In what usually is a rather uneventful month for challenging projects the world over, December proved to be pretty challenging for my team. We had to help a firm overcome a number of pain points they experienced with the SAP CRM, particularly those associated with the Service Equipment and Install Base functionalities. While helping the customer out, I thought I could list down these pain points and how we countered them, as I believe they could work as a crystal ball for other firms as we make all the difference in 2020. So, here goes!

The rules of engagement have changed: technology is changing the game and customers are changing the rules. Today’s customer is digitally connected, better informed, and has higher expectations. To win these empowered customers, your salesforce needs to have access to real-time data. From an organizational standpoint, we have entered into a digital whirlpool, and to get the best out of it, we need to empower our employees with tools that can provide them with a competitive advantage in the market.

“What solution does our business need to be successful with customer relationship management?”

Like it or not, cloud is here to stay. It has brought in a wave of digital disruption in this information age. Innovation and constant change for betterment have become not just necessary for survival but also key to growth. As rightly expressed by British philosopher, writer, and speaker Alan Watts, "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. "The story that follows is a case in point where visionary leaders and partners with a customer-centric focus took the big leap in cloud technology to help their customer’s sales team focus only on what they are best at — ‘selling’.

I still remember the good old days when I used to sell financial products for an NBFC. Selling used to be a tough chore then. Most of my time used to be spent in maintaining my prospects database and handling other administrative tasks. It was a big challenge to manage my time and close targets. There was hardly any visibility into my opportunities and no way I could track my KPIs. Coordinating with the back office and getting relevant and accurate information was a nightmare.

Let’s take a moment to look around us. Here’s what I see: We live in a digital world. The world of customer service has changed. Today’s economy consists of a population that is digitally linked, associated with social networks, and more cognizant than ever before. We are surrounded by savvy consumers and sophisticated buyers.

SAP continues to lead the market for e-commerce platforms for both B2B and B2C companies. With every new version come robust enhancements that make the suite’s core commerce capabilities even better equipped to ensure customer engagement and improve dialog between business and customer. With these kinds of innovations, consumers and clients are empowered to manage their own purchases, orders, and subscriptions with definite visibility of each stage of the fulfillment process. Below are just some of the functionalities and features you are missing out on by not getting SAP:

SAP Marketing is great for contextual marketing in real time because it lets you engage with customers and get them interested in what you have to offer. Likewise, it lets you build effective brand relationships when you market to one specific audience. SAP Marketing is unlike traditional marketing methods that are not always successful in engaging individual customers. Traditional marketing campaigns typically lack basic knowledge of every customer's needs and wants, resulting in indiscriminate messages addressed to everyone. When you market with SAP Marketing, you can understand your customers better by helping you identify what your customers have done, what they are currently doing, and what they will do.

SAP Marketing lets you conduct contextual marketing in real-time, so you can engage and delight your customers while cultivating brand relationships. It lets you market to an audience of one, unlike when you use traditional marketing campaigns, which typically fail to or insufficiently engage individual customers. SAP Marketing lets you in on the needs and wants of a customer, so you can send personal and unique messages that can tap into an individual customer’s expectations. Finding the right SAP Marketing provider should help you get started with this platform and make the most of its features. Here are three tips to find the best provider:

Sales effectiveness is key for sales organizations to stay competitive and relevant in their niches. One of the greatest challenges faced by sales organizations is the existence of dispersed teams managing diverse sets of products and service portfolios, while trying to stay ahead of competitors.

Sales teams, managers, and specialists are often challenged with ways to engage customers efficiently and gain smarter ways to sell. SAP Sales Cloud is a solution that can empower your business and its sales team with insights that can help you sell better, especially on digital platforms.

SAP C/4HANA is the customer relationship management solution that is hosted in the cloud. It does more than host your CRM in the Cloud. It provides an omni-channel commerce and customer engagement experience, making it more flexible and more advanced compared to conventional CRM solutions. Not convinced? Here are the three main reasons to choose SAP C/4HANA for CRM: