CRM Software BuyerView Report Insight into today s software buyer
Abstract Recently, Software Advice analyzed 5,279 interactions with prospective CRM software buyers (conducted between January and August this year) to uncover the following trends: While half of the organizations in our sample didn t have a preference when it came to the deployment model, for those who did, 96 percent wanted a Cloudbased system. A vast majority of prospective buyers wanted to evaluate best-of-breed solutions (e.g. Marketing Automation, Sales Force Automation) over an integrated suite. Sales Force Automation was the top-requested CRM application among both best-of-breed buyers and those wanting an integrated suite.
Top Evaluated Deployment Model Among Buyers 2% 50% 48% On-premise Cloud-based Not determined Though half of the sample had not yet made a decision on the deployment model, among those who had, only 2 percent were seeking an on-premise solution.
Buyers' Integration Requirements 7% 2% Best-of-breed Integrated suite Multiple products 91% The vast majority of the sample was interested in evaluating a single, best-ofbreed solution, as opposed to an integrated suite, or even multiple applications.
Best-of-Breed Buyers' Top-Requested Applications 8% 4% 3% 4% 6% Sales automation Field service Marketing automation Call center Help desk Customer service 76% Sales Force Automation was the No. 1 most-requested CRM application among organizations wanting to evaluate best-of-breed products.
Integrated Suite Buyers' Top-Requested Applications Sales automation Marketing automation Customer service Help desk Web self-service Call center Knowledge management Field service Channel management Social CRM 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Percent of sample Organizations evaluating integrated suites were most interested in systems that integrated sales, marketing and support applications.
Top-Requested CRM Software Features Contact management Note-taking capabilites Reporting/analytics Integration Server/database Custom dashboards User friendly interface 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Percent of sample Our sample asked for traditional features (e.g. contact management) most, though reporting often included newer types of analysis, such as social and predictive.
Buyers' Existing CRM Systems 44% 26% 5% Commercial CRM Proprietary CRM Software other than CRM Nothing 24% Sixty-eight percent of the buyers we sampled were either using non-industryspecific software (e.g. Microsoft Office) or manual methods, such as spreadsheets.
Top Reasons for Replacing Existing CRM System Improve efficiency Need more/better features Need better integration Unhappy with current system Time to update/upgrade Other Company growth/transition 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Percent of sample For those replacing a system, more than 60 percent said either their current solution didn t do enough to increase efficiency, or that features were inadequate.
Top Reasons for Replacing Another Type of Software Improve accuracy/efficiency Need more/better features Time to update/upgrade Unhappy with current system Other Customer support issues Company growth/transition 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Percent of sample People replacing another type of software reported similar reasons as those replacing a CRM, with the exception of citing support issues instead of integrations.
Reasons for Purchasing CRM Software for the First Time Improve efficiency Need specific features Starting new company Company growth Other Improve integration Improve collaboration 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Percent of sample The need to increase efficiency was by far the most significant impetus behind firsttime buyers decision to invest in software; 60 percent cited this as their reason.
Number of Employees in Buyers' Companies Best-of-breed buyers Integrated suite buyers 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1 employee 2-5 employees 6-20 employees 21-100 employees 101-500 employees >500 employees Buyers of integrated suites tended to be much larger than buyers of best-of-breed solutions. Half of best-of-breed buyers had 20 or fewer employees.
Annual Revenue of Software Buyers' Companies Best-of-breed buyers Integrated suite buyers 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% <$1 million $1-5 million $6-25 million $26-100 million $101-500 million >$500 million Half of best-of-breed buyers earned less than $1 million per year on average, while integrated suite buyers were closer to $5 million in revenue.
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@SoftwareAdvice /company/software-advice /SoftwareAdvice @SoftwareAdvice Software Advice is a trusted resource for software buyers. The company's website, www.softwareadvice.com, provides detailed reviews, comparisons and research to help organizations choose the right software. Meanwhile, the company s team of software analysts provide free telephone consultations to help each software buyer identify systems that best fit their needs. In the process, Software Advice connects software buyers and sellers, generating high-quality opportunities for software vendors.