This shift in consumer behavior has spurred disruptive changes in the way we do business. Brands are now looking to invite voice-based conversations with users via web and mobile apps. Studies and reports point to an exponential rate of adoption, with stats like:

• A total of 31% of global smartphone owners reported using voice tech at least once a week.
• It is predicted voice-shopping spend will grow to over $40 billion in 2022 alone.
• 40% of all internet users in the US, and a third of its total population, are users of voice search.

Voice user interfaces, search, and technology are changing the user experience and transforming the world around us.

Voice interaction & technology

Voice interaction is a major focal point for process development and it’s all about convenience. A user can bypass the need to type, read, or think—all requirements of the screen-and-keyboard style interfaces. Instead, an individual has their objectives met through conversation.

Voice technology combines powerful platforms into a simplified programmatic interface. Some common voice-based programs include:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
• Natural Language Understanding (NLU)
• Text to Speech (TTS)

UX designers are working to develop solutions that transform the way people interact with machines, systems, and services.

Although the concept of “conversation” seems rather straightforward, the building blocks of technology underneath it are quite complex. Moving beyond the screen-and-keyboard style UI opens a business up to greater levels of accessibility and inclusivity.

How does a voice user interface work?

The general definition of a user interface is the point of human-computer interaction and communication on a webpage, device, or app. A typical user interface can include a display screen, keyboard, mouse, and desktop. It enables a person to effectively control the device they are interacting with.

A successful user interface is clear, concise, and familiar. The system must be responsive and consistent with attractive features that are easy to navigate. Ultimately, a user interface must be efficient and forgiving. This entire process is refined when you add voice technology.

A voice user interface (VUI) makes spoken human interaction with computers possible. It uses speech recognition to understand spoken commands and text to speech to play a reply. These are the primary ways of interacting with virtual assistants on smartphones and speakers.

Voice command device

VUIs are designed to control a voice command device (VCD) which includes everything from a washing machine to automated attendants and automobiles.

Older voice response systems respond to the pressing of keypad buttons via DTMF tones. Newer VCDs, with a full voice user interface, enable callers to speak requests and responses without the need to press buttons.

Newer voice command devices do not require speakers, so they can respond to a variety of voices, regardless of tone, accent, or dialect. These systems are also capable of addressing several voice commands at once, separating vocal messages, and providing the appropriate feedback. By doing this, VCDs more accurately mimic a natural conversation.

How can voice search be used?

As most people are well aware, voice technology has a multitude of applications. Voice search users find different uses for the science depending on their age and information-related needs.

A recent study showed that 62% of people use voice search to look up fact-based information like term definitions, 46% the weather, and 32% the news. It also found that nearly 30% of voice search users aged 18-34 use it to issue commands to their device (i.e. set timer, add to list). This is compared to 19% for those ages 35-54 and 16% for over 55.

Some common uses for voice search technology include:

Form & data input

This is a task that is particularly challenging on mobile devices. Adding a conversation focused on data capture for a simple form can simplify the user experience. It also minimizes input time and errors.

Context-aware voice assistance

All types of businesses can add conversation to their mobile apps from retailers to grocers, malls, and campuses. Users can ask questions like “What aisle has soup?” or “do you sell paint?”

Combining a conversation with geo-location and the purveyor’s own data allows for easier access to context-aware information.

Voice-enabled workflows

Brands can improve efficiency and productivity through voice commands. These interactions help to streamline processes and speed up outcomes.

Developments in voice technology

As voice technology continues to evolve, there are a lot of interesting developments. Now that software teams can add a unified, cross-platform speech-based exchange for customers and users, expect new tools like:

AI-empowered voice-bots

Moving a step beyond a simple chatbot, voice-bots that are powered by artificial intelligence will be able to carry on conversations like never before. A mature AI foundation ensures the interaction is quick and as relaxed as natural conversation. This, in turn, leads to a faster outcome and since it’s intuitive, there’s no significant learning curve for users.

Voice analytics

New voice technology will leverage analytics to monitor emotions. This means the program is working to determine if a user is happy, sad, confused, disappointed, etc. Voice analytics can also track keywords to better inform and direct the interaction.

Voice analytics will also assess the quality and style of user responses and tweak a voice bot’s delivery to an exact situation. In a sense, chatbots will seem more empathetic. These are tasks that are simply impossible for screen-and-keyboard interfaces.

Voice biometric technology

Voice biometric technology enables a safer online experience. Internet privacy, security, and identity protection are major concerns for a user. Your voice is unique. Acoustic characteristics and behavioral features can be monitored and leveraged for authentication and access services.

Summing it up

Voice technology is exciting. It’s made leaps and bounds in the past few decades that have turned science fiction into modern life. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart devices are all part of the foundational IoT. They work in conjunction with voice-based software to create a higher level of convenience, save on corporate costs, drive sales, and solidify business and customer relationships.

The post How voice search is transforming the user interface appeared first on Insightly.

Customer experience (CX) and satisfaction are some of the driving forces behind modern business success. To meet customer-centric goals, new CRM tools with greater precision are being developed.

Every year, new trends come up in the CRM space. Keeping track of these trends will help you plan ahead, meet changing business needs, and gain a competitive edge.

So, here are the top CRM trends for 2021.

IoT technologies

IoT stands for “the internet of things” and is used to describe a network of physical objects that are tied to the internet through sensors, scanners, software, and other technologies.

In 2019, it was estimated that 93% of enterprises had adopted IoT technologies and by the year 2025, there are expected to be over 64 billion IoT devices worldwide.

One of the main purposes of connecting the physical and digital worlds is the exchange of information. There has been an upward tick of CRM integrations with IoT tech to make life a little easier.

Enriched IoT data

IoT technology helps to monitor and service clients in proactive ways. Data generated from these solutions is used to increase customer satisfaction and retention.

CRMs are integrating with compact resources that have flexible offline/online capabilities, such as:

• Wearable monitors
• GPS systems
• Cybersecurity scanners
• Smart appliances
• Energy meters
• And more…

These advanced solutions lead to greater visibility and cost efficiencies. The more mobile people become, the more IoT integrations we will see.

Workflow automation

Automation-enabled self-service is another emerging trend in 2021. The concept of self-help in the CRM world is catching on.

New virtual assistants are designed to not only ask questions, but engage customers, sum up details, and provide productive and personalized answers. Artificial intelligence (AI) can then automatically guide users through sales and marketing pipelines.

This synergy has enabled chatbots to complete more contact management tasks without any human interference. They can quickly guide users through the right channels and provide actionable insights. Integrate that with a CRM, and you have an entire workflow that’s completely run by machine learning.

This extends to email communications as well. The concept of self-service CRMs means customers get quicker answers with little to no effort on the part of employees. Entire drip campaigns can be automated to nurture sales prospects down the funnel.

Workflow automation enables a business to offer high-quality customer service while optimizing operational costs. This is something that CRMs are supporting in new and innovative ways.

Flexible APIs

In CRM, APIs are the roadmap to customer intelligence. An API is what integrates platforms together. It is the glue that binds enterprise systems and helps to capture greater revenue growth.

Flexible APIs create a valuable record of customer preferences, while driving successful strategies. It’s one of the key technologies that enable cloud-based CRM applications to flex in response to sales and marketing needs. They’re fueling an unprecedented level of data-driven insights.

Additionally, CRMs with open API integration are enabling entirely new business models. As the development becomes increasingly customer-centric, APIs allow for greater versatility and  flexibility in designing custom:

• Workflows
• Graphical user interfaces (GUI)
• Screen designs
• Process steps

Over time, APIs will redefine the nature of how cloud-based CRMs operate. Today, nearly every CRM will offer API features (some more scalable and mature than others).

Cloud-based CRMs have enterprise-grade APIs that orchestrate a wide variety of databases. Cloud management is helping APIs become more customer-oriented by providing scalable integration frameworks and technologies. This allows for greater collaboration across departments, teams, divisions, and channels.

APIs are facilitating a new era of integrated CRM systems that are innovative and data-driven.

Dynamic user interface

One of the top CRM trends for 2021 also involves dynamic user interfaces. As CRMs evolve, the need to manage multiple functions in one spot becomes apparent. Rather than using separate systems for sales, marketing, service, and operations, new CRM dashboards are multifaceted.

A business can condense robust sales and marketing tech stacks into a single spot. Brands like Insightly provide several dashboards for universal insight. Toggle between opportunities, projects, and leads with a simple click. Colorful visuals that include charts, graphs, and gauges help a business assess important data at a glance.

Dynamic CRM dashboards display a quick overview of your most critical reports. It presents complex information that’s easy to digest and share with the team. As CRMs continue to evolve, the user interface will convey more and more data streams, in less amount of time.

Voice & conversational AI

As technology like Alexa and other voice-activated hardware hit the market, business software will soon follow. Customers are getting comfortable with conversational AI and this means, CRMs are following suit.

According to an Adobe report on voice technology, 94% of users consider voice technology not only easy to use, but state it also improves the quality of life.

That means that conversational apps are critical for the evolution of CRM tools. Voice technology is a key factor for accessibility and helps to increase user engagement.

Voice-assisted virtual assistants within CRM infrastructures are helping salespeople track, manage, message, update, and notify teams about customer data in real-time. This leads to faster decision-making and a quicker close.

In the near future, you should expect to see an increase in the usage of voice assistants and supporting hardware in CRM processes and interfaces.

One last thought

Most trends in CRM are influenced by brands that can quickly pivot to meet evolving customer needs. In order to stay relevant to tech-savvy consumers, top CRMs need to offer tools with advanced automation, IoT integrations, flexible APIs, a dynamic user interface, and conversational AI technology.

Does that seem like a big ask? 

Not really. The truth is, most of this technology is currently in place. More intelligent and contextually-aware CRM applications already incorporate machine learning, AI, and business intelligence.

The companies that are getting ahead use CRMs to build lasting customer relationships, drive sales, measure performance, and contribute to business growth; all while keeping customer satisfaction at an all-time high.

According to a study by McKinsey & Company, customer relationship management platforms will continue to outpace all other business software growth. This is because the technologies and strategies that CRM applications support contribute directly to new customer acquisition and retention, gross margin growth, and a healthy return on investment.

If you’re looking for a CRM that stays on top of trends, Insightly is a great place to start. You can try it for free, with zero commitment.

The post Top CRM trends for 2021 appeared first on Insightly.

In the new post-pandemic world, businesses have had to rethink operations, culture, and even customer relationships to ensure survival and continued growth. For many businesses this has meant a rapid digital transformation. Based on my experience as a tech CEO and business leader, here are a few insights to help you continue that digital transformation in three key areas of your business.

Business operations

Whether you had to introduce an online sales channel, transition your team to a fully remote work, or rethink your digital ad campaigns—you had to rely heavily on technology to implement changes.

Now you have to shift focus to better preparing your business for future disruptions and growth. Your new strategy should include careful consideration of how and where your valuable business data is stored, so you can better measure progress towards your goals, assess risks, and take a proactive data-driven approach to operations and growth.

To do that operationally, remove roadblocks and bottlenecks between teams to speed up execution and enable continuous innovation. If you have not already adopted an ERP or CRM system in your business—now is the time to invest in one that is both easy to use and flexible enough to fit your future requirements. This type of foundational technology will speed up digital adoption across the board, and as your business faces new challenges and growth you will be able to adjust and course-correct without wasting time and resources.

Organizational culture

For many companies the new normal means all-remote work and restricted in-person interactions and gatherings. And while we can easily connect with each other and stay productive thanks to a plethora of communication tools, there’s something to be said about people meeting up in a shared physical space where spontaneous conversations can lead to breakthroughs, creative ideas, and innovative thinking. Your company culture won’t just follow along into the digital realm or somehow reshape to fit the new normal. If you want to keep your people engaged and inspired, you need to be proactive about rebuilding your organizational culture and include it in your overall business strategy. One way is to reinforce your shared values through clear messaging and opportunities for people to take action—as a team or individually—to support internal diversity and inclusion and/or contribute to causes and projects that reflect your values in the society at large. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s also the only way a modern business can stay relevant and build meaningful relationships and trust both with the employees and customers.

Customer relationships

In a time of crisis and post-crisis recovery, you have a great opportunity to double down on your existing customer relationships, test new ideas, and find new opportunities. Find ways to identify with your customers and focus on serving them and they will become your biggest source of new revenue. Chances are the majority of your customers are now spending most of their time online. Develop a digital brand strategy that reflects your company values, provides customers with helpful information, and sets your business apart from its competitors. Use marketing automation tools to quickly build and execute campaigns, measure performance against your baseline expectations for engagement, and tweak as you go. If you are considering launching an online sales channel, make sure you select an e-commerce platform that aligns with your business model, is easy to manage, is SEO-friendly, and can scale as you grow.

Don’t wait for the economy to rebound, customers to start buying, or life to return to what it was a few months ago. Now is the perfect time to take a proactive approach and lean on strategic partners and your technology providers who can help you execute on your digital transformation and prepare for future growth.

Considering the importance of digital transformation, your technology providers should be on your partner shortlist. Don’t just auto-renew your software subscriptions. Reach out to your vendors to discuss your goals and explore options to solve your problems. They can also help you to decide on strategic digital investments—whether it’s to introduce AI, implement a new CRM system, or launch e-commerce. If your technology vendors and partners are not willing to help or have no solutions that can solve your problems and help with your digital transformation, it makes it that much harder to succeed, and it might be worth finding new vendors and partners.

The worst thing you can do now is stay inactive or stick to your old strategy and tools that do not reflect the new reality we’re all facing.

***

Ready to start digital transformation in your business? Request a free CRM needs assessment and Insightly product demo with one of our reps, to see how we can help your business adapt and grow in the new economy.

Request a demo

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There are myriad of articles on artificial intelligence (AI) and its application in business. As AI continues to grow and permeate every aspect of business, it’s important to cut through the noise and focus on where AI fits in your organization and how to best implement it. Here are a few ideas to help you determine your own approach to AI.

A brief overview of AI application in B2B

Broadly speaking, AI is a branch of computer science concerned with replicating human intelligence in machines. Depending on whether you run a B2C or B2B company, you may find some types of AI more relevant to your business than others. In B2B, AI is all about data and analysis to make better-informed decisions. For example, if you have enough sales and customer data, you can use predictive analytics to figure out your ideal customer profile and/or potential customer base and adjust your marketing strategy and campaigns accordingly.

In more technical terms, AI applications in B2B can be broken into three types of machine learning: supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement.

In the case of supervised learning, you or someone with business intelligence skills feeds the data to the learning algorithm (a statistics algorithm) and sets a goal (what you want to get to or what you’re looking for). The machine then tries to match that goal.

In unsupervised learning, the algorithm looks at the data and searches for patterns. As the name suggests, there are no instructions given prior to the analysis. For example, it can look at your customer data and decide that you have a cluster of customers in the manufacturing industry that looks really promising.

Finally, in reinforcement learning, which is more advanced, the algorithm looks at the data and comes up with a set of conclusions. You don’t provide a predefined dataset or any guidance, it’s more of a trial-and-error method. You look at the results and tell it whether the conclusions are correct or not and it continues to reinforce the right steps to get to an end point.

How can AI benefit your business?

For businesses that collect a lot of customer data at every point, being able to use AI to derive meaning from data can really help to get ahead of competition. You can spot trends really early, identify areas where you’re losing revenue or where you could potentially gain revenue. You can then make data-driven decisions and quickly adapt to changes. Compare this to waiting until the end of the month, when someone is going to pile all the sales numbers by hand, produce a report using one of your analytics tools or a dashboard to show you what you already knew was happening. With AI’s real-time analysis you can run a truly agile business and stay ahead.

AI can also make a big difference in your customer relationships management and team productivity. Whether it’s helping to identify the hottest leads, building effective nurture campaigns, or personalizing customer experience–AI can help marketers and salespeople to prioritize campaigns and focus their time and resources on high ROI activities.

There’s some concern about AI replacing jobs. This is mainly in the robotics branch of AI and it concerns manual work, like packing and putting things in boxes. But for knowledge workers such as marketers, sales and customer service reps, there’s a big opportunity for AI to help, not hinder their performance.

How to introduce AI in your business

Make sure you are clear on where in the business you want to use AI and what you hope it will solve for you. Keep in mind that you need to have enough data to make your AI investment worth it. Once you’ve done that, train your employees on how it’ll work. It’s not a black box!

When introducing any new technology, it’s always good to begin with a really small project and work from there. Start with a hypothesis and a goal and at the end analyze how well you did and if you had reached the right conclusions. But the first project is really about the journey more than the end goal.

Finally, there are two sides to managing AI expectations. Some people on your team may think it’s really awesome and is going to solve a lot of problems. Others may get really scared, thinking it’s going to replace their jobs. Try to address the expectations and concerns on both extremes. AI is not going to solve everything and, in a B2B company, it most likely won’t replace jobs. You have to tamp down both the enthusiasm and worries surrounding AI to ensure buy-in before you make it part of your business.

What technology do you need to implement AI for the first time?

Start by using available cloud computing resources, which are great for small to mid-sized companies. Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon’s AWS cloud platforms recently introduced affordable tools that can help you get up and running pretty quickly. You don’t need to know a lot of underlying methodologies. Whereas, if you decide to set up AI technology on premise, you’ll need some hefty horsepower and someone with a lot more knowledge of the underlying analytical algorithms and statistics to run through big datasets and get the highest ROI from AI.

Increasingly, it’s not a question of if, but when you should implement AI in your business. The sooner you figure out your AI approach, the sooner you’ll start reaping its benefits.

Read more like this:

• 4 steps to building a unified business approach in 2020
• How to manage customer input in product development

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Your CRM will be more social

Social media isn’t going anywhere soon, and businesses are looking for effective ways to monitor and analyze their social channels. In 2018 CRMs will go beyond social media monitoring for mentions of your business, they will help you with your customer support efforts. Here are two crucial customer touchpoints where social media will shine in 2018:

Community Building: CRMs will delve deeper into community building and allow customers to share their experiences with the company, rate products and services and log customer care enquiries. It also encourages interaction with other customers, so they can share their experiences with your products.

Social analytics for customer service: Social media is the go-to customer support channel for millennials, with a report from Microsoft finding that 47% of 18-34-year-old consumers have used social media to complain about a brand’s service.

AI infused CRMs

By 2021, AI tech in CRM will generate $1.1 trillion in revenue. It’s safe to say this is a technology that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. In 2018, we’ll see an uptick of AI in our CRM software, especially when it comes to low-level tasks such as making appointments.

Michael Fauscette, principal analyst at G2 Crowd said “You’ll start seeing more intelligent assistants to take things off your plate, like scheduling meetings or finding the right PowerPoint—those types of things will keep getting better.”

Some AI systems will be able to automatically adjust workflows, and optimize sales cycles. The more data your CRM collates, the better your AI can learn from this data, “Over time, this system will teach itself to do an even better job of targeting potential customers and decision makers by identifying which personal or professional attributes hold the most weight,” says Chris Matty, analyst at Destination CRM.

While your AI helpers aren’t going to be taking over your job, they will be helping you to do a better job.

Tight integration with other business cloud apps

The hottest CRM trend in 2018 is integrating your business cloud apps, so that your teams have access to the most up to date customer data.

Best-of-breed CRMs, such as Insightly, do a great job holding prospect and customer data, you can take Insightly further by connecting it to your marketing automation, customer care, or accounting apps.

While a lot of CRMs natively integrate with some apps, your choice is severely limited. A lot of CRMs, including Insightly are now turning to third party integration services, like PieSync, to help fill customer demand that they integrate with more best-of-breed apps. They know that integration isn’t an easy task, so a third party app that specializes in integration is the way to go to ensure data accuracy and consistency.

What’s the problem? You’ve probably seen this one, you’re working in Insightly, but marketing, customer care, and accounting each have their own apps, filled with customer data. The problem is customer data gets stuck in these apps, and it leads to problems like miscommunication, leads being handed over when they are ice-cold, and customers not getting their invoices on time.

It comes down to data accuracy, which underpins all customer service efforts. In fact, a report found that 75 percent of organizations believe inaccurate data to be undermining their ability to provide an excellent customer experience. 2018 will see CRMs opening up to third party integration platforms so that their customers can benefit from the power of creating a unified SaaS Stack.

The post Top CRM trends appeared first on Insightly.

Of that 20%, we can imagine much of that time comes from scheduling customer meetings. Having had experience as a “sales hunter” closing long-term, six figure software sales, I confess that scheduling meetings with customers was a time intensive part of my sales process. Whether you’re an accountant, personal coach or CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you probably feel the same way I do. Scheduling meetings is time consuming but needs to get done. Period.

I’m going to help you shave down this 20% number with artificial intelligence Insightly CRM integrations for scheduling meetings in-person or via email.

Scheduling Meetings In-Person

First, let’s learn about NLP (natural language processing)?

Here’s a gif to explain…

via GIPHY

NLP allows programs to understand human language as it’s spoken or typed like shown with the Insightly Slack Bot. You may have already used tools such as Siri and Google Assistant, which also rely on NLP. With our integration we’re going to integrate NLP technology with Insightly’s business card scanner to quickly schedule meetings in-person.

Let’s pretend we’re meeting a new customer at the Hard Rock Cafe Networking Mixer…

SUSAN

Hello, John pleasure to meet you.

JOHN

Nice to meet you too. Hey! My friend told me you do

fundraising for nonprofits. Can you help me with a project?

SUSAN

Of course I can help you. What’s the project about?

JOHN

We’re looking to build an animal shelter uptown

and we need help with funding. Here’s my business card.

Maybe we should schedule a meeting, so I can give you all the details.

SUSAN

Great! Let’s schedule the meeting right now.

It will take less than a minute. Do you have your calendar on you?

JOHN

Why yes I do… give me a second to check my phone.

John opens his calendar app to look for an available time slot.

While John is checking his calendar, Susan opens her Insightly mobile app and starts scanning John’s business card.

JOHN

I am available next week on Tuesday from 10am till noon.

Let’s meet here. Does that work for you?

Susan confirms time slot on her calendar.

SUSAN

Yes, that works for me.

Susan switches back to Insightly and clicks the voice to text button.

SUSAN

Meet with John from 10am to noon next Tuesday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix, Arizona.

Susan clicks Save to Insightly.

SUSAN

Perfect! You’ll get a calendar invite soon with all my contact details too.

JOHN

Wow! You weren’t kidding when you said it would take less than a minute to

schedule a meeting. You’re really on top of things Susan.

As you can see there is no long list of fields to complete using various apps, the conversation barely skipped a beat, and best of all… you made a positive impression with your new customer.

Interested in integrating NLP technology with Insightly’s business card scanner?

Watch my Business Card Scan + Scheduling All-in-One Setup Tutorial

I imagine the next big tech advancement for this use case is wearing smart glasses to monitor your conversation and schedule meetings automatically. This would require zero human intervention on your part and only the customer would need to tell you when they’re available. The customer wouldn’t even need to give you their business card because facial recognition and data mining technology would scan the customer’s face to find matching contact information online. While we’re a few more years away from having this technology, scheduling in-person meetings will meet your needs for the interim.

Scheduling Meetings via Email AI

Moving onto scheduling with AI (Artificial Intelligence)… First, what is AI?

According to Wikipedia, AI is applied when a machine mimics “cognitive” functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as “learning” and “problem solving”.

Since we’re using AI technology to schedule meetings (or interact with humans), this technology will also rely on NLP and there’s a new AI tool for scheduling meetings that does exactly this. The AI scheduling service is called “Amy” by X.ai.

Here’s a video demonstrating how Amy (and her twin brother Andrew) learns your preferences, solves problems by working out scheduling conflicts, and takes NLP to a whole new level!

As stated on their pricing page, Amy will save you on average 10 hours per month scheduling meetings. That’s a lot of time, but as a CRM Consultant I’m still not satisfied…

If we look at Amy’s and Insightly’s processes, we still have three more activities we can delegate to robots:

• Reduce time spent delegating tasks to Amy by using Insightly’s email templates. The email template insert fields will give Amy everything she needs to know about your contact(s), in order to schedule meetings as fast as possible.
• Automatically sync your event activities to your CRM using Insightly’s Google or Microsoft Exchange calendar sync.
• Amy’s not ready to send event reminders or integrate with conferencing platforms yet, so we’ll add CRM integrations and automation tools like Zapier to give Amy a helping hand.

Interested in adding AI to Insightly CRM?
Watch my AI Scheduling Assistant for CRM Setup Tutorial

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