2011 Readers' Choice: Customer Relationship Management
This year, the CRM list was expanded from five to eight companies because each firm received a substantial number of votes that we couldn’t ignore. This is not surprising considering the increased focus that CG companies put on creating value differentiation with their customers in the downturn. Here, we asked CGT Research Advisory Board member Hans Van Delden, vice president, Booz & Company, to analyze market trends.CGT: Are the results in this category what you would expect?
Van Delden: It’s interesting to see Microsoft move to the top of the list ahead of the leading enterprise providers. I believe this is due to several industry dynamics. First, despite the fragile state of the economy, the small to mid-sized enterprise market has been very active and Microsoft’s latest offerings are gaining quite a lot of acceptance. Secondly, the economy has forced IT budget reductions. Microsoft, along with some of the other players on the list, has probably benefited from being able to deliver projects at much lower cost versus other vendors.
CGT: Has activity in this market picked up again as we emerge from the downturn?
Van Delden: We have definitely seen improvement with more dollars being made available for larger projects. Our clients are increasingly interested in discussing analytics, trade promotion optimization, marketing mix, shopper insights and mobility. One of the most interesting is marketing mix, which is no longer considered the sole domain of market research but instead is now present across the business.
CGT: How have new technologies changed product offerings in this category?
Van Delden: There is a great deal of interest in mobility as applications and hardware become cheaper, more sophisticated and more readily available. The products have matured to the point where the software can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of sales operations at the outlet level. Meanwhile, social media is an extremely interesting area. CRM applications have historically focused on B2B relationships. However, social media and the Internet will allow CG firms to develop B2C relationships, and the processes and data requirements associated with this trend will shape the software applications accordingly.
BREAKOUT FAVORITES
Customer Experience: Oracle
“Oracle CRM On Demand has enabled us to quickly and easily create a business that builds customer loyalty while guiding future product development” -- S.R. Rao Sahib, Director, NutHatch Nutricare Technologies
SMB Market: Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics CRM garnered leadership recognition by two independent research firms, Gartner Inc. and Forrester Research Inc., for its ability to execute and completeness of vision in sales force automation and for offering a flexible customer service solution.