HubSpot

ActiveCampaign

![customer data analysis](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/6IifT5LMn8dkrq500LTEqd/df88009f649ce231112cce0b7a6cf81e/adeolu-eletu-unRkg2jH1j0-unsplash.jpg)

It's easy to let data take a back seat in your business. Your to-do list keeps piling up, customers need to be replied to and it's a struggle to keep up with the _actual work_.

But no matter how much you've got going on, data collection deserves to be a top goal for your business. With insightful analytics, your business is in the best position to see where you're thriving and identify roadblocks to success.

One area you should monitor closely is your **customer support data**. The way you solve your customers' problems shapes the overall impression your customers have of your company – and dictates whether they stick around and tell their friends, or whether they leave with a scathing review. Without good data, you can't be entirely sure how you're doing.

But what customer support data should you be collecting? And how can you put this data to good use? 

Let's dive into the customer data best practices worth following.

* [Collect the right customer support data](#right-data)
* [Help desk data](#help-desk)
* [CRM data](#crm)
* [Customer satisfaction metrics](#satisfaction)
* [What to do with your customer support data](#what-to-do)
* [Create automation workflows](#workflows)
* [Show your customer support data on reporting dashboards](#reporting)
* [Sync your customer support data with your other tools](#sync)

## Collect the right customer support data{#right-data}

### 1. Help desk data{#help-desk}

Choosing a good help desk tool is essential if you want to stay on top of customer interactions across all channels, including email, phone, live chat and social.

No matter the help desk tool you choose, you should be paying attention to certain customer data in the analytics dashboard:

* Number of tickets
* Ticket resolution time
* Ticket resolution per support agent
* Open tickets per agent
* Tickets backlog

With this data, you can understand how effectively your customer support agents are managing tickets.

**Trends to look for in your help desk data:**

* An uneven distribution in the number of tickets assigned or resolved per agent
* Agents who take less or more time to resolve tickets than average
* Agents with more or less open tickets than average
* A ticket backlog across the team or for specific agents
* Issues with tickets, such as slow resolution time, from certain channels

<RelatedPost slug="zendesk-vs-freshdesk-which-is-the-best-customer-support-software" />

----

### 2. CRM data{#crm}

Your customer relationship management tool (CRM) also provides key data into how your customer support team is performing and how happy your customers are.

Remember to look at your customer support data in the wider context of your company reporting – this includes metrics like churn (leaving customers) and customer value. After all, your customers are the reason your business exists and makes money, so it's paramount that they are happy!

**Pay attention to this data in your CRM:**

* Date that the customer was last contacted
* Number of interactions per customer
* Time in pipeline stages (from onboarding to live), if applicable
* Lifetime customer value
* Customer retention rate
* Churn rate
* Upgrade rate


**Trends to look for in your CRM data:**

* How long customers spend in each stage of your onboarding pipeline
* How frequently your customers interact with account managers
* If customers are upgrading or churning and how these rates change over time
* How your average lifetime customer value changes over time

----

### 3. Customer satisfaction metrics{#satisfaction}

It's also valuable to measure at least one of the following customer satisfaction metrics using a tool like [Wootric](https://wootric.com): NPS, CSAT and CES. Here's what they measure and how:

* **NPS**, or Net Promoter Score, measures overall customer happiness by asking: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

* **CSAT**, or Customer Satisfaction Score, measures how satisfied your customers are with specific interactions, like a phone call or live chat conversation, on a rating scale.

* **CES**, or Customer Effort Score, is also about specific interactions. A CES survey asks the customer: “How much effort did you have to expend to handle your request?” and is scored on a numeric scale.

Many businesses get best results from sending NPS surveys to all customers and either CSAT or CES to those who reach out to support.

You can use automation to instantly ask for NPS at set intervals in your customer's journey, such as 10 days after purchase and every six months after that.

For CSAT and CES, it's super effective to trigger one or the other surveys after a customer interacts with your customer support.

Make sure to keep an eye on rising and falling NPS, CSAT and CES data trends – they provide a clear indication of how your customer support is performing.

----

## What to do with your customer support data{#what-to-do}

### Create automation workflows{#workflows}

Once you're collecting valuable customer support data, one of the most powerful ways to put it to use is with **automation**.

With CRMs like [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com/products/marketing/marketing-automation) and automation software like [ActiveCampaign](https://www.activecampaign.com/), it's easy to create action-based automation workflows. These could trigger actions such as:

* New tasks for team members
* Internal notifications
* Emails to customers

When you notice negative trends in your customer support data – such as if your churn rate has increased, or satisfaction among one agent's customers has dropped – you can **use automation to trigger notifications to the relevant people**. This could be the support agent, customer team lead or management.

Of course, the reverse also applies – if positive data is rising, use automation to make sure you notice it and celebrate it.

<RelatedPost slug="12-ways-to-improve-customer-experience-with-automation" />

----

### Visualize your support data on reporting dashboards{#reporting}

Collecting customer support data doesn't mean much if you don't have a way to visualize it. Most help desk tools and CRMs allow you to create dashboards that show the data that matters in a meaningful way, so make sure you're using them.

Check that your full team has access to your dashboards – especially your customer agents – so everyone knows how your business is performing. This also helps your team to be accountable and understand how their role contributes.

----

### Sync your customer support data with other tools{#sync}

One of the most common problems with customer support data is that it becomes **siloed**. Data silos happen when one team's data becomes isolated from other departments in an organization. For instance, your marketing team might be unsure if they're attracting the right leads, as they don't have easy access to customer insights.

[Two-way data syncing](https://piesync.com) between all of your apps resolves data silos by creating a 360° view of your customers. It's easier than you might think to set it up, too.

Here are five ideas for customer data syncs:

* Update the contact record in your CRM when a ticket is created in your help desk
* Enrich your customer support software with data insights from your CRM
* Update customer contact details such as phone number or email when they change in one app
* Change account manager in one tool based on actions in another tool
* Pass customer data to a specific tool or mailing list if they meet certain criteria, like NPS score or location

By using PieSync, your data is instantly synced across your business tools in the right way for you. Everyone in your organization can then see the latest customer information, no matter what tool they're looking at. Your reports instantly become more accurate, too.

To connect your customer data between your apps, [try PieSync for free](https://app.piesync.com/signup/).

Not sure where to start with collecting and monitoring customer support data? Relax. Here are the best practices to get your team ahead.

A guide to making the most of your customer support data

Business Process Automation

Customer Care

Salesforce

Mailchimp

Shopify

SurveyMonkey

DocuSign

RingCentral

Freshdesk

Xero

![saas guide software stack](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4SNvgoLd7S1FlFOS8JcfP5/780857f53266767ffaf63756a9ebb0ba/kobu-agency-7okkFhxrxNw-unsplash.jpg)

73% of enterprises will run almost entirely on SaaS by 2020, [according to a BetterCloud report](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/73-of-enterprises-will-run-almost-entirely-on-saas-by-2020-report-says/).

Over the last decade, businesses have continued to move their sales, marketing and operations further into the cloud. With constantly evolving SaaS products, they can power their business from anywhere.

As a small-medium business, you're almost certainly using some SaaS products, be it a CRM, email marketing tool or automation software. And for larger enterprises, SaaS is a no-brainer for keeping your team on track – both individually and collaboratively.

As we head into a new decade, here are the SaaS trends, tools and best practices to know about in 2020 and beyond.

----

- [What is SaaS?](#what-is-saas)
- [Types of SaaS products to include in your tech stack](#types-products)
- [20 essential SaaS products for 2020](#essential-products)
- [9 SaaS trends for 2020](#saas-trends)
- [How to make the most of SaaS](#how-to)


## What is SaaS?{#what-is-SaaS}

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model giving customers access to applications over the internet rather than requiring a physical media and custom installation. As the software is centrally hosted and maintained by a provider, updates are automatic and instant. You don't need to download anything to use a SaaS product and can log in via web and mobile browsers.

### Defining key SaaS terms

**Vertical SaaS** solutions are created for a specific industry's needs, goals and pain points, such as tourism, retail or agencies.

**Horizontal SaaS** products are used across all industries rather than niches, catering to a general business need.

**Packaged SaaS** products are designed for certain business goals and processes, such as boosting marketing results or improving customer satisfaction. An example is [HubSpot's](https://hubspot.com) all-in-one software solutions for sales, marketing and service.

**Collaborative SaaS** applications help teams work together more effectively, such as by offering video conferencing or collaborative documents. Examples are [Slack](https://slack.com) for communication and [Teamwork](http://teamwork.com) for project management.

----

## Types of SaaS products to include in your app stack{#types-products}

To create the most well-rounded SaaS stack, here are the types of SaaS products that are worth investing in:

* Marketing (including tools for email marketing, design, social media, lead generation and marketing automation)
* Sales (including tools for prospecting, nurturing and closing deals)
* Customer relationship management, or CRM
* Customer service
* Development
* Proposals and contracts
* Finance, billing and invoicing
* Data collection and contact enrichment
* Analytics
* Operations
* Communication and VoIP
* Project management
* Ecommerce
* Events

Many SaaS tools are multi-purpose and can tick many of these boxes, so you certainly don't need a tool for each one. Whether you have a few apps or a ton of them, it's [important to sync your tools](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) to avoid data silos and errors.

----

## 20 essential SaaS products for 2020{#essential-products}

1. [Slack](https://slack.com) (internal communication) – Collaboration software to centralize your team's conversations.
2. [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com) (email marketing) – The top email marketing software according to user satisfaction [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/email-marketing?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=g2_score).
3. [Shopify](http://shopify.com) (ecommerce) – The ecommerce platform with everything you need to sell online, on social media or in person.
4.[SurveyMonkey](https://www.surveymonkey.com) (data collection) – The popular survey creation and sharing tool.
5. [HubSpot](https://hubspot.com) (CRM) – The CRM with the highest user satisfaction right now [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=top_shelf).
6. [ActiveCampaign](https://activecampaign.com) (marketing automation) – The highest-rated marketing automation software for user satisfaction [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/marketing-automation?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=top_shelf).
7. [LastPass](http://lastpass.com) (operations) – Remembers all your passwords so you don't have to.
8. [Zoom](https://zoom.us/) (internal & external communication) – Software for online meetings, webinars and conference rooms rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 Crowd.
9. [G Suite](https://gsuite.google.com/) – Collaboration and productivity apps for business from Google, including Drive and Calendar.
10. [Jira](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira) (development) – For agile teams to plan, track and release great software.
11. [Tableau](https://www.tableau.com/) (analytics) –  Connect to almost any database, drag and drop to create visualizations, and share with a click.
12. [DocuSign](https://www.docusign.com/) (proposals & contracts) – An easy and fast way to get your documents signed.
13. [Canva](https://canva.com) (design) – Create beautiful designs with a few clicks, whether you're a beginner or expert, team or individual.
14. [RingCentral](https://www.ringcentral.com/) (communication & VoIP) – An easy-to-use and powerful phone system with many extra features.
15. [Freshdesk](https://freshdesk.com/) (customer service) – Intuitive, feature-rich, affordable customer support software trusted by over 150,000 businesses of all sizes.
16. [Wootric](https://www.wootric.com) (data collection) – Customer experience (CX) management software to collect feedback via tools like NPS and CSAT.
17. [Xero](https://zero.com) (finance, billing & invoicing) – Beautiful business and accounting software.
18. [Buffer](https://buffer.com) (social media) – Plan and schedule your social media calendar in one place; pivot your strategy with engagement insights.
19. [Trello](https://trello.com) (project management) – By far one of the easiest task and project management tools to get started with.
20. [Pipedrive](https://pipedrive.com/) (sales CRM) – A sales CRM built for minimum input and maximum output.

----

## 9 SaaS trends for 2020{#saas-trends}

What's changing in SaaS in 2020? And what's worth investing in? Here's our round-up of some of the most important SaaS trends for 2020...

### 1. Analytics is taking center stage

Over the last few years, data and analytics have become a growing focus point in SaaS. Businesses are investing more and more on SaaS applications for business intelligence - 
[Gartner predicts](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2019/04/07/public-cloud-soaring-to-331b-by-2022-according-to-gartner/#49871a785739) that user spending on such apps will grow by 23.3% between 2017 and 2022.

This means that in 2020, more businesses are likely to **adopt specialized analytics tools** like [Tableau](https://www.tableau.com). For businesses that have long struggled to trust the data at their fingertips, now is the time to adopt new SaaS solutions that deliver reliable numbers.

----

### 2. Focus on sales and marketing stacks as a whole

More companies than ever are thinking about their overall sales and marketing stacks: the tools they're using to power their operations and get the job done.

Sites like [Stackshare](https://stackshare.io) give businesses a way to show off their stacks and get inspired by some of their brand idols, offering ideas of new tools and tweaks that can boost their performance.

In 2020, more businesses will think about how their stack can play more nicely together. This can involve adopting new apps but also adding native integrations between apps and [two-way contact syncs](https://www.piesync.com/connections/).

<RelatedPost slug="10-of-the-best-sales-and-marketing-tech-stacks/" />

----

### 3. More automation

Annual spending for marketing automation tools is expected to reach [$25.1 billion](https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics) by 2023. [Marketers say](https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistic) that the biggest benefit of automation is saving time, and other people are figuring this out too.

As automation keeps marking its territory in sales and marketing playbooks, SaaS users are expecting automation features across their tech stacks, from their email marketing tool to their accounting system and CRM.

More businesses are automating processes for customer satisfaction and retention, and they're often using their CRM to achieve this. In 2020, customer relationship management and automation will **become even more synonymous**. 

<RelatedPost slug="20-innovative-crm-trends-for-2020-to-pay-attention-to/" />

----

### 4. Micro-SaaS

Think SaaS, but smaller. Micro-SaaS is targeted towards niche markets and are focused on a small but dedicated user base. Micro-SaaS can also be **an add-on to a bigger SaaS product**, like [Boomerang for Gmail](https://www.boomeranggmail.com/) or [Grammarly](https://grammarly.com). They likely have no outside funding and are run by a small team or, increasingly, a solopreneur.

With more digital nomads and companies of one looking to productize their business and generate passive income, we anticipate more micro-SaaS products coming to the market in 2020.

----

### 5. Vertical SaaS

Vertical SaaS describes a cloud computing solution that is made for a specific industry, such as retail, agencies or tourism. It provides **tailored software solutions for small niches** that may not have been catered to before, but now make up a valuable share of the market.

----

### 6. Improved customer experience for SaaS users

[84% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) say that the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, which means that if a user isn't happy, **they will move to a competitor**. Customers have never had more freedom and choice than now.

In 2020, SaaS providers will need to continue improving their customer experience to win long-term loyalty and recommendations. **The top-rated SaaS products won't necessarily be the ones with the best product**, but the best combination of product and customer service.

----

### 7. SaaS companies offering additional services and know-how

As SaaS companies are pushed to provide the best customer experience in their market, they're looking for **new ways to go above and beyond**.

Right now, almost [19% of cloud budgets](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-04-02-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-revenue-to-g) are spent on services such as cloud consulting, implementation, migration and managed services. Gartner expects that this will **increase to 28% by 2022**.

As a growing SaaS trend for 2020, we predict that more SaaS companies will follow in the footsteps of tech giants who offer more than just a product. [Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/services/adoption-services/overview/), for instance, offers a huge range of advisory, adoption and success services to help you make the most Salesforce – at a cost.

Another example is [HubSpot's](https://hubspot.com) inbound marketing methodology that infuses all of their additional resources and offers, from their blog to paid training sessions and tickets to their INBOUND conference for customers.

----

### 8. Higher security using SaaS products

The talk of GDPR has toned down a little since 2018, but the pressure to tighten up privacy is still on. Users are expecting SaaS providers to keep their data secure and respect their privacy preferences. If SaaS brands ignore that, they could face damaging backlash on social media and review sites.

----

### 9. Increased SaaS spending

Between 2019 to 2023, SaaS will [account for more than half of all public cloud spending](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45340719), making it **the largest category of cloud computing**, followed by IaaS (infrastructure as a service) and PaaS (platform as a service).

By 2023, public cloud spending is expected to [soar to nearly $500bn](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45340719), up from $229 billion in 2019.

----


## How to make the most of SaaS{#how-to}

### Think about your overall SaaS stack

To get the highest benefits from SaaS products in 2020, first think about your overall app stack. How do your tools fit together and complement one another? [Are they properly integrated?](https://piesync.com)

### Don't put up with a bad fit

If you're using a SaaS tool that you can't get your head around, that causes complications or that offers poor customer experience, you don't need to grin and bear it. There are plenty of other options out there. Start your search by checking a user-friendly SaaS comparison site like [Crozdesk](https://crozdesk.com).

### Follow SaaS influencers

To stay on top of what's going on in SaaS, we love following...

* [Noah Kagan]([https://twitter.com/noahkagan) – Chief Sumo at Sumo, blogger at OkDork.com, and employee #30 at Facebook and #4 and Mint.
* [SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/) – The world’s largest community of SaaS executives, founders and entrepreneurs.
* [Hiten Shah](https://hitenism.com/) – Founder of Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics and Quick Sprout.

### Automate & sync

Make use of your SaaS tools' automation features to save time, eliminate many mundane tasks and improve data accuracy. For best results, automatically [sync your customer data between tools](https://piesync.com) to get your data in tip-top shape everywhere.

SaaS has radically changed how we work – and it will continue to in 2020. Stay current by knowing these top SaaS tools and trends.

The SaaS guide: the tools & trends shaping tech in 2020

Marketing automation

Process Improvement

![sales process automation and collaboration](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4XaB8I9SHjQHBKeNrssVz5/e1a8c62989d2515ae1f395ee4c670e57/austin-distel-jpHw8ndwJ_Q-unsplash.jpg)

[Over 25% of sales cycles](https://www.pardot.com/whitepapers/accelerate-pipeline-marketing-automation/) take 7 months or longer to close. That's why it's so important for salespeople to maintain a healthy pipeline and gently nurture leads until they're sales-ready. **Sales automation is the best solution** for handling a busy pipeline, freeing up time and getting more work done.

**What is sales process automation?** Sales automation involves streamlining manual, repetitive and time-consuming tasks like admin and data entry to save time. It can also make other sales tasks easier by facilitating data collection, client insights  and handovers to other departments.

By automating sales processes, your sales team can focus on what's most worth their time: personalized, one-to-one contact instead of a rushed and pushy sales pitch.

----

## The best sales processes to automate

### 1. Attach useful data about leads to contact records

When a lead is assigned to your sales reps, do they receive any background information? Don't expect them to fly blind or waste time trying to find information you already have: automatically attach valuable details to new contact records and speed up your sales process.

Many of the best automation tools allow you to create workflows that trigger internal **notes or emails with a list of known customer properties,** such as industry type, company size, goals, pain points and inquiry details. Compiling prospect information is one of the most helpful sales processes to automate for any busy salesperson.

----

### 2. Automate tasks and deadlines

On average, today’s sales professionals [spend just 34% of their time selling](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/11/15-sales-statistics.html) – with most of the remaining 66% going to data entry, quote generation and other admin that distracts them from what they're best at.

With a CRM or automation tool like ActiveCampaign that offers [task management features](https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/introducing-task-assignment), you can use **workflows to automatically assign common tasks** and deadlines for each new contact depending on their stage in your pipeline.

Automated task management enables salespeople to take one glance at their to-do list and know exactly what they need to do right now, rather than needing the full morning to get organized.

----

### 3. Send automated emails to nurture unengaged leads

Strong sales teams can immediately identify unengaged leads and have a **clear process for recapturing their interest**.

To get there, first define the period of inactivity that determines disengagement. Next, create nurturing workflows that have the best chance of capturing their interest. It's also worth determining when a prospect should be considered closed lost. 

This automation will take up the task of reengaging contacts, freeing up your salespeople's time for closing engaged leads.

----

### 4. Let prospects book into your calendar

You're busy, they're busy... and the back-and-forth of setting up a meeting quickly gets frustrating. To eliminate this, use a tool like [Calendly](https://calendly.com/) or your CRM's meeting scheduling feature to let qualified prospects book time directly in your calendar.

----

### 5. Prioritize prospects with automated lead scoring

Sales teams are [33% more likely](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/11/15-sales-statistics.html) to prioritize leads based on data analysis of “propensity to buy” rather than on intuition (16%).

Lead scoring enables you to **calculate how likely a prospect is to buy** based on certain criteria that adds or deducts points from an overall score. You might give higher points to prospects in Nordic countries, or deduct points if they speak a language your team can't service. You can also include business size, industry and budget in the equation.

When you automatically collect this data for all new prospects, your salespeople can **filter their pipeline by lead score,** reaching out to the highest-scoring leads first to increase the chances of closing.

----

### 6. Use personalization tokens for tailored communication

Some companies avoid sales automation because they worry it'll make their messages sound robotic and impersonal. But the thing is, *automated emails only sound robotic if they're done badly*. There are so many **personalization tokens you can use to make automated communication more authentic**, including mentions of their business name, industry, content conversions (e.g. ebook downloads and webinar signups) and when you last spoke.

<RelatedPost slug="9-ways-to-automate-your-business-processes-in-an-hour" />

----

### 7. Streamline invoicing and admin

Your salespeople should help out after a deal is closed, but don't let them get bogged down by admin when they can be selling. One of the most valuable sales processes to automate is the **handover to invoicing and admin**, which you can set up with a [two-way contact sync between your CRM and invoicing tool](https://www.piesync.com/connections/). With the right contacts in the right tools, both teams will know exactly what they're working with.

----

### 8. Automate the handover to onboarding

[73% of sales teams](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/11/15-sales-statistics.html) say collaborating across departments is absolutely critical or very important to their overall sales process. Sales collaboration is never more important than with the account managers and onboarding specialists that will look after new customers.

As soon as a salesperson moves a prospect to closed won, you can use automation to **trigger internal emails to the relevant teams and people who will take care of the customer**. These messages can be configured to include all of the information they need to move forward.

----

### 9. Collect customer satisfaction data by salesperson

The strongest sales teams know that **sales metrics aren't just about revenue**. The most important metric of all is whether the right customers buy your product and stay long-term. [66% of sales teams](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/11/15-sales-statistics.html) get this right by tracking **customer satisfaction (CSAT) as their top KPI**, edging out “team quota met” (65%) by a small margin.

----

### 10. Sync contact data between all tools

If your sales team uses multiple apps, a major pitfall is not syncing data between them. With PieSync's two-way contact syncs between hundreds of apps, you can save time on manual updates, reduce the scope for human error and be **in the best position for sales automation**, as your data is certain to play nicely together across all apps.

[Check the apps you can connect](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) with PieSync and find out how to free up your sales team's time for what really drives revenue.

The most effective salespeople spend most of their time on what really gets results. And the other stuff? They automate it. To get started, read on...

Sales

10 ways to automate your sales team you hadn't thought of

Time saving

Less Annoying CRM

Freshsales

![customer-relationship-management-crm-trends](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4vVOKZZ0Oes4Z7iE6pNh4f/28ed67f5bac299e4229f0e10a6ac2ab0/tyler-franta-iusJ25iYu1c-unsplash.jpg)

Tech is constantly evolving and changing, with new apps entering the market and other brands merging or being acquired by competitors. Amongst all this unpredictability, there’s one thing we know for sure: the [$120 billion](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/05/31/crm-showdown-salesforce-booms-sap-looms-in-battle-for-120-billion-market/#211c6f78bfe5) customer relationship management (CRM) space is the place to be right now – for both CRM tool providers and their users.

As 2020 approaches, some key CRM trends will shake up the industry as we know it. Here are some of our top predictions for CRM in the upcoming year, including rising CRM use from new markets, powerful features and integrations, and the impact of wider tech trends on CRM.

----

## 20 of the most innovative CRM trends for 2020

### 1. AI is becoming a key part of CRM systems

If there's one thing that's affecting all industries, it's artificial intelligence (AI). [We're using a lot more AI than we might think](https://blog.hubspot.com/news-trends/artificial-intelligence-use-survey-data) in our daily lives, as are businesses.

Of 1,028 organizations worldwide, [28% said they have already adopted AI and another 41% said they will do so within two years](https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/white-papers/the-economic-impact-of-ai.pdf).

AI associated with CRM activities will [**boost global business revenue by $1.1 trillion** by the end of 2021]((https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/white-papers/the-economic-impact-of-ai.pdf).

----

### 2. There are fewer barriers for first-time CRM users

Three-quarters of sales professionals (73%) use technology to close more deals and 97% consider sales technology “very important” or “important” [(LinkedIn State of Sales, 2018)](https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/b2b-sales-strategy-guides/the-state-of-sales-2018).

However, that leaves **one-quarter of sales professionals not using technology like CRMs** to close more deals. Common barriers to adopting a CRM include reservations about cost and lacking the resources and tech knowledge to implement a CRM system.

But as CRMs continue on their trend of becoming cheaper, simpler to implement and easier to use, **these objections are becoming irrelevant**. We forecast a higher percentage of companies **adopting CRMs for the first time in 2020**.

----

### 3. Social CRM keeps rising

What is social CRM? Social CRM, or social customer relationship management, is the **integration of social media channels into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms**.

By viewing social media and CRM together, companies gain a more powerful overview of what people are posting about them on social media, as well as a clearer understanding of brand sentiment. 

If organizations can **use social CRM to respond to comments quickly and thoughtfully**, they can build stronger relationships with existing and potential customers and incorporate more user feedback into their roadmap.


----

### 4. There's an all-star line-up of CRMs to choose from

Even though [Salesforce's share of the CRM market is over 19%](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2019/06/22/salesforce-now-has-over-19-of-the-crm-market/), there's a huge range of tools competing for consumer attention.

Customers are choosing from a diverse market of [over 383 CRM systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm), with tools that cater for both generalized needs and specific niches and requirements.

The CRM systems leading the way for user satisfaction right now [on G2 Crowd]((https://www.g2.com/categories/crm) are:

* HubSpot
* Salesforce
* Less Annoying CRM
* Freshsales

<RelatedPost slug="the-best-crms-for-small-businesses-pros-cons-and-what-you-need-to-know" />

----

### 5. Businesses can condense their sales and marketing tech stacks

With the rise of sophisticated CRMs and core tech tools, sales and marketing teams can get away with using fewer tools than before. 

As a tech trend for 2020, teams will increasingly wonder: *why do we pay for X App when Y App can now tick that box and more?*

For best results from their tech stack, teams will be creating more integrations and [two-way syncs to ensure contact data is always updated](https://www.piesync.com) across all apps.

----
### 6. Voice and conversational UI will start integrating with CRM

In 2016, Google announced that [20% of mobile queries](https://searchengineland.com/google-reveals-20-percent-queries-voice-queries-249917) were voice searches. [Comscore](https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/just-say-it-future-search-voice-personal-digital-assistants/1392459) has also predicted that **50% of all searches could be voice-activated by 2020**.

As we move into the 2020s, the growth of voice assistant usage and supporting hardware will likely come into play in marketing and operational processes – which means we may soon see some **voice and conversational UI as part of CRMs**.

----

### 7. Businesses are automating more processes using their CRM

To stay relevant to tech-savvy customers, top CRMs need to offer advanced automation features. Many of the top players have been investing heavily in automation in the last few years; including HubSpot, Salesforce and [ActiveCampaign](https://activecampaign.com), which has placed automation front-and-center in their product and marketing. In 2020, we predict **CRM will become more synonymous with automation**. 

More organizations are also likely to focus on process automation using their CRM in 2020. This could include using **chatbots to communicate with customers** and solve help tickets automatically, or using **automated email workflows** to nurture sales prospects down the funnel. 

With automation, these companies can offer high-quality customer services while optimizing operational costs – something that an increasing number of businesses are realizing. It’s even better if automation features are already offered by a business's CRM, as many are.

----
### 8. CRM is becoming interwoven with IoT technologies

[ABI Research predicts](https://www.abiresearch.com/press/more-than-30-billion-devices-will-wirelessly-conne/) that there will be 30 billion IoT devices connecting to the internet by 2020. 

This also applies to the corporate world: [one estimate](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2017/12/10/2017-roundup-of-internet-of-things-forecasts/#673470e91480) suggests that 42% of enterprises are spending an average of $3.1 million annually on IoT, with benefits including **greater cost efficiencies, organizational capabilities and supply chain visibility**.

Improving customer experience (70%) is the area where most enterprises are using data generated from IoT solutions. With IoT technologies, companies can monitor and service their clients in new and proactive ways that were previously unimaginable.

53% of enterprises expect data from IoT to assist in increasing revenues in the next year  - and 51% expect it to help open up new markets [(Forbes)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2017/11/04/70-of-enterprises-invest-in-iot-to-improve-customer-experiences/#1ad15c50622b).

----
### 9. CRM: not just for customer-facing teams

CRMs have been traditionally thought of as tools for sales and customer success teams. Times have changed – and **CRMs are now a crucial part of a company's wider tech stack**.

Marketers can use CRMs to best understand the contacts in their pipeline and monitor how CTAs convert. Customer success teams can access a 360-degree view of the customer to provide the most personalized experience. And management can access valuable data on performance across the board. 

In 2020, more organizations will **realize how CRM benefits everything**.

----

### 10. CRMs keep getting more sophisticated 

[The most requested CRM features are basics](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/crm-trends-2019/) like contact management (94%), interaction tracking (88%) and schedule/reminder creation (85%). About a quarter of buyers want monitoring of the sales pipeline and funnel.

However, a fifth of CRM users want slightly **more advanced functions**: sales automation, a central database, email marketing, customization and reporting/analytics.

“Best-in-breed systems are rapidly appearing in the market, bringing **increasing layers of sophistication and becoming extremely good at solving specialised needs**,” shared Mike Richardson, managing director at Maximizer Software, [with MyCustomer](https://www.mycustomer.com/selling/crm/what-will-crm-look-like-in-2020). “However, all of these different touchpoints with the customer need to be centralised into a single view of the customer experience, in a system of engagement."

----

### 11. A CRM's customer experience is as important as its features

[84% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.

[Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) outlines several ways to meet the expectations of today's customer:

* Live chat
* Knowing what they'll need
* Not making them wait
* Knowing their business history
* Knowing who they are
* Near-instant replies
* Response tweets
* Callback options

As more organizations up their customer experience game, others must follow suit: [73% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) say one extraordinary experience raises their expectations of other companies.

----
### 12. Consumers expect companies to know more about them

73% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations, but only 51% say that companies actually do, [says Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html).

To provide the best customer experience, a company needs to remember previous conversations with a customer and adjust communication accordingly: [78% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) also expect consistent interactions across departments.

This means that a customer's preferences must be known across touchpoints and interactions, and any required information about transactions or inquiries must be quickly accessible. **A business-to-customer relationship is becoming increasingly like any _human_ relationship.**

Having a CRM and [connected tech stack](https://www.piesync.com) is the best way to enable this, as it allows different team members to store customer data about all previous conversations and known preferences. [47% of CRM users](https://www.capterra.com/customer-relationship-management-software/user-research-infographic) said that their CRM had a significant impact on customer satisfaction and retention.


----
### 13. One of the top advantages of CRM? A high-def view of customers

[74% of CRM users](https://www.capterra.com/customer-relationship-management-software/user-research-infographic) say that their system gave them improved access to customer data. By acting on these insights, organizations can provide an even better customer experience – and access more data to measure its current performance more accurately.

----
### 14. CRM growth will come from new markets

Over [50% of CRM buyers](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/crm-trends-2019/) in 2019 have been in **one of four markets**: real estate, consulting, distribution and insurance.

As we head into the 2020s, [a great deal of new CRM growth will come from other vertical markets](https://msdynamicsworld.com/story/what-are-biggest-trends-crm-market-heading-2020s). These include:

* Healthcare
* Finance
* Insurance
* Manufacturing

----
### 15. Younger generations are pushing for CRM use

[28% of millennials](https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/b2b-sales-strategy-guides/the-state-of-sales-2018) think CRM applications are **“extremely critical” to their success**, compared to 18% of Generation X and 9% of Baby Boomers. 

This CRM trend will grow as millennials continue to gain buying power and the next generations enter the workplace. In the decade ahead, **more teams will become tech-centric** and insist on maximizing performance through intelligent CRM technology.

----

### 16. A company of one is big enough for a CRM

How large does your business need to be to have a CRM? The answer for 2020: a company with one employee is big enough.

If you're managing contact details, juggling a busy pipeline and have customer data to keep track of, you can benefit from using a CRM. These are familiar pain points for freelancers.

Freelancers are providing **a strong market segment for CRM platforms**, and we won't be surprised to see freelancer tools like Cushion, Bonsai and AND CO releasing more CRM-esque functionality in 2020 onwards.


----
### 17. Self-service via CRM

As automation becomes more synonymous with CRM (see #7), bots are completing more contact management tasks and saving team members from having to lift a finger.

Chatbots offered by platforms like Drift, Intercom and HubSpot automatically guide prospects through marketing and sales pipelines – collecting data, asking questions and delivering more personalized content.

With self-service, customers get their questions answered faster with far less effort required from the provider. It's a win-win.

----
### 18. Analytics features need to be a CRM's strength

With sophisticated analytics at their fingertips, organizations are in the best position to identify problems, solutions and opportunities. Companies recognize this – and are increasingly looking for powerful analytics tools to process their data in real time. 

Many of the top apps on G2 Crowd's [Top 100 list for Best Software Products](https://www.g2.com/best-software-companies/top-products) in 2019 are analytics platforms, including Tableau (enables you to drag and drop to analyze data in a few clicks) and Splunk (offering real-time operational intelligence).

However, **CRMs must offer advanced analytics functionality** too. Organizations want the most accurate data into how their sales pipeline is performing, how happy customers are and what's contributing to churn, for example. 

Although **not all organizations are ready for sophisticated stand-alone analytics platforms just yet**, more SMEs are viewing CRM analytics as a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

----
### 19. XaaS - everything as a service

SaaS – software as a service – is well-known, but what's XaaS? Everything as a service takes the concept of SaaS and spreads it to encompass every form of product and service.

With XaaS, any IT function can be transformed into a service for enterprise consumption – from platform as a service (PaaS) to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) among many others. XaaS includes any computing service delivered via the internet and paid for via a subscription rather than an upfront cost. 

As a tech trend for 2020, we predict XaaS will start becoming more mainstream, as more organizations seek cloud solutions for new corners of their business, whether as part of their CRM, a stand-alone system or a connected tool.

----
### 20. CRMs need to be connected to every other part of a business

As each year rolls by, more organizations are viewing their CRM as an essential organ for the wellbeing of their company. To make this happen and reap the benefits, **a CRM has to be connected to all other tools and processes in your organization**.

From your email marketing tool to your invoicing system, make sure to have **two-way syncs set up between tools that store customer data** and your CRM. With PieSync, you can [get started with two-way syncs](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) between hundreds of apps.

Keeping your data in sync is the best way to avoid human error, resolve pesky data silos, save time on manual input and paint the clearest picture of your business for every team. In 2020, you have no reason to distrust your customer data and wrestle with unending lists of duplicate emails and misleading data.

----

### A bird's eye view of CRM trends for 2020

If we have to make one overall prediction for tech and CRM in 2020, it's that more businesses will be **using technology to eradicate or automate what they don't want to deal with – while getting better results from their other tasks**. The recipe for that is CRM, automation and [a connected app stack](https://www.piesync.com).

More businesses are investing in CRM technology than ever – and the tools just keep getting better. Here are the CRM trends to look out for in 2020.

Contact Management

20 innovative CRM trends for 2020 to pay attention to

Intercom

SalesLoft

Zendesk

![company tech stack](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/7gmLSLy8vG1UrVpo0lS5YG/aa36249a35d3c9eeee436d4299a769e2/sabri-tuzcu-wkO0q0UTqc8-unsplash.jpg)

There is one thing that every sales and marketing team is constantly building and adjusting. While some aspects stay in place for years, others are added, connected and replaced. It's **their app stack**. 

**What’s an app stack?** Simply put, it’s the collection of tools you use to run your business. It can also be called a tech stack or software stack. Originally, this term was mostly used in a development context – referring to the frameworks and platforms used for front-end and back-end development – but nowadays you’ll also hear companies talking about their sales and marketing tech stacks.

A sales and marketing app stack can include your CRM, email marketing tool, data and analytics platforms, social media scheduling apps, collaboration tools and productivity apps.

Keep reading for some of the **best sales and marketing tech stacks**, showing off the best combinations of apps up close. We'll share the tools that tech brands like Trello and HubSpot are using to run their business, alongside some brands closer to your industry.

Individual apps are powerful, but **well-curated app stacks with synchronized tools** for sales and marketing teams can be *magical*. 

----

### Some of the best tools for your marketing and sales app stack in 2020

To recommend the best tools for 2020, we've sifted through apps from our most popular PieSync connections, top performers on review sites, tools we're using ourselves at PieSync and other common apps in the tech stacks we've researched. Here are some of our favorites:

* [**Slack**](https://slack.com) – Collaboration software that centralizes all of your team's conversations in one place.
* [**G Suite**](https://gsuite.google.com/)  – Collaboration and productivity apps for business.
* [**Trello**](http://trello.com) – A popular project management tool for businesses and individuals – and by far one of the easiest to get started with.
* [**Intercom**](intercom.com) – One of the best-loved choices for live chat, help desk and engagement software.
* [**HubSpot**](https://hubspot.com) – The CRM with the highest user satisfaction currently [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=top_shelf).
* [**SalesLoft**](https://salesloft.com) – A sales engagement platform to help you build stronger relationships, improve customer insights and generate more revenue.
* [**DocuSign**](http://docusign.com) – DocuSign makes it easy and fast to get your documents signed.
* [**WordPress**](https://wordpress.org) – The most popular website builder in the world, [powering 34.5% of the Internet](https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress/all/all) as of August 2019.
* [**ActiveCampaign**](https://activecampaign.com) – The highest-rated marketing automation software for user satisfaction [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/marketing-automation?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=top_shelf).
* [**Ahrefs**](https://ahrefs.com) – Tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors and monitor your niche.
* [**Mailchimp**](https://mailchimp.com) – The best email marketing software according to user satisfaction [on G2 Crowd](https://www.g2.com/categories/email-marketing?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order=g2_score).
* [**Contentful**](https://www.contentful.com) – Store and edit content in one hub and create compelling experiences with this CMS.
* [**PieSync**](https://piesync.com) – Tie everything together with two-way syncs between over 190 apps.

----

To show you some examples of the best sales and marketing software stacks out there, we've got you covered. Feed your tech inspiration by checking which tools giants like Airbnb and Spotify are using, as well as some companies closer to your own industry...


### 1. Airbnb’s app stack

According to StackShare – one of the best resources for finding out what your brand idols are using – [Airbnb uses these business tools](https://stackshare.io/airbnb/airbnb):

* **Slack** – Bring all your communication together in one place
* **G Suite** – Collaboration and productivity apps for business
* **InVision** – Prototyping & collaboration for design teams
* **Asana** – The project management tool for teams to track their work
* **Campaign Monitor** – Send beautiful email newsletters
* **Superset** – Data exploration and visualization platform by Airbnb
* **React Sketch.app** – Render React components to Sketch

![Airbnb tech stack](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4V2tSoUFYUyg9iMghr6Lex/15e0e7729aee080efdb74a3d29fd0c35/Airbnb_tech_stack.png)

----
### 2. Facebook’s app stack

[StackShare](https://stackshare.io/facebook/facebook) shares just two business tools that Facebook have in their tech stack, but they’re strong choices. 

* **Confluence** – A multi-purpose product from Atlassian to fulfill needs for project planning, meeting notes, product requirements, marketing plans, and blog posts
* **Campaign Monitor** – Send beautiful email newsletters

----

### 3. Airstream's marketing app stack

US travel trailer company Airstream's stack won a "Stackie" in [the 2019 MarTech Stackie Awards](https://chiefmartec.com/2019/04/2019-martech-stackies-marketing-stack-awards/), and we can see why. In this fab infographic, you can see the time spent interacting with each tool by the size of the trees, and tools are divided into sections such as planning, creativity and engagement.

![airstream martech stack (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/2nASiNZMH3IRr7z75LRCnj/1f9a5796a366cfca7d88b8adede2fd51/airstream_martech_stack__1_.jpg)

Their tools include:

* **HubSpot** – Planning, creative, engagement, sales, analytics
* **Semrush** – Planning
* **Google Drive** – Planning 
* **Basecamp** – Planning
* **Frame.io** – Planning
* **WordPress** – Creative, engagement
* **Zendesk** – Engagement
* **SproutSocial** – Engagement
* **HotJar** – Analytics
* **Canva** – Creative

----

### 4. Spotify’s app stack

Curious about how top music streaming service Spotify runs its business? Here’s a glimpse at [their tech stack](https://stackshare.io/spotify/spotify):

* **G Suite** – Collaboration and productivity apps for business
* **AdRoll** – Retargeting platform
* **Qualaroo** – Design and target surveys in minutes
* **Desk.com for Salesforce** – The all-in-one system for delivering awesomely responsive customer support
* **Blossom** – Project tracking for distributed companies

![Spotify](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/7fZEUcajqaFOglzAmAg7J4/d023a218600d5788a45bc9827df52fd9/Spotify.png)

----
### 5. Follow Up Boss’s app stack

Follow Up Boss is one of the [top tools connected via PieSync](https://www.piesync.com/followupboss/) for our real estate users, so we were curious to see some of the apps they’re using to power their own business. Here's what we found:

* **G Suite** – Collaboration and productivity apps for business
* **WordPress** – The world's leading website builder and content management system
* **Intercom** – A fundamentally new way to communicate with your customers

![Follow Up Boss](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/38O8CgSVQEL7oUAG7KKr4/35ec8540b00a57c1793c417b190cae04/Follow_Up_Boss.png)

----
### 6. Zillow’s app stack

[Zillow](https://www.zillow.com), the real estate and rental marketplace, also shared [their tech stack](https://stackshare.io/zillow/zillow):

* **Jira** – A software development tool used to plan, track and release great software
* **Confluence** – Atlassian's tool for project planning, meeting notes, product requirements, marketing plans and blog posts
* **Zendesk** – A popular cloud-based customer service software solution
* **Salesforce Sales Cloud** – The world’s #1 CRM sales app by market share

![Zillow](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/34yQnEocMcU1kanzZT0Dd6/f008c927efd2d10ea407d4ea646e092f/Zillow.png)

----

### 7. Esri's app stack

Another owner of a great marketing stack is Esri, a leading suppliers of geographic information system (GIS) software. They also [won a MarTech Stackie for this stunning infographic](https://chiefmartec.com/2019/04/2019-martech-stackies-marketing-stack-awards/):

![esri martech stack 600px](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4hgX4v1ga9ZF7KMsLBvrIP/3a7d280a5918e69236dd1c2d32bf856c/esri_martech_stack_600px.jpg)

Their marketing tech stack features these tools as just a few examples:

* **WordPress** – Blog hosting
* **Trendkite** – Digital public relations software
* **Informatica** – Enterprise cloud data management
* **Workfront** – Project management
* **Pardot** – Marketing automation
* **Moz** – Search engine optimization
* **Demandbase** – Data enrichment

----

### 8. New Yorker’s app stack

How does one of the world’s top publications keep their business performing at a high level? Here's [the New Yorker's stack](https://stackshare.io/new-yorker/new-yorker):

* **WordPress** – The world's leading website builder and content management system
* **Asana** – The easiest way for teams to track their work
* **HipChat** (now discontinued but with [a migration path to Slack](https://www.atlassian.com/partnerships/slack))

![New Yorker](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/5stxx0dWb57ktQjEsRILqZ/eb1f007e035a7ea05a4e9da24d55ed03/New_Yorker.png)

----
### 9. HubSpot’s app stack

It's intriguing to see what one of the world's top marketing and sales software providers uses to power its own business. Here are a few of [HubSpot's go-to tools](https://stackshare.io/hubspot):

* **Slack** – Bring all your communication together in one place
* **Jira** – The software development tool to plan, track and release great software
* **Confluence** – Atlassian's tool for project planning, meeting notes, product requirements, marketing plans and blog posts
* **InVision** – Prototyping and collaboration for design teams
* **Okta** – Enterprise-grade identity management for all your apps, users & devices

![HubSpot (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/7z5nweErjmNeNC3O7QhsPQ/5b634f7ac0f46bf5de3e8020526bde7e/HubSpot__1_.png)

----
### 10. Trello’s app stack

We love the range of tools included in Trello’s software stack. [HubSpot](https://www.piesync.com/hubspot/), [Salesforce](https://www.piesync.com/salesforce/) and [Help Scout](https://www.piesync.com/helpscout/) are most powerful when in sync, enabling you to keep each tool up-to-date, avoid duplicate contacts and build a more comprehensive view of each contact.

* **G Suite** – Collaboration and productivity apps for business
* **Trello** – A leading and easy-to-use project management tool
* **HubSpot** – The free CMS with add-ons for sales, marketing and service, by the team who coined the inbound marketing philosophy
* **Salesforce Sales Cloud** – The popular CRM sales app
* **Help Scout** – A help desk for teams that insist on a delightful customer experience
* **Customer.io** – Send targeted emails, push notifications and SMS to lower churn and create stronger relationships

![Trello](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/7F4e8dXdbBIPJk48CTFlzn/cb28ddd1f41ff9201fcff378cca1f25a/Trello.png)

----

## How to build the strongest app stack

To build the most powerful sales and marketing tech stack for your own business, take the time to choose tools that make your life easier *and* equip you with the features you need to access greater results.

Remember: tech should save you time and effort, not add to it, so you don't need to struggle with a system that gives you extra headaches. We recommend using communities like G2 Crowd and Crozdesk to find the right apps to power your business.

For the biggest boost to your performance, make sure your tech stack is kept in sync. With PieSync, you can [set up two-way syncs between hundreds of apps](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) to guarantee your teams are always looking at the latest customer data in every tool.

Your app stack powers your company. Here are some of the best marketing and sales apps to build the most powerful stack for your business.

Marketing 

Technology

10 of the best sales & marketing tech stacks

Omnisend

![business-automation-improve-customer-experience](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/5DK9haBQTobP4InqFdV8Ju/a506ea610c8135e67b777d59870744a1/farzad-nazifi-p-xSl33Wxyc-unsplash.jpg)

Customer expectations are changing. [69% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) expect a connected experience when they engage with a company, and [78% of customers](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/07/customer-experience.html) expect consistent interactions across a company’s departments.

To keep up with your customers' expectations, let alone exceed them, you must know their preferences across all points of contact and interactions with them. Any information about transactions or inquiries needs to be quickly accessible any time a customer reaches out to your company, so they're not left explaining background information to *yet another representative*.

**Automation solves this**. It's the easiest way to improve customer experience, trigger business processes without lifting a finger, *and* boost customer retention and satisfaction.

Here are some of the easiest ways to use automation to improve customer experience and simplify your business processes too.


----
## 12 ways to use automation to boost customer retention & satisfaction


### 1. Automate customer satisfaction surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys like NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) measure a customer's sentiment towards your company over time.

NPS is one of the most popular feedback tools, asking a user how likely they are to recommend your product to a friend or coworker on a scale from one to ten.

To get the most consistent collection of data and cast a much wider net than manually sending emails, you can **automate your customer engagement program**.

With a tool like [Wootric](https://www.wootric.com/), you can automatically quantify customer experience at key journey points – such as one week after sign-up or one month after upgrading – and get insightful data to track over time.

![Wootric](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/nSafVRWNCZ530pu0nnWQO/023a52777ac3e04cbaea9491c963245e/Wootric.jpg)

### 2. Connect your CRM to your help desk and ticketing software 

When you log in to your CRM and search for a contact record, do you get a complete view of their history with your company? Or is your customer data spread across multiple tools?

Although it's worth having one central place which stores all key data and is your first port of call if a customer gets in touch, your other **tools should also be kept in sync**.

You don't want to be staring at a blank slate when a customer calls or you quickly need to know more about them.

Set up [two-way syncs between your key apps using PieSync](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) to ensure that updated customer data flows both ways between your tools. This way, your customer-facing teams are never in the dark when a customer calls – and your business intel is always up to scratch too.

----
### 3. Automate customer check-in emails – while keeping it personal 

If an account manager is juggling tens or hundreds of accounts, keeping up can quickly become a challenge, especially when attempting to store tasks for each account on paper or a standard to-do list. 

In cases like this, **automation can transform your output** while reducing input. Set up automated workflows to send emails to customers at set intervals. You can even include a link to your calendar so customers can directly book a time slot without any frustrating back-and-forth.

Automation makes it easier than ever to be a familiar face to a large number of accounts without feeling overwhelmed.

----
### 4. Use bots and automated help desks to resolve problems immediately

One of the handiest parts of automation isn't alerting you to do the work, it's actually *doing the work for you*.

With bots – especially those offered by customer support-centric tools like [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com) – you can **provide the most automated customer experience without sacrificing personalization** or human touch.

![intercom](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/5vroGaqg7fBP055mdOvOpd/9290810a91d20bff3ce36a58b455a049/intercom.png)

Set aside some time for researching automated help desks and bots and see how they could resolve some of your most common support inquiries immediately.


----

### 5. Automatically route support tickets based on priority and importance

Do you have certain customers that *need* to have an urgent resolution to problems? Are there people you really can't afford to frustrate?

With **priority-based tickets**, you can assign priority tiers based on how quickly you need to resolve an inquiry, and many CRMs and ticketing systems provide options to automate this.

On HubSpot, for instance, you can create a workflow that [updates a ticket's priority](https://www.hubspot.com/products/service/help-desk) based on contact or company properties. If a customer is on a premium price plan or has an SLA for fast ticket resolution, this automation enables you to see their ticket first and act on it right away.

![hubspot](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/exTG0qqz7w2wCx7qf6dSs/bed3ec5e7fc0ba851cdf87378ea7c59c/hubspot.png)

### 6. Create email workflows sharing valuable and personalized content

Creating email workflows is one of the most popular uses of marketing automation. It’s also a powerful way to improve customer experience.

When sending content-based workflows, always consider a contact's stage in your buyer's journey – **even after they've become a customer**. 

* What are their goals and pain points? 
* What is the most valuable content that you can provide them with right now? 
* How can you send the most relevant information for their industry and business size?

With automated workflows, you can set up "if this, then that" email sequences based on custom properties such as subscription plan, business size, industry and time as a customer.

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### 7. Automate employee surveys and feedback forms to identify areas for improvement

It's not just your customers who can provide valuable survey data – it's your employees, too. Your customer service and sales professionals are on the front line of your business and **have a unique understanding of what your customers struggle with** and where internal bottlenecks are.

You can take a similar approach to employee surveys as your customer surveys: with automated outreach to collect relevant data at a set time period, such as quarterly or twice-yearly.

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### 8. Automate your onboarding process

Onboarding is a crucial time for your business to shine. You've just convinced a customer to choose your company and hand over their money – and now, first impressions count. You have no option for missed emails or tardiness.

Use automation to guarantee that things go to plan. You can either **create notifications** that remind your team's onboarding specialists of tasks due – or **automatically reach out to the customer** to inform them of next steps. 

You can also use automated email workflows to let customers know if an onboarding step is pending or missed, or if you still need certain information from them.

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### 9. Use automation to notify you when a customer is due for a check-in

If you assign each customer a certain number of meetings, calls and email check-ins based on their subscription plan, you can **use automation to know when you need to reach out next**. 

Many CRMs and automation platforms allow you to create properties for "outreach frequency" and “last contacted" and create notifications for when this time is approaching and overdue. 

[ActiveCampaign](https://activecampaign.com) is one of the best-known automation platforms out there, handling the repetitive tasks that no one in your team has time for. “It’s like getting an extra employee without needing an extra desk”, they share on their website – and we agree. It's a great tool to help provide your customers with the best possible experience.

![activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/f2ysq090txql/4AVm2EHkLh74zLxn5yUXm6/fd5099d24a531cbfc3ad682161a3e6ae/activecampaign.png)

### 10. Set up automated alerts for customers at risk of churn

Have you noticed any common signs among customers that churn? If you haven't, do a bit of research – take a snapshot of recent churned customers and check their contact records. 

**What are the similarities** – frustrated emails, lack of interaction, high bounce rate after logging in, checking your FAQ for "how to cancel my account"?

Once you know these churn risk factors, you can use automation to alert a customer's account manager straight away if these come up. Then they can reach out and act on it – fast.

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### 11. Alert account managers of interactions with other departments 

If a customer tweets your company or mentions you on Facebook, is their account manager aware of it? Don't keep social engagement with your company for your marketers' eyes only – use a CRM that integrates all key channels to record all engagement with your company. This is especially important if a customer is using online platforms to make a complaint – don't miss these!

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### 12. Use reports and dashboards to identify blockages and weaknesses in business processes

With business intelligence tools and advanced CRMs, you can use reporting dashboards to break down business processes by stage and identify where customers are getting stuck.

These might include your:

* **Sales pipeline** (e.g. demo requested, demo scheduled, proposal sent, closed won/lost)
* **Onboarding pipeline** (e.g. new customer, introduction email sent, first call scheduled, onboarding checklist complete)
* **Ticket resolution process** (e.g. new ticket, assigned to rep, in progress, further information required, resolved)

After identifying blockages, you can focus on streamlining these areas of your business. For instance, you might identify weak conversion from "demo scheduled" to "proposal sent" in your sales pipeline. You can then test some email templates to fix this.

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## How to get started with customer experience automation (and make it a success)

To get started with automation to improve customer satisfaction, your first job is choosing the right automation software. With so many brilliant options on the market, you're spoiled for choice here.

Some of the best-rated marketing automation tools to get started with are:

* [ActiveCampaign](https://activecampaign.com)
* [HubSpot](https://hubspot.com)
* [Omnisend](https://www.omnisend.com)


<RelatedPost slug="the-best-marketing-automation-tools-for-small-businesses-and-how-to" />

Popular Business Process Management (BPM) software also include:

* [Ninox Database](https://ninoxdb.de/en/)
* [Kissflow](https://kissflow.com/)
* [Nintex Platform](https://www.nintex.com/)

After some research, testing and making the most of free trial periods, make sure your automation software fits snugly with the rest of your tech stack. 

With PieSync, you can sync your data across all of your key tools – and **get the best possible results from automation** with access to a wider range of accurate data. Browse [connections between hundreds of apps](https://www.piesync.com/connections/) and see how you can immediately improve your data reliability and business processes.

Improved customer experience, less churn, more time for work that matters… is it a distant daydream? Not after automating these business processes.

The PieSync Blog

A guide to making the most of your customer support data

The SaaS guide: the tools & trends shaping tech in 2020

10 ways to automate your sales team you hadn't thought of

20 innovative CRM trends for 2020 to pay attention to

10 of the best sales & marketing tech stacks

12 ways to improve customer experience with automation