TMCnet News
Forrester: CRM Market To Hit $74 Billion In 2007By David Sims TMCnet Contributing Editor With the customer relationship management market for 2007 predicted to grow 11 percent, VendorGuru.com recommends that businesses find a CRM vendor who "recognizes the benefits of an effective CRM strategy to build customer loyalty within their specific industry." There you go, Merry Christmas from all of us. Gartner (News - Alert), another technology market analyst firm, reports that the CRM applications market will remain strong in the coming year, and there will be a shortage of skilled CRM workers. That means finding the right source for CRM expertise is more important than ever as it becomes increasingly difficult to hire CRM-trained professionals. So reading between the lines there, it appears you'll have fewer consultants splitting a larger pie. Not a bad deal. VendorGuru does a decent job keeping us informed of stuff like this, last month they cited figures from the U.S. Small Business Administration showing over 600,000 new small businesses sprouted in 2005, making a significant economic impact. And that's 600,000 companies who need to know about Customer Relationship Management (CRM). "Most small businesses want to grow and continue to win new customers. But the different technology needs of companies mean one CRM solution or strategy may not fit all," said Aris Pantazopoulos, managing director of Contact Solutions. Small businesses are underestimating the importance of customer relationship management in business growth, according to Melinda Nykamp, Vice President of Customer Strategy Integration for Fair, Isaac and Company, Inc., who writes, "Indeed, your customer base has become your key to success in an increasingly competitive business climate. This is one of the primary reasons why customer relationships are making it closer to top of asset entries on corporate balance sheets." In comments provided by VendorGuru.com, Nykamp says successful CRM initiatives must focus on the customer, include the business strategy, connect customer intelligence about customer needs into the daily operations of the organization, and measure the relationship. Earlier this month VendorGuru provided the results of studies which show that between 36 and 14 percent of North American companies were using VoIP  products and services in 2005, tying the results in to companies' adoption of CRM technology.David Sims is contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims’ columnist page. |