How to mobile-optimize your CRM
According to a recent ConstantContact study, more than 60 percent of businesses have optimized their websites for mobile browsers. That’s nearly a two-fold increase over 2013. They did this for good reason – web traffic from smartphones and tablets has finally overtaken traffic from desktops.
Our growing mobile device use, coupled with bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, continues to blur the line between work and personal life. These days, it’s simply not enough for your business to optimize its websites for mobile users. You also need to mobile-optimize the foundation of your marketing and sales efforts: your CRM.
This process is not as difficult as you might expect. Since most mobile tools scale with ease, there’s little need for a radical overnight upgrade. You can adapt your CRM for mobile use over time. This will ease the pressure on your budget and ensure greater adoption by your users.
Not sure where to begin? Here are some quick recommendations and tips:
Make your CRM accessible across platforms.
Our mobile devices are the remote-controls of our lives. They wake us, tell us where to drive, and even compel us to turn around if we accidentally leave them at home. Mobile’s ubiquity allows us to better manage our work lives outside of business hours, often before we get out of bed.
Since the value of information increases as it becomes easier to access, opening up your CRM to your increasingly mobile teams is no longer an option – it’s a necessity.
Fortunately, most CRM providers offer you secure mobile web and app access. But not all platforms are created equal.
For example, Microsoft Dynamics users might seem to have endless options from both Microsoft and third-party providers. That’s great. However, if you need more than mobile web access, be sure to test the various apps for tablets and smartphones across all platforms. The user experience for a given provider’s individual apps can be slightly – or a lot – different on iPhone, iPad, Android or BlackBerry. During the review process, be sure to involve a mix of your power users to ensure that most users are satisfied.