CRM remains the largest and fastest growing enterprise software category today according to the latest market sizing, and market share research Gartner published. A CRM system essentially provides a central place where businesses can store customer and prospect data, track customer interactions, and share this information with colleagues. With a CRM system in place, every question, every service request, every preference and every past contact detail about every customer is instantly available, which means that every new interaction with them should always be personalized, relevant and up to date.
- At the end of 2018, CRM software revenues overtook database management systems to become the largest of all software markets. (Source: Forbes)
- As mentioned in Forbes, CRM is now expected to reach more than $80 billion in revenues by 2025.
- According to SuperOffice, in 2008, only 12% of businesses used cloud-based CRM – This figure has now increased to 87%!
Focusing on customer retention and increasing sales are the goals that no organization should forget. For this, an approach should be taken to manage company’s interaction with their current and potential customers to improve relationships with them. This approach is called customer relationship management (CRM).
The issue of customer data raises a challenge which CRM systems exist to address. Every time someone picks up the phone and talks to a customer, goes out to meet a new sales prospect, or follows up a promising lead, they learn something new and potentially valuable. Traditionally, all this data went into analogue or unconnected media such as notebooks or laptops, or even just stayed in people’s heads.
The issue of customer data raises a challenge which CRM systems exist to address. Every time someone picks up the phone and talks to a customer, goes out to meet a new sales prospect, or follows up a promising lead, they learn something new and potentially valuable. Traditionally, all this data went into analogue or unconnected media such as notebooks or laptops, or even just stayed in people’s heads.
It takes customer data and turns it into useful, actionable insight that can transform a business. If the system is cloud-based, they can do this wherever they are, on any connected device.As well as tracking every phone call, email sent, meeting held and presentation delivered, CRM systems can also be used to add notes, schedule follow-ups and organize the next steps that need to be taken. This ensures that opportunities to close deals or grow customer accounts won’t be missed.
By understanding customers better, cross-selling and up-selling opportunities become clearer too, giving organizations a much better chance to win new business from existing customers.
Different types of CRM software exist. Most are capable of performing key CRM functions – storing, tracking and sharing your customer data. However, many software solutions can also support specific business goals. Examples of CRM are sorted by type, such as general use, inbound lead management, sales tracking, social tracking and a fully integrated system. Most software solutions fall into one or two or even all of these CRM types. For instance,
HubSpotCRM is an example for inbound lead management while Zoho CRM can be classified for social tracking, but both are not limited to their specific types depending on how you use them. An example of a fully integrated CRM is Freshsales, having all the key features for sales, marketing, support and analytics built into its infrastructure.
CRM software is now the biggest software market in the world and the growth isn’t slowing down. As mentioned in SuperOffice, CRM is now expected to reach more than $80 billion in revenues by 2025.One of the key factors behind the growth of CRM is accessibility. Companies want access to customer data in real-time, with mobile and cloud solutions leading the way.From customer service and email marketing to personalization, companies now expect to be able to connect platforms and technologies with customer data, in order to provide a more personalized experience. In 2008, only 12% of businesses used cloud-based CRM – This figure has now increased to 87%! (Source: SuperOffice)
At the end of 2018, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software revenues overtook database management systems to become the largest of all software markets. Worldwide spending on customer experience and relationship management (CRM) software grew 15.6% to reach $48.2B in 2018 (Source: Forbes). And with revenues expected to reach over $80 billion by 2025, it’s no surprise that CRM is the fastest growing software market.
