The most important factors that influence the purchase of customer relationship management (CRM) software are functionality and ease of use, according to a recent report from Capterra.
The report was based on data from a survey of 500 CRM users in the United States from B2B and B2C companies.
Some 24% of respondents say functionality was the most important factor that influenced their CRM purchase decision; the next most-cited factor was ease of use (20% of respondents), followed by price (14%) and vendor reputation (9%).
Below, additional key findings from the report.
Deciding to Use a CRM Solution
Some 61% of the companies surveyed first started using a CRM solution within five years of being founded; 66% of respondents had 100+ customers when they first adopted a CRM.
More than half (57%) of respondents say they started using a CRM because they needed a centralized customer database or needed to track key sales/revenue metrics (or both).
Who Uses CRM Software
Sales teams are the biggest users of CRM software within companies (80% of respondents say the Sales team has access), followed by Marketing, Customer Service, and IT.
Most Used Features
Calendar management is the most used CRM feature by respondents (52%), followed by email marketing (50%) and quote/proposal management (46%).
Most Desired Features
A quarter of respondents say they wish their CRM software included more social media monitoring functionality; 24% want their CRM to pull in contact information from social media profiles.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 500 CRM users in the United States from both B2B and B2C companies.
