According to a recent survey conducted in India, around 66% of CEOs anticipate a recession in the next 12 months, compared to 86% of CEOs globally. With a recession looming on us, investment in AI technology is not only critical but even essential, especially when you take a look at the evidence of how these AI-powered tools support and influence the overall employee experience and determine the business success.

From reducing costs, to optimizing financial functions, to discovering new revenue streams, the possibilities are endless. 

Here are some strategies that can help businesses survive a recession and sustain tough economic situation.

Real-time customer surveillance

The first requirement for any business is to build a loyal relationship with its customers and retain them, thereby avoiding customer acquisition costs. A study by Invesp found that increasing customer retention rates by only 5% can lead to a 25-95% boost in profitability.

To successfully measure customer sentiment, businesses need to find out a way for every customer-facing professional to see how often key accounts are being engaged with and by whom. 

Data cleaning to maximise new business growth potential

This is another area that can benefit from recent advances in AI technology. According to a Gartner survey, companies estimate that bad data may cost them about $13 million annually. This means that the majority of businesses lack a fundamental understanding of how the quality of the data running through their systems affects their business outcomes.

With CRM data automation, organisations can maximise CRM input from sales professionals without adding extra tasks to their already overflowing workloads. This helps drive better productivity and greater data accuracy on leads, accounts and contacts in the CRM.  

Key account succession planning

Evaluating customer engagement and relationship mapping is a seamless way to not only measure the frequency of communication of key customer accounts but also an effective way to manage succession planning. This ensures that there isn’t any disruption in the customer’s experience.

Relationship mapping helps a business visualize connections. By integrating Machine learning and AI algorithms, companies can identify who has the best relationships at the account to ensure a swift transition to an already trusted colleague.

Mapping sell and upsell opportunities for quick wins

According to Marketing Metrics, the probability of selling to an existing customer is up to 14 times higher than the probability of selling to a new customer, which validates that investing more time into mapping cross-sell and upsell opportunities helps organizations grow faster.

An Accenture study says  the impact of AI technologies on business is projected to increase labour productivity by up to 40% and enable people to make more efficient use of their time.

Automate mundane administrative tasks

Sales people consider addressing manual data entry as the biggest challenge when using their existing CRM. Advances in AI and data automation have made it easier than ever before to leverage technology to automate mundane administrative tasks for sales, business development and marketing professionals.

Preparation is key to longevity

Today every organisation is under pressure to build a workforce that can adapt to market changes. Workplace, economic, and skills evolutions are happening so quickly that if a company isn’t already investing in advanced technology, they are putting their organizations at risk.

By using AI for business, companies can navigate essentially any market environment by offering increased productivity, accuracy and growth at a lower cost — while reducing customer churn and improving expense management.