Redefining CRM: Expanding Its Reach in a Mobile World

American Express developed its advertising slogan, "Don't leave home without
it," in the 1970s. What we won't leave home without has changed dramatically
since then. For me, it's a very short list: my keys, my wallet, and, of
course, my smartphone. And I doubt I'm alone.
This burgeoning landscape of mobile devices begs the question: Isn't it time to
redefine customer relationship management to include mobile relationship
management?

Why should it be limited to corporate use? For too long, CRM solutions have
really only catered to the enterprise and small-to-midsize-business (SMB)
world. One of the largest sectors of any economy, the individual consumer,
which includes the sub-SMB realm, has been virtually overlooked. This untargeted
and therefore untapped market opportunity stands to gain possibly
more than any other from the best aspects that traditional CRM provides its
users.

To reach these previously overlooked consumers, we must redefine CRM by
focusing on the fundamental components of relationship management. At its
core, CRM exists to effect higher sales and profits for its users. Even the recent
surge of social media reinforces its primary goal of developing personal relationships
from which to create more loyal customers. And just as our best relationships
imply an element of closeness, both social and mobile solutions
provide further means with which to maintain and expand that condition.

According to Forrester, 1.5 billion people are using smartphones and tablets.
Many of them are self-employed individuals or employees of small organizations
who, because of mobile devices, are able to work how they want, where
they want. As independent users, their professional success depends even
more heavily on their ability to develop and maintain business relationships.
As smartphone and tablet users, they require mobile business solutions to
manage those relationships.

While fewer than 20 million people currently use enterprise CRM/CM solutions,
the remaining mobile device users who are unlikely to use existing
CRM systems now have access to relationship management solutions. Given
the power, ubiquity, and convenience of the smartphone, who couldn't use it
for mobile relationship management? After all, most people in business are
relationship-centric in one way or another.
People are becoming more and more dependent on their mobile devices. Over
time, as the functionality and utility of these devices increase, their dependency
on PCs and notebooks will decrease. Mobile should provide more flexibility,
not less.

To many mobile device users, traditional relationship management options
are too complex, pricey, and cumbersome. These mobile device users are
looking for truly convenient, desktop-like, full-featured applications for their
devices and will create greater demand for consumer-priced solutions, including
CRM. And, at the risk of sounding heretical, there is actually a place
for an individual to use both an established CRM system for corporate purposes,
as well as one for outside-of-corporate reasons for those whose companies
mandate CRM use but have no place to manage their other relationship
knowledge.

To better meet the needs of the CRM veteran entrenched in an enterprise system
and using mobile as an adjunct, personal, database manager, as well as
the individual user new to the benefits of relationship management for business,
CRM must be redefined. It must go beyond merely recognizing the exishtence
of mobile users to fully capitalizing on the opportunities of the new mobile landscape.

As Mark Roberge, VP of sales for HubSpot, recently said to me, "If it doesn't
run on my smartphone, then I won't use it." Now there's an interesting followup
story...

This guest blog post is by CRM industry veteran and expert, Mike
Muhney. He's the cofounder and cocreator of ACT!, and the CEO and
cofounder of VIPorbit Software, which focuses on mobile relationship
management solutions for users of smartphones and tablets. http://blog.sellingpower.com/gg/2011/11/redefining-crm-expanding-its-reach-in-a-mobile-world.html