Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Mobile Apps Are the Future of Customer Relationship Management Solutions



Mobile apps are not only popular tools for the average consumer, they’re gaining in importance in support of the mobile professional. According to a study by Gartner, mobile applications will exceed 268 billion downloads by 2017. The study also reveals that mobile apps will be the most popular tool used in computing across the entire globe.

Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, said by 2017 apps will no longer be confined to smartphones and tablet computers – consumers will be wearing them on various devices and you’ll see them in your home appliances, cars and elsewhere. Integration into everyday life will be mainstream and developers are stepping up to the plate to make this happen.

The average consumer spends about 2.5 hours a day on their smartphone and/or tablet and about 80 percent of that time is dedicated to the applications they’ve downloaded. Consumers are accustomed to working within apps and sales reps are no exception. Mobile apps are expected to become increasingly important to your sales representatives who want them integrated into their
customer relationship management solutions.

The Adoption Challenge

The problem is that many CRM vendors have failed to build their features around what your sales reps want and need. Therefore, the adoption rate for these mobile apps has been fairly poor. Customer relationship management solutions are often geared toward executives, even though they’re built with tools that can assist sales reps in lead generation and customer service.

The problem is that most CRM features take too much training and are too time consuming for the average sales rep. Organizations looking to thrive in this digital age must have a laser focus on consumers and must adopt solutions that offer your sales reps the tools they need to achieve better customer satisfaction, better sales results and a painless method for reporting.

It’s no secret that sales reps want to spend more time selling and less time entering data into their CRM reporting tools. Anything other than selling is considered a chore by these highly driven individuals. At the same time, as a sales manager, you know you rely on sales reports to better manage the sales force. When a clunky CRM turns off the sales force, you’re left without good data that could have been used to make fact-based decisions.

An Easier Option

Front Row Solutions listened to the needs of sales reps and built a mobile solution that offers quick and easy use. Furthermore, Front Row included a camera feature in the mobile app that allows the sales rep to use it for any number of purposes. For instance, if the rep has a picture of a contract, they can include it in their report and automatically notify the appropriate parties that the picture is attached to the report.

Communication continues to be an issue for many companies, which is why a sales-friendly mobile application is what CRM vendors should be focusing on if they want to meet the need. Unless a sales rep can quickly and easily communicate with peers, managers and customers, they’re less likely to reach out. Fortunately, Front Row satisfies this challenge. To learn more how we can help your sales team advance, contact us today.