Changing Sales with CRM

Customer Relationship Management or CRM refers to the principles, strategies and technology that a company uses in order to study the customer’s interaction with the company to improve their business relationship. Despite various arguments, CRM has become essential in every firm. Big or small, CRM has made itself an indispensible function. Several decades ago, CRM functioned only to serve the needs of big firms. They were too costly and too complicated for the smaller firms. However, with technological progress this is no longer the case. Open-source and cloud-based solution have made sure that size is no longer an issue towards the usage of CRM.

         Service is an important aspect in the marketing process. Hence, it is necessary to make sure it is delivered optimally to the consumer. CRM solves also these problems. It provides a centralised system for managing and optimizing customer relationships. A good CRM helps to improve the work flow, thereby improving productivity. According to a Global Customer Service study, three out of four customers spend more money with a company because of a positive customer experience. Have an effective CRM ensures a good customer experience and helps customer retention. A CRM can increase revenue by a staggering 41 percent, per sales person. With such impressive statistics, the popularity of CRM continues to shoot upwards.

         Technological advancements continue to have a positive impact on business. In 2013, 52 percent of marketers found a customer through Facebook while 43 percent found a customer through LinkedIn.  According to the Gartner reports, the market for CRM software surged by 12.5% in 2012 where CRM vendors hauled in $18 billion in revenues, compared to $16 billion in 2011. A comparison of Gartner’s Q1 and Q2 CRM forecasts show just that the CRM growth is accelerating, netting a 56% increase in CAGR in the forecast period (2012 – 2017). The Q4 2012 Forrsights Software Survey reveals that only 47% of the North American and European enterprises questioned have implemented a CRM solution in the form of a marketing, sales or customer service application. 13% reported that they planned to adopt a CRM solution within the next 12 months, while a further 12% indicated that they were planning for CRM implementation in the longer term. The CRM market is expected to grow to $36.5 billion by 2017. This shows that CRM is slowly gaining momentum and companies are fast catching up to the technological growth for easier solutions. 

References:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/06/18/gartner-predicts-crm-will-be-a-36b-market-by-2017/#1827b35ac1ec
http://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/crm/crm-jumps-12.5-percent-in-2012-gartner.html
https://www.gartner.com/doc/2371315

Contributor: Sidhanth