A survey of 450 C-Suite executives has shown that enterprises are hungry for mobile customer relationship management (CRM) apps. The study, conducted by market research firm IDC and enterprise resource planning (ERP) specialist ISF, showed that 31% of respondents identified CRM apps as most-wanted among enterprise mobile apps– more than any other type of mobile application. Coming in second, at 13%, were apps that focused on Business Intelligence (BI), while apps that facilitated authorizations and approvals rounded out the top three most requested verticals of apps at 10%.
Mobility Stimulates Sales Productivity
It has been shown that mobility, when paired with CRM and other data types, can boost sales productivity. A Nucleus Research Report found that augmenting CRM solutions with mobile and social capabilities can boost a sales rep’s productivity by 26.4%. It’s not difficult to see why. Sales productivity can be easily hindered by lengthy customer research in advance of calls, as well as superfluous note-taking during and after sales calls. And nothing can thwart a rep’s productivity like having to enter data manually into a CRM application like Salesforce.com. However, with the right mobile CRM app, sales professionals can spend more time selling and less time entrenched in the miasma of mundane sales tasks.
Enterprises Struggle to Leverage Data
In the current business landscape, the ability to successfully leverage customer data can offer colossal advantages. According to IDC program director Jason Andersson, “Ensuring a competitive advantage and enabling an even more competitive workforce that gets access to correct data, even when they are on the move, is a critical success factor in the future and a major focus for mobility solutions.” It’s becoming increasingly important to not just be able to access customer data effectively, but to be able to do so at any time, on any device. For example, our mobile CRM app, enables reps to benefit from historical customer data, social media streams and company news feeds before, during and after sales calls, on various mobile devices.
BYOD has Spurred the Desire for Mobile CRM
According to Good Technology’s 2012 BYOD Report, 95% of enterprise companies either support bring your own device (BYOD) programs or have plans to do so. The consumerization of IT is stimulating a need for enterprises to explore solutions that empower employees use their favorite self-owned devices, while still offering oversight into their activities. A mobile CRM app can allow employees to use their favorite BYOD devices – such as iPhone, iPad or iPad mini – without going completely off the grid.
We’ve always understood the importance of mobile CRM here at Revenue.io. That’s why we’re continuously working to offer Salesforce.com customers the most powerful and flexible mobile solutions on the market. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements regarding our mobile CRM apps.