Customer Relationship Management (CRM) continues to be the largest as well as the fastest growing category in enterprise software now. Take a look at some of these figures published by Gartner recently:
- Global spending on CRM software grew 15.6% to touch $48.2 billion in 2018.
- Internationally, enterprise application software revenue amounted to more than $193.6 billion in 2018. This is a 12.5% increase from 2017.
- Around 72.9% of CRM spending was on software as a service (SaaS) in 2018. This was expected to grow to around 75% of total CRM software this year.
The same research also speaks of Salesforce’s standing compared to similar offerings in the market. Gartner figures show that with 23.8% market share, Salesforce CRM sales is twice that of SAP and three times that of Oracle. This shows that Salesforce is a reckoning force on the international market with a significant increase in market share, going from 19.5% in 2018 to 23.8% in 2023. Adobe was the only other vendor to be able to increase its market share in 2018.
Take a look at some of the upcoming trends in CRM and how Salesforce continues to remain on top of things and market ready at all times:
Going Mainstream and Being GDPR-Ready
There is a continuous demand for CRM platforms with an increasing number of companies looking to bring this in right at the beginning of operations. The benefits in terms of acquiring new customers, their retention as well as their management has been well recognised. Salesforce is among the top when it comes to being the platform of choice. According to IDC, Worldwide Semi-annual Software Tracker, April 2019, the revenue market share worldwide for Salesforce stood at 37.9% (with SAP coming in at 13.2% and Oracle at 10.4%). With increased focus on data privacy, adherence to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is crucial. Salesforce is already GDPR-compliant. The only other CRM to do this is SugarCRM.
Increased focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Marketing Automation
AI with CRM is about adding proactive customer support and its management as well. Companies are looking to use AI in the near future to give them a competitive edge. Marketing automation too provides a strong base for almost all marketing related tasks, enabling companies to focus on expansion, with repetitive work being automated. With Einstein AI, Salesforce ensures that it has happy customers on hand. Agents, who of course, continue to play an important part, are now more productive with AI-powered predictions as well as recommendations, and the availability of chatbots on digital channels. Salesforce’s offerings have pushed brands like Microsoft, Amazon and Google to up their respective games.
Read more:Top Five Marketing Automation Tools to Integrate with Salesforce
Being Mobile Compatible
Mobile CRM has become the need of the hour. It is important for users to have access to core CRM functionalities when on the go. This opens out a whole range of possibilities for CRM users. Salesforce continues to dominate mobile features. Take a look at ForceManager for example – While it does have mobile user support, when compared to Salesforce, it does not have social collaboration features, or social network integration. MethodCRM, in fact, is not yet mobile compatible.
Microsoft Dynamics, just like Salesforce, is browser and mobile-ready, with Microsoft being completely cloud-based. Salesforce on the other hand, works perfectly if you are not looking to own the license outright and are happy to host the software on your existing servers.
Using Data to Personalize Experiences
Research has shown that in a large number of cases, visits to an ecommerce site are not based on recommendation clicks. But, the few that come in from recommendation yield high results. Though the click-through rate of recommendations is just 7%, the number of orders that come through them are 24% and the revenue generated 26%. This shows that personalized experiences are the future.
When comparing the two top contenders, SugarCRM and Salesforce – here is what makes Salesforce stand apart. Its Einstein AI uses all the data and processes in Salesforce and creates trends as well as tracks behaviour patterns for both the customer as well as the team. This enhances workflows as well as increases sales opportunities that may have otherwise been lost in the hectic pace of things.
Einstein AI on the other hand, works more on a predictive basis, filling in data based on previous searches. While its Hint is impressive with its collation of information on various contacts, it is an add-on for SugarCRM, and does not predict trends.
Salesforce CRM provides everything that you need at your fingers. A basic comparison between Salesforce, SugarCRM and Microsoft Dynamics, as well as other platforms shows that the number of features, provisions for third-party integrations etc., make Salesforce a great option for large businesses. The added advantage is that it is always keeping up with evolving needs.
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