In December 2008, William Band of Forrester published an article titled Trends 2009: Customer Relationship Management. In summary the article highlights 6 key trends that Forrester believes will drive customer relationship management (CRM) strategies and technology adoption in light of the sudden and dramatic economic downturn.
1. The necessity to adapt to the rapidly changing “social” consumer
In 2009, companies will look to enrich the customer experience through community based interactions, and architecting solutions that are flexible and foster strong intra-organization and customer collaboration.
2. The need for more robust CRM strategies
During tough economic times, CRM professionals will retool their strategies with a focus on spotlighting the biggest opportunities for quick wins.
3. The requirement to build bulletproof cases to gain project funding
During this economic downturn, bulletproof financial arguments are needed to get funding for projects. In 2009, business cases must answer four critical questions: What are the business benefits? What is the impact on IT or project costs? Is future flexibility increased or decreased? How will risks be mitigated? CRM vendors will be challenged to provide clear and specific data about the business value their solutions can deliver.
4. The need to reduce CRM project risks
CRM professionals cannot afford failed CRM projects, particularly in tough economic times when business survival may be at stake.
5. The imperative to unlock the value of customer data
In 2009, CRM professionals will continue to focus intently on how enterprises collect, distribute, and use data to create value.
6. The battle to redress vendor pricing and licensing arrangements
CRM professionals will be working on sharpening their negotiating skills in an attempt to rein in costs and get more value from their vendor relationships.
If these trends identified by Forrester do become the drivers for CRM strategies during this economic downturn, Oracle is in a good position to address many of these trends.One example is Oracle's Social CRM applications not only addresses collaboration needs but can also be a quick win to increase productivity.
