and more efficiently, thus allowing you to speed up product launch.

In Russia, analytical CRM and related technologies, for example, intelligent CallCenter, are gaining popularity. Since many companies have already solved the task of collecting information about the client, there is a need to analyze it: predict the actions of the client, draw conclusions about the conversion, and visualize the resulting analytics.

CRM transformation

Almost all experts interviewed by TAdviser note that the CRM platforms themselves are undergoing a deep transformation: gradually they begin to be used much more widely than just to store client information or automate individual processes - sales support or marketing. They solve industry-specific tasks. For example, banks based on CRM systems create solutions for collecting overdue debts.

The trend is also confirmed in Compass: Igor Yakobson, an expert at this company, notes that there is a growing demand for the integration of specific production business processes into CRM systems that automate typical business processes.

"For example, in 2013 we had a request from an advertising agency to add media planning automation functionality to the CRM system. Or another request of 2013, received from a large fuel company, according to which the CRM system should include the functionality of processing tenders, be associated with a corporate portal and much more. In general, interest in systems associated with customer Internet sites is understandably growing steadily, "he shared

.

An interesting approach, for example, is implemented by ELMA, combining the functionality of BPM (business process management), CRM and EDMS within the framework of its own development platform. For example, through the main processes, you can focus all divisions on effective work with the company's clients - this "knows how" ELMA CRM +, said Alexey Budin, director of the company.

In addition, many companies are starting to use CRM systems to manage interaction processes not only with customers, but also with partners and other counterparties, added Alexey Makeev, partner of AT Consulting (ATI Consulting Group), director of Siebel CRM practice.

Single Window Principle

Another trend associated with improving the quality of service, increasing the profitability of interaction with clients is building a united front on CRM technologies, says Olga Rubtsova, Deputy General Director of Technoserv Consulting.

"Companies from among the advanced" users "of CRM are concerned about how to guarantee the high quality of customer service, regardless of the communication channel with him and point to offer the client a product suitable for him," she explained.

An example is appropriate here: the company has a client base with which only client managers usually deal, there are processes for working with clients, some of them can be automated in CRM, but this is still only part of all processes. At the same time, there are many other systems that automate information and reference services separately, marketing campaigns separately, and so on. As a result, an employee of this company, communicating with a client, is forced to work simultaneously with several systems.

A united front helps to eliminate the points of gap between them, where there is a loss of quality of service or efficiency of the business process. It is based on a CRM system that has complete information on the client and allows you to serve the client as much as possible in the "single window" format.

Single window systems allow you to combine information from various applications in one window of the user's workspace (contact center or front office employee). Such systems (for example, Microsoft CCA) have existed on the market for a long time, and some advanced companies are already using them, but mass implementation has not yet been observed due to misunderstanding the value of this product by business customers, noted in CORUS Consulting.

Meanwhile, the use of systems of this class allows you to significantly reduce the cost of customer service, reduce the waiting time on the line, reduce the number of errors and unhandled cases, favorably affect the loyalty of customers who receive the information they need after the first call without additional switches. For example, in the case of working with outsourcing call centers, the efficiency and speed of processes increases many times over, experts say.

See also

• CRM (Russian market)
• CRM (Global Market)
• Trends in the Russian market CRM systems
• Import substitution CRM: tips and approaches to migration to Russian software from market experts
• Overview of TAdviser: CRM systems in Russia