An immensely competitive space in B2B and SaaS is customer relationship management (CRM) software. It’s one of the most defining forms of technology in the past decade. In fact, 91 percent of companies with more than 11 employees now use CRM software. Why?
Everything is consumer-centric, and the modern business needs a tool to manage high expectations. The entire infrastructure of sales and marketing has shifted, and buyers are now self-educating. In fact, most consumers begin their product research with one or more search engines before heading to a particular website. There is no longer a need to “sell” your product or service the way we once used to.
This means, brands that understand the customer best, and use that insight when compiling their marketing plans, are the most successful with their marketing and sales strategies. A key tool to bridge the gap between your labor force and creating a memorable experience is an effective CRM platform with a centralized system. However, 18 percent of salespeople still don’t know what a CRM tool is.
Check out these current CRM stats. They make a solid case for integrating this technology today, or at the very latest, in 2021.
General CRM Stats
- The CRM market is the fastest growing in software today. It’s expected to reach $80 billion by 2025.
- Sixty-five percent of people consider “ease of use” to be the most important requirement when selecting a CRM solution.
- In 2018, 13 percent of companies said that investing in a CRM system was a top sales priority.
Stats on the Advantages of a CRM
Using a customer relationship management tool improves business in a variety of facets. Consider some of these CRM stats:
- Eighty-seven percent of people say that the biggest benefit of a CRM is improved sales.
- A CRM is a top tool for creating personalized interactions with customers.
- Seventy-three percent of marketers use their CRM tool for a shared view of prospects across other departments.
Sales Strategy CRM Stats
Out of all departments, sales have benefited the most from CRM adoption. Check out some of these figures to see why:
- According to 48 percent of companies surveyed in 2018, improving the online sales funnel was one of their top sales priorities. Another was investing in a CRM.
- The average adoption of CRMs among sales professionals is 73 percent.
- Sixty-four percent of sales professionals use CRM applications. Adoption has grown 113 percent since 2016 and 28 percent since 2017.
- In 2018, 46 percent of sales teams reported widespread use of CRM programs.
In the past few years, CRM stats have pointed to areas for sales to focus on improving, which are important to keep in mind for 2021. These areas include:
- Converting customers
- Closing more deals
- Improving sales funnel efficiency
- Driving lead generation
- Getting more responses from prospects
We should also call out sales enablement and how important it is to a high-performing marketing strategy. But in order to create sales enablement content, it helps to have a CRM tool to track customer pain points, activities, and their journey through the funnel. These types of insights can then be used to create better content that will move your leads through the funnel faster.
Mobile CRM Stats
Companies that use a mobile CRM solution are seeing far higher adoption rates. Consider the numbers:
- In 2019, the global mobile CRM market grew 11 percent to $15 billion worldwide.
- Sixty-five percent of companies using mobile CRM are achieving their sales quotas. Compared to 22% of reps using a non-mobile CRM.
- Fifty percent of teams have improved their productivity using a CRM platform.
Due to the mass introduction of CRM solutions with the cloud, 2019 saw a major increase in mobile adoption of CRM technologies. In 2008, only 12 percent of businesses used a cloud-based CRM, which increased to 87% in 2019.
CRM and Multiple Devices
Thirteen percent of companies state that using sales technologies in daily tasks is more difficult than it was two or three years ago. A CRM simplifies the process and connects all channels, especially when you are running content on multiple devices. In fact, 81 percent of CRM software users access their information on multiple devices, like laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets.
The Future of CRM Development
Thirty-one percent of companies say that engaging multiple stakeholders/decision-makers in a buying process is tougher than a couple of years ago. These CRM stats are important because it’s critical information your company can use to make the right choice in 2021.
2020 is the year of the customer, which means you’ll be behind the curve if you still don’t have a CRM in place by 2021. The investment in a CRM tool demonstrates a company’s interest in retaining clients, creating efficiencies, and improving the customer journey and support. It’s time to empower your employees and customers with an omnichannel, multi-market solution that puts you ahead of the game.