By : Quinn Bingham | September 11, 2023 | 6 min read

5 Popular CRM Myths Debunked

There are several CRM myths that have been propelled forward, confusing the marketplace. As a result, customers have a skewed perception of what they want from a CRM system, and they may end up with a system that doesn’t do everything they thought it would do.

The industry changes quickly, and as it changes, more and more myths crop up, from artificial intelligence to archaic rumors of job displacement. Below are five CRM myths are debunked.

Myth No. 1: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is a Quintessential Factor for the Future of CRM

Artificial Intelligence has become the new buzzword in every sector of the technology industry. From phones to software and even our kitchen appliances, we want all of our technology to be intelligent. The CRM industry is no different. The users want it, and the CRM industry has delivered. Several AI components have been added to CRM software like SugarCRM.

However, let’s put some things into perspective. AI is not the end-all, be-all of CRM, as it has been portrayed in recent marketing messages. It may play a bigger role in the future but as of right now, AI has more of a subtle effect on CRM software. It does more to complement the skills of the human user by augmenting business operations. As a result, the end product is an improved user experience. So be wary of vendors trying to sell you a CRM by insinuating a full AI experience.

Myth No. 2: Automated Bots Will Replace Humans in Customer-Facing Scenarios

Are the robots taking over? Will technology replace me in my job? This has been a fear perpetuated throughout every industry for years. This is not true. Think of how you feel when you call any customer service line and get an automated response. I know most people get a little annoyed. This annoyance usually increases with every minute it takes to get to a real person. Technology cannot replace good customer service because it does more harm than good. Customers prefer to deal with a real person rather than a machine.

Humans are natural communicators and are much more successful at interacting with each other than robots are. While bots won’t be replacing humans in customer-facing situations anytime soon, it is important to remember that it is important for humans and bots to work together. They won’t replace you, but they will work alongside you to improve your overall performance and success.

Myth No. 3: CRM Is Most Useful as a Kind of “Big Brother” Serving the VP of Sales

This myth, in particular, has evolved from a few truths. When CRM was first conceived in the early years it was a tool for managers that allowed them to easily keep track of their salespeople and see what they were working on. However, CRM has since evolved into a tool that is used to streamline strategies and processes for entire organizations.

Modern CRM systems display data from many different sources in one place. That way, your customer-facing employees, as well as management, can have a complete picture view of their customer data. As a result, CRM is not just for management, but it’s a key tool for all employees.

Myth No. 4: Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) And the Cloud Are the Same

Many times, CRM providers that only have SaaS offerings have perpetuated this particular myth. As a part of their marketing language, these providers have created a parallel between SaaS and cloud offerings to sell their products when that is not necessarily the case.

When talking about CRM, the cloud takes on many different forms. There are private clouds, self-managed public clouds, partner-managed dedicated clouds, multi-instance vendor-managed clouds and finally, yes there are now traditional multi-tenant SaaS models. The cloud provides more choices for customers. With the cloud, there are options that can reduce your IT overhead while still providing data security and great control.

There are CRM models that are both SaaS and cloud but that is not true for all of them.

Myth No. 5: CRM Is Only for Salespeople to Forecast and Close Deals

Going back to myth number three, when CRM was initially made years ago it was a sales tool but since then it has evolved far beyond that. Today’s CRM draws data from multiple places, synthesizes it, and turns it into insights for all customer-facing employees. This data availability empowers these employees to foster deeper relationships with customers resulting in business growth and success.

Modern-day CRMs track deals through the sales cycles automates processes, provide relevant and comprehensive customer and prospect information, and streamlines customer and prospect communications.

Conclusion

The CRM industry is riddled with myths and misconceptions built from marketing hype. We hope that debunking these myths helps you to avoid disappointment. We want to get down to the nitty-gritty and provide the truths that you need to get a CRM system that really improves your user and customer experience.

If you are looking for technology and business process improvement to help you propel your business toward success, reach out to our experts today!