As companies strive to remain competitive by operating in a more customer-centric manner, the need to keep staff members fully connected to client data at all times – even when they’re on the road – has become increasingly important. Sales reps, field service workers, and other customer-facing personnel who travel frequently require any-time, any where access to the timely, accurate data that will enable them to acquire and support customers as efficiently and effectively as possible.

That’s why leading analysts expect the market for mobile CRM applications to experience explosive growth in the near term. In fact, research firm Gartner predicts that industry expansion could be as high as 40 to 60 percent over the next two to three years. And, a Forrester Research study shows that nearly half of all businesses in North America and Europe have already deployed – or are planning to deploy – mobile sales force applications.

What is Mobile CRM?
A mobile CRM application is a powerful, full-featured software solution that allows field workers – such as sales representatives, service staff, and support teams – to access and interact with customer data while they’re on the road. Using cell phones, Blackberry devices, Windows Pocket PCs, and other Web-enabled handheld appliances, users can retrieve and update customer-related information from back-end systems, manage opportunities and jobs, process orders, check inventory levels, and much more, just as easily as if they were in the office.

Key Benefits for Your Company
There are numerous benefits that can be achieved through the implementation and use of a mobile CRM solution. Among the greatest advantages are:

• Increased efficiency and productivity of field staff.
• Improved face-to-face interactions between clients and employees.
• Enhanced information flow and sharing throughout the entire organization, even among workers who are on the road.
• Increased accuracy and timeliness of information, through the ability of all field workers to make instant updates to data at any time.
• Reduced sales and service costs through remote automation, and the facilitation of faster, more informed decision making.

Does My Company Need Mobile CRM?
For today’s field-based employees, the simple calendaring and contact management capabilities that come standard with many mobile devices are not enough to keep them fully informed and productive. In order to maximize the effectiveness of each customer interaction, these workers need continuous access to pertinent client data that exists in enterprise systems, even when they’re out of the office.

For example, a sales rep may need to check stock levels of a certain product while they’re at a customer meeting, to ensure that the client’s order can be quickly fulfilled. Or, a technician may need to review a customer’s previous service history to most effectively diagnose a current problem. Without mobile CRM, companies will be challenged to provide existing and potential customers with the best experience possible. On the other hand, mobile CRM improves customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention by enabling those employees who work directly with clients to make the most intelligent and informed decisions possible when it comes to sales and service.

Key Features of Mobile CRM
A mobile CRM solution provides field workers with a variety of robust features and capabilities that allow them to directly retrieve, review, and manage customer activity information via their handheld devices. Key functionality includes:

• Direct access to information from any handheld device, including cell phones, PDAs, and wireless-enabled laptops.
• The ability to combine data from CRM systems with other databases that house customer information, such as accounting and help desk applications.
• End-to-end management of all clients, prospects, and related opportunities.)
• "On the fly" activity logging, so the outcomes of remote meetings or service calls can be gathered and immediately shared with other stakeholders in the company, or stored for future reference.
• Calendar, schedule, and activity management.
• Automated order processing.
• Job ticket status tracking and updating.
• Two-way data synchronization, so users can work offline when a wireless connection is unavailable, then update information bi-directionally as needed once a connection has been re-established.

What to Look for When Choosing a Mobile CRM Solution
Security
Making data easily retrievable via a handheld device can be tricky – access must be fast and convenient, but sensitive customer information must be protected from unauthorized users at all times. Therefore, you’ll want to look for a mobile CRM solution that provides multiple layers of password protection, data encryption, and other advanced security mechanisms to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of client information.

Real-time Alerts
While a sales rep or technician is out of the office, critical events that may impact their day-to-day activities can occur. A solution that instantly sends alerts to designated mobile devices when specific conditions arise – for example, when a large order is cancelled, or a part needed for a service call in progress is out of stock – will ensure that “on-the-go” users get the information they need, whenever they need it.