There was an interesting article on www.destinationCRm.com that caught my eye the other day about the quiet explosion of mobile CRM. The article states that while everyone in the CRM space has been focused on the emergence of social CRM (72.3% of those companies that have previously implemented a CRM solution are at least evaluating a social CRM) an emerging trend has quietly taken place within the CRM world – mobile CRM.
They point to two specific innovations during the past twelve months that have accelerated the growth in this area: Vendors introduction of methods to send actionable insights and knowledge to sale reps and managers and secondly the transformation of the iPad into acceptable use in the business world.
Fortune 500 companies are no longer dipping their toes into the water with this technology but developing robust business applications that integrate with their core operational systems. This explosion with pad computers is propelling rapid acceptance of the iPad and other mobile devices as a legitimate and almost fully featured workstation to be taken seriously in the business world and is becoming viewed as an important tool for presentations, demonstrations and on the go communications (email and chat).
Recently I was asked by a major New York fashion designer if I could personalize the experience of his customers (who typically spend up to $50,000 on his custom clothes each visit and features high profile celebrities and sports stars) by creating integration with Microsoft CRM and images of his client and what they have purchased. This way when they walk through his door they receive a personal assistant who caters to their needs and has in tow an iPad with everything they have purchased, what styles they like and look good in and even as much as key points in the clients life (birthdays, kids, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc.) to show a detail that few can ever provide.
It’s easy to see the building of applications for an “on the go” solution are just beginning to emerge. Many of my friends and competitors in this field are seeing the value and have shifted much of their development efforts towards this platform. Even Microsoft CRM has the ability when customizing forms to create screens for the main form displayed on the computer and one for the mobile screen. Purchasing a solution today without mobile support is not a good business decision.