This latest cycle of Aplicor hopes to give readers a better understanding of the direction where the CRM industry is going nowadays and what business owners and software makers should expect in the coming years. Join us in discussing these market movements.

• What’s in store for CRM systems in 2013? In a recent Gartner report, CRM solutions saw a 12% rise in demand from 2011 to 2012 as more companies realize the importance of having a solid CRM strategy to complement efforts toward business growth. Louis Columbus writes more about the research on Forbes.
• You can ensure that every client is happy with your product or service without needing to sacrifice your resources and profits. Ramesh Ramakrishnan of Business2Community tells us more about customer experience management and why we should apply it to our own businesses.
• The Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, FL has adopted a new management system that aims to reduce human errors during operating room procedures. Lindsey Dunn tells us more about the strategy on BeckersHospitalReview.
• With the increase in mobile devices that allow people to conduct business while on the go, many businesses and individuals are now also looking for mobile CRM solutions they can conveniently access from anywhere. Erika Morphy writes about this rising demand on CRMBuyer.com.
• Beyond the existence of software, is there really a difference between customer relationship management and customer experience? Mark Stanley tells us more about the ongoing debate on these subjects.
• Finally, we look into the never-dying issue on the difference between customer experience and customer relationship management. While these two can be loosely interchanged, the words “management” and “experience” somehow let us in on why they are not one and the same. In the end, it’s still the customer’s happiness that matters. Let us know what you think!

Is there really a difference between customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience? Both terms have been loosely interchanged in many discussions about client relations in business and, in the past, were considered one and the same. However, as technology advanced and enterprises adopted computerized solutions for their operations, “CRM” became more popularly used to refer to any management system that involved computers and mobile devices. In short, front office applications.

Because of the presence of software assistance making sure that all resources are available is easier and the percentage of errors when delivering services is significantly reduced. Thus, exchanges and transactions have become faster, the number of complaints on defective products or slow service has declined and customers generally have what they ask for shortly after they seek it. This level of operational efficiency is, no doubt, laudable; however, it’s not always the path that leads to customer satisfaction and happiness.

Sure, a client may feel that he got his money’s worth because the business delivered a service or product in good condition and on time. But is he truly happy? Happiness does not always follow efficient service. Being efficient means delivering what is expected. It is certainly not the same as personally interacting with the client and engaging him in a conversation to make sure that he knows you care. This is customer experience.

When we conduct our business, although we may have the most advanced CRM systems, let us not forget that client engagement is what will complete the experience. If two companies offer the same level of efficiency, the customer will likely maintain relations with the company that gives him a better and happier experience while making transactions. Talk to your client, let him feel that you are there to answer questions and be a friend. CRM solutions are indispensable, but no software can replicate a positive human interaction experience.

There is a very thin line dividing customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience — and it is a line that exists depending on who’s describing it. In the past, both were one and the same, but with the entry of more technological solutions, large software companies have added front-office applications to CRM. Mark Stanley lets us in on this ongoing debate.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/crm-and-customer-experience-whats-the-diff-0477221

As the world becomes increasingly in-tune with how mobile technology works, many businesses and individuals are opting for mobile-based applications they can manipulate while on the go. This is the same with CRM solutions. According to Gartner, the mobile CRM app market will welcome as many as 500 new applications from now until 2014. Erika Morphy details predictions for this trend on CRMBuyer.com.

Source: http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Why-Mobile-CRM-Rules-77895.html

In a bid to improve the flow of operations, the Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, FL adopted a new management method that aims to decrease the incidence of human errors in healthcare institutions. By applying crew resource management, a system often practiced among airline personnel, Memorial’s operating room and surgical staff were oriented into a more standardized process, which includes pre-OR briefings to make sure everyone is on board. Lindsey Dunn writes more on BeckersHospitalReview.

Source: http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/reducing-surgical-errors-at-memorial-healthcare-through-crew-resource-management.html

How does a company make sure that each of its customers are satisfied without compromising on resources and potential profit? Ramesh Ramakrishnan writes about Customer Experience Management and how the likes of Pepsi and Campbell Soup managed to tap their markets — and keep them — by providing “unique” experiences that are really not so different from each other. Ramakrishnan details how CEM is done and why it matters on Business2Community.com.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/5-steps-to-success-on-the-customer-experience-management-journey-0478499

The global CRM industry saw a 12% rise in demand in 2012 and this number is likely to grow even more in 2013 and beyond, says a new study by Gartner. For one, the market expanded from $16 billion in 2011 to $18 billion in 2012, thus giving CRM solutions makers a positive outlook for the coming years. Expectations are higher for the SaaS-based systems, which generated the most attention. Louis Columbus writes about the study on Forbes.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/04/26/2013-crm-market-share-update-40-of-crm-systems-sold-are-saas-based/

Business is all about your relationship with your customers, and getting them to trust you enough to want to keep coming back and buying from your company, compared to another that sells similar products. By improving your social skills online, this will greatly enhance your chances of getting them to stick around:

• Frito Lay has built a strong social community, which has greatly helped their business grow. If other businesses followed suit, they would be much better off as well.
• Identity Data Management can now be done by the customers themselves with the program UnboundID and its Privacy Suite. The customers get to decide which pieces of data are shared with a company.
• A rising amount of rudeness has been displayed online through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Things that would come off as controversial, and that business personnel would never say in front of people, are easily posted on these sites without a second though.
• There are many benefits to being a social business, such as having deeper relationships with your customers. When you talk to them frequently and are actually responding, they feel much more comfortable in continuing to purchase from you.
• Trust is important to get customers to not only want to continue buying from your business, but to purchase in a timely manner as well. They will purchase new products quicker, as well as pay off their bills on time.
• Earning trust through social communities is important for any business that wants to succeed in today’s day and age. Having a social community set up will ensure that your customers have a positive outlet  for sharing their stories, experiences, and opinions, thus leading them to advocate for your business.

Trust is key in all relationships, even that of a business and its customers. The business-customer relationship is a much more complex one than you might think, and it is highly important. Without a relationship between a business and customer where trust is involved, it would fail — leading the customer to turn elsewhere. Through a social community, this trust can be not only earned, but kept.

Frito Lay has gained the trust of millions of customers with their social community, as Ernan Roman describes on Huffington Post. When a company talks about themselves on a social site, customers tend not to trust what they are saying. When their friends, family, and even other people say things about the brand, however, they are much more likely to believe it. This is what a social community is all about. It is people coming together all advocating for a product or business. With Frito Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” contest, where customers get to choose their favorite flavors and discuss them, it brought many consumers together for one cause. It quickly grew their social community, and got people interested again in their company.

This type of thing quickly grows trust between customers and the business they are buying from. People are much more likely to share information about the products, getting their friends and family interested as well. They are more likely to talk about it on social media sites, which will get strangers to like it as well. The more they are talking about the company, at least if it is in a good way, the more they trust in it and are willing to purchase from it. If a company has a customer’s trust, they have their money.

When your customers trust you, they are much more likely to stick around instead of going elsewhere. Not only will they stick around, but they will be much more quick to pay off their bills on time, and order when new products come out. When a customer does not trust in the business they are buying from, they won’t worry as much about paying things off in a timely manner, as well wait before doing their research to purchase anything new the company may put out. Ann Nurock of Biz Community explains how it’s all about trust in business.

Source: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/12/92162.html