ISMM survey shows organisations value CRM but prefer home .

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A study of customer relationship management (CRM) systems - organised by the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM), the UK's association for sales professionals - reveals that some 77 per cent of organisations in the UK now use a CRM system. Moreover, 60 per cent of organisations are satisfied or very satisfied with their CRM system.

Of those not presently using CRM, 45 per cent said that they contrive to use a CRM system in the future; while 34 per cent were concerned in CRM systems but said they required more information about their value.

However, some 50 per cent of those polled by the ISMM along with information specialists Infogroup (which markets OneSource) said that it was hard to enforce their CRM system.

A `home-grown` CRM system (used by 30 per cent of respondents) proved more democratic than any of the commercially available CRM systems. Of these, however, the most popular were:

ACT!

Salesforce.com

Microsoft Dynamics

SAP

Goldmine

SageCRM

Siebel

Pivotal

SugarCRM

While 94 per cent of respondents said that they use CRM for contact management, the former key applications for CRM are:

Contact management

Opportunity management

Sales analytics/ forecasting

Telesales/ inside sales

Customers service

Lead generation

Mobile working

Territory management

Although many users said that they use CRM for such activities as organising webinars and email campaigns, very few are using `social CRM` - for example, in price of integration with LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Writing in the ISMM`s magazine, Winning Edge, Marc Beishon - a specialist writer on sales and marketing issues - commented: `Since CRM burst onto the software scene in the 1990s, there has been a good care of fallout and integration in the market, and some user organisations are now on their third or fourth implementation, having switched suppliers and abandoned projects.

`But the marketplace is now seen as a mature sector where the immense bulk of bigger companies are using a CRM system for at least some view of their operations in the spectrum of functions from frontline sales to selling to customer service.`

In Beishon`s view, the coming of cloud computing enables processes that were, previously, not feasible but, instead of consolidation leading to a few strong CRM vendors, there is now a greater selection of CRM offerings than ever.

Further details of the ISMM/ Infogroup`s CRM survey can be ground in Winning Edge (July/August 2011 edition) or from the ISMM.

Ends

About The Plant of Sales & Marketing Management

The Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM) is the UK's association for sales professionals. Founded in 1911 to raise standards of excellency in sales and sales management and to raise the condition and visibility of sales as a profession, the ISMM supports, represents and promotes the sales profession. It has been the authoritative interpreter of marketing and the custodian of sales standards, ethics and best use for many years.

The ISMM is also responsible for establishing benchmarks of professionalism in sales. It is the only membership body recognized by the UK Government regulatory body Ofqual as an awarding organisation to offer qualifications in sales, marketing and sales management.

The ISMM`s annual British Excellence in Sales & Marketing Awards (BESMA) are the most prestigious awards for the sales profession.

Further information from:

Ben Turner, ISMM, 44 (1582 840001

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 44 (1727 860405