Predictive analytics has become a powerful tool for firms seeking to gain a competitive advantage, and the application of analytics to CRM is proving especially advantageous for gaining a winning edge. Predictive analytics adoption is expanding at an impressive 21 percent compound annual growth rate, on track to increase from $3.49 billion in 2016 to $10.95 billion by 2022.
Applying predictive analytics to mobile CRM helps sales teams meet quotas. And companies that use analytics effectively enjoy profits 5 to 6 percent higher than other firms. These numbers illustrate why using CRM predictive analytics is essential for a winning business formula in today’s market. Here are three ways it can help you stay ahead of the competition.
Anticipating Market Trends
One important application of CRM predictive analytics is enabling you to use historic data to predict future marketing trends. This can allow you to anticipate what your customers will want and when their demand will peak. Having this knowledge can help you plan your marketing campaigns and inventory management accordingly.
This information can be especially valuable when planning for seasonal sales cycles. For example, housing sales increase steadily from February to June and begin to contract rapidly in September, with May through August accounting for 40 percent of annual sales. These trends vary regionally, and knowing these trends can help real estate and construction companies time their sales and project management schedules.
Understanding Your Customers
Another invaluable CRM predictive analytics application is analyzing your customers. Traditional market research tools are useful to a degree, but they only allow you to analyze a limited amount of data. Using analytics tools can provide you with a more complete analysis of data integrated from many sources, including your customers’ buyer history, social media activity, and email engagement. This can lend you insights into vital topics such as how to define your ideal customer, how to optimize customer engagement, and how to improve customer retention and loyalty.
Helping Your Sales Team Make Smarter Decisions
CRM predictive analytics can also help your sales team make smarter decisions in real-time by drawing on data. By looking at a CRM dashboard, your sales managers can instantly see who your current hot prospects are, as well as which of your best sales reps are currently available. Your representatives can come to sales interactions armed with information about customers’ buying history, demographic breakdown, and preferences, making for more persuasive sales presentations.
To execute these kinds of applications effectively, your sales team will need training on how to use their CRM platform. If using Infor CRM, Infor consulting services can help sales teams learn how to use CRM tools effectively. This type of in-depth training can help sales teams learn the nuances of using their CRM predictive analytics dashboard to analyze sales pipelines, spot top opportunities, perform win/loss analysis, and use KPIs to measure and improve sales performance.
Anticipating market trends, understanding customers, and making smarter sales decisions are three ways CRM predictive analytics can help your sales team. Mastering CRM predictive analytics can help your company generate more leads, convert more opportunities, and make more sales.
