Eight mobile technologies that are changing the face of CRM

hat's where the field of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) comes into play. Using technology to ask the right the right questions you can find, attract, and win new clients, as well as nurture and retain those that you already have.

One way you can do this is through social media, but that limits the number of people you can reach. In most emerging markets, there are a lot more people with cellphones than there are on the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

As with all technologies, mobile CRM tools are constantly changing. Some mobile innovations have completely changed the face of CRM; some of them have become tried and tested, but we're only just beginning to see the potential impact of others.

1. USSD

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) comes as standard with every mobile phone on the market, from the most basic cheapo whose only extra feature is a torch, to the most expensive smartphone.

The great thing about USSD is that it allows you to have a two-way conversation with people in real time and at low cost. This back and forth means that you can a get a lot more information about someone, which is vital to anyone wanting to know who's buying their products.

Another advantage is its immediacy. As soon as you send out the questionnaire or survey, you'll start getting information back.

The biggest benefit, though, is that you'll get answers from the widest possible spectrum of people. Even as smartphones become increasingly ubiquitous, you'll still need data from the people who don't have them and that's a lot more difficult to get without USSD.

2. WAP

WAP is one of the most basic forms of mobile Internet connectivity. The biggest advantage it has over USSD is that it you can have a much fuller brand experience. You can, for instance, include your images and links to video content optimised for mobile.
This technology is particularly good for surveys, which people can fill out in one go. WAP's offshoot MMS, meanwhile, is good for sending a one-off message that you only expect a one-off reply to. One of the best examples of this kind of technique in action was Mobilitrix working with media research company Nielsen. A client wanted to find out how many people had seen a newspaper ad it had put out. Along with Nielsen we sent out an MMS with a picture of the ad and they got a much better idea of how effective the ad was than from a survey.

You might not be able to reach as many people with WAP as you can with USSD, but as the price of feature phones continues to come down that will begin to change.

3. Mobile social networks

To be fair, most mobile social networks wouldn't exist without WAP. They also tend to be limited to a much younger audience than you would get with USSD or WAP. That said, platforms like MXit, with its 50 million users, offer a great way to engage and converse with people.

You can get a lot of useful information from the details that people share about themselves on social networks. You also have to pay a lot less to get that information than you would by sending out an SMS, for example.

4. Apps

Using apps for CRM is still in its infancy, but it's an area that could prove fruitful in the future. A company could, for instance, subscribe to a service that allows people to make complaints about, or praise, it via an app.

The direct conversation between business and user hasn't really been sorted out yet, though. At this stage, you can also only reach a very limited audience.

5. Airtime

This might seem odd, but there was a time when prepaid airtime didn't exist. As soon as it came onto the scene, especially in emerging market countries around Africa, it became a form of virtual currency.

A smart few companies clicked that this idea had potential. If you want information about a wide range of people quickly, airtime is a great incentive to get them to answer your questions. No one's going to say no to a little extra talk time or a few more hours on the Web.

6. Mobile vouchers and coupons

Mobile vouchers and coupons are a slightly more sophisticated way of rewarding customers for filling out surveys or answering questions.

Mobile vouchers work a lot like the ones you get online, without the fuss of printing them out. This makes mobile vouchers much more immediate and convenient.

Everyone loves a bargain. Bargains are at their best when they're specifically targeted at you, and delivered to your own mobile phone when and where you need it, and even when you didn't know you need it. Mobilitrix specialises in providing mobile vouchers and coupons for its corporate customers.

7. Geo-location

Using a smartphone app to "check in" to a location is great for mobile CRM. The market is limited, but geo-location lets you to do some innovative things. If you run a national retailer, you could potentially ask people to answer a question every time they check in to your store. You could also reward them with a voucher to spend right away.

8. NFC

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a great mobile money solution, especially because it can be used for rewards. It's also great for any event you have a presence at.

Anyone with an NFC device can unlock video and rich graphical content from your brand.

It could be useful for gauging how people feel about that content. (A simple binary-style voting mechanism could be all you need). This could help you figure out what to do next.

At the moment, though, NFC has very limited potential because it's only available in top-of-the-range phones. However, this is changing rapidly as handset manufactures, brands and retailers are pushing for the technology to be standardised across all new handsets.