SugarCRM’s platform just got a bit more intelligent. The company announced this week that it has acquired AI platform Node for an undisclosed sum. Node specializes in predictive intelligence in CRM, including things like projecting outcomes and prompting action based on pattern recognition.
This AI infusion will specifically take place within Sugar’s “time-aware” customer experience (CX) platform. Sort of a spin on traditional CRM, the platform is used by sales, marketing and service teams to automate customer outreach and service levels, pursuant to boosting engagement and retention.
Node fills a gap in the predictive end of things. In other words, CRM software is inherently reactive and retroactive in that its a database of records. The real value lies in extracting prescriptive advice and action from that structured data — a direction that the CRM industry has generally been moving in recent history.
Predictive Outcomes
In Node’s case, it ingests vast external sources to form a sort of AI training set that helps it recognize patterns. Then it takes the next step of applying that pattern recognition to predictive outcomes. In practical terms, that means things like flagging a churn-prone customer and prompting outreach.
A few other use cases provided by the company (slightly edited for clarity) include:
— Using lead-scoring models to predict customer likelihood to convert.
— Forecasting and prescriptive guidance to help fulfill sales quotas and monitor close rates.
— Increasing sale sizes by recommending add-on products during the right phase of customer interactions.
— Tracking marketing attribution and contribution to closed business
— Optimizing customer service through predictive case routing to specific customer-service reps.
Pattern Recognition
The strength of Node’s software comes down to two things: the quality/quantity of input data, and the strength of its machine learning algorithms. These are validated in the company’s claim that it identifies signals with up to 81 percent greater accuracy than heuristic-based approaches to predicting modeling.
“Obtaining a high definition view of your business and customers, from pipeline to forecasting, is all about replacing a fragmented, dated, and distorted picture with one that is sharply focused and rich in breadth and depth,” said SugarCRM CEO Craig Charlton in a statement.
Speaking of pattern recognition, this acquisition aligns with the trend of SaaS expansion. As the sector matures, there’s greater competition for share of wallet for large and small enterprises. Expanding a given software suite can grow ARPU and reduce churn through a more comprehensive service bundle.
This theme has been prevalent in our Website Windup series and equally applies to CRM. We even see the two intersect, such as website builders that infuse CRM capability. Automattic has made a few such moves in the past year. As for Sugar and Node, we’ll keep watching to evaluate the fruits of this union.
