A CRM integration is a connection between your CRM (aka Customer Relationship Management) software and another application allowing you to automatically share vital data between the two systems.
In turn, an integrated CRM drives your business efficiency because you can create automated workflows and reduce administrative work. For example, you’ll be able to set up personalized communications to your customers by merging your CRM with the software you use to engage customers.
CRM system market size
Currently, the market for customer relationship management systems is growing at an impressive rate. The global CRM market was valued at $52.4 bn in 2021 and is expected to grow by 13.3% every year until 2030.
It’s easy to see why demand for CRM systems is red-hot. Research suggests that using a CRM Software can increase your sales by as much as 29%.
How does a CRM integration work?
How your integration process will work ultimately depends on your business setup. For example, if you only want to sync your CRM with one other system–like your website–it may be relatively straightforward. You may just need to link the two systems together if your CRM has built-in integrations.
However, most CRM integrations need to be linked via an Application Programming Interface (API). Put simply, an API is a middleware application which effectively connects two systems together.
CRM Integration Examples
You can connect your CRM system with pretty much any software you can think of. However, here’s the most common integrations:
Marketing: By syncing all the data in your CRM with your Marketing Software, you can better organize and target leads to create tailored marketing campaigns. Integrating your CRM with marketing automation platforms like Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Hubspot has a proven track record. According to Upland, 75% of businesses report a positive return in the year after they connected their marketing and CRM systems.
Retail Choreography: Whether online or in-store, mastering your customer interactions is crucial. By integrating your CRM with the Customer Service Software you use to manage walk-ins, appointments, Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store (BOPIS) and event customers, you can dramatically improve your customer service. After all, if your advisors can easily view a detailed profile of the customer, they can see what type of products they typically buy to increase upselling opportunities and tailor their service in a more meaningful way.
Ecommerce: From Shopify to BigCommerce, you can’t go wrong by integrating your CRM with your preferred ecommerce platform. Once connected, you’ll be able to share data between your systems on things like what your customers browsed, paid for or added to their wishlist.
What are the main benefits of a CRM integration?
There are three clear advantages to CRM integrations:
Enhances customer experience
Most of the time, customers put your store advisors on the spot each time they come into your stores. Your advisors know nothing about the customer or their reason for visiting ahead of time.
With a CRM integration, you can give your store associates the information they need to deliver excellent customer service that converts (like the customer’s reason for visiting) ahead of time.
Improves resource allocation
Another major benefit of integrating your CRM with your ecommerce and in-store systems is that it helps you to get a complete picture of your business. Once you have all your data in one place, you can easily see which products and sales are most popular and what more you can do to wow customers.
According to software company Resco, 72% of companies say that their CRM gives them better access to customer data. In other words, with deeper insight into your customers’ shopping habits, you’ll be able to make more intelligent decisions about which resources and stock you need in-store.
Drives sales from your marketing
Everyday, retailers across the world take an invaluable resource for granted: customers. Without the proper initiatives and software tools in place, retailers are losing vital data about why customers enter the store, what they buy and how many times they’ve shopped with the brand before.
With the right Retail Choreography Software, you can capture and feed over a hundred data points into your CRM. Once you’ve identified data patterns, you’ll be able to send tailored marketing materials to your customers that convert at a far higher rate.
Expand your clienteling capabilities with Qudini’s CRM integrations
We’re expanding our Clienteling Software to help global retailers make every customer feel like a VIP.
To do this, we’ve rolled out integrations with a whole range of CRMs including:
- Microsoft Dynamics
- BloomReach and Exponea
- Salesforce
- Hubspot
- Infor
- Sap
- Aptos (coming soon)
- Lightspeed (coming soon)
We can also easily build integrations with the CRM of your choosing.
With our extensive CRM integrations, your store teams can recognize appointment, walk-in, click and collect and event customers as soon as they enter your store or connect via Live Shop.
Ultimately, we give your advisors the tools they need to create a truly powerful and personal in-store experience by displaying key information from the customer’s CRM profile in our system.
Learn more about Qudini
From CRM to calendar integrations, we find partners to connect with far and wide to ensure you can make the most out of our intelligent software. Visit our integrations page and contact our team at info@qudini.com to find out more.
