CRM Roundup: News, Trends, and Updates
👋🏾 Hi, this is Lloyd with a new issue of The CRM Chronicles. In every issue, I cover CRM developments, strategies and technology through the lens of sales and marketing managers, product owners and the C-Suite. Subscribe to get issues like this in your inbox every week.
Hello, fellow CRM enthusiasts! This week, I decided to do a roundup of the latest and greatest from the world of CRM since a lot is going on. Let's dive in.
Enjoy!
Salesforce shopping spree slowdown: Salesforce has spent years acquiring other companies (ExactTarget, Slack, Tableau and most recently, Spiff) and folding them into their portfolio. But since 2020’s mega-expensive Slack purchase, they’ve slowed down.
It will be interesting to watch how these new additions will reshape Salesforce's offerings in the near future.
Read on about Spiff here:
https://www.salesforceben.com/what-is-spiff-salesforce-adds-latest-acquisition-to-sales-cloud/
And about the slowdown here:
AI meets CRM: Artificial Intelligence continues to make waves in CRM. Businesses are eagerly leveraging machine learning and automation to enhance customer experiences. Salesforce is not only growing through acquisitions but also leading the charge in AI and data innovations. The introduction of Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein 1 platform marks a significant advancement in CRM technology.
Check out these articles from Wired and Appinventiv to explore how AI is transforming CRM and Marketing Operations:
https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-ai-powered-future-of-customer-experience/
https://appinventiv.com/blog/ai-in-crm/
Salesforce just announced “a first-of-its-kind gen AI benchmark for CRM, which aims to help businesses make more informed decisions when choosing large language models (LLMs) for use with business applications.” Read about it here:
https://www.cio.com/article/2151993/salesforce-debuts-gen-ai-benchmark-for-crm.html
New players enter the arena: Salesforce isn’t the only CRM player in town. With the large corporates already heavily saturated, the biggest area for growth and innovation will be SMBs. New contenders emerge to challenge the established leaders. Startup Savant highlights some of the promising up-and-comers and startups that could redefine the landscape:
https://startupsavant.com/startups-to-watch/crm
Speaking of SMBs, seeking a CRM solution tailored to your small business needs without breaking the bank? CNN has compiled a list of the top 8 CRM providers in 2024:
https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/money/best-crm-small-business
That's all for now! Keep an eye on these developments, and as always, we are here to help you stay ahead of the game in the ever-evolving world of CRM. Happy managing!
Are you or your company looking to implement a CRM system? Have questions about breaking into the CRM field? Have ideas for future topics? I’d love to hear from you. Just reply directly to this email. Or, if you’re reading this on Substack, add a comment below.
