Enterprise-wide CRM Systems Gain Acceptance: Survey

A wider-than-ever range of departments are now sharing in customer relationship management (CRM) technology, according to a CRM implementation survey.

Seventy percent of firms surveyed provide inside sales staff access to customer data as part of their CRM efforts, and another two-thirds allow customer service/tech support to use the information. Nearly six in ten offer the capability to their outside/field sales force, and just over half allow link their marketing communications departments to their enterprise efforts.

Four in ten also link either accounting/finance, product marketing, and call center operations.

This trend is widening. Among those systems scheduled to be implemented within th next 12 months, 94% plan to provide CRM access to customer service/tech support, and 85% to the inside sales team.

The data shared largely includes client product purchase history or sales and revenue history, which seven out of every ten mentioned. Sixty four percent said they incorporated technical service or customer support contacts, and 54% include external contact data taken from outside sources.

While the lion’s share of CRM efforts are spearheaded by the information technology departments (42%, to be exact), sales and marketing lead 31% and 9%, respectively. But six in ten respondents say they use cross-department teams to develop the strategies, while only 29% say they leave it up to one department.

Among those currently implementing systems, nearly half plan to have their platforms up and running within six months, while among those planning such implementations 42% said it would be at least a year before the systems were operational.

But such jobs are not without headaches: asked about the biggest frustrations experienced, 46% cited the problems with integrating different systems into a single platform. Another 31% mentioned training issues, and 27% mentioned getting participation from various departments. Twenty two percent had difficulties with integrating the CRM system into back-office applications.

The survey consisted of sites chosen from the North American CI technology Database, and were designated based on whether they currently had a CRM system in place, were in the process of implementing one, or had plans to do so. The research was conducted by San Antonio, TX-based Harte Hanks.