Investing in customer relationship management software is a “no brainer”, according to a new report examining the results of more than 70 case studies, which shows CRM delivers an ROI of nearly 6:1.
Nucleus Research bases its claim on CRM deployments from a number of suppliers, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft, Oracle, and Sage – as well as CRM-focused projects of Cloud 9 and IBM customers.
The company noted that many large businesses are already on their second and third CRM implementations after being slow out of the blocks; now they are witnessing a healthy return on their investments, equating to $5.60 for every dollar spent.
The other trend driving returns is the way CRM is delivered, says the report. Companies can deploy CRM as a service in most cases and that lowers upfront costs. CRM has also changed processes for the rank-and-file to drive productivity. Meanwhile, critical data is pushed to workers so data is better used.
A Nucleus spokesman said: “Although CRM is often first considered as a top-line investment to drive increased sales, many projects also yield direct benefits as well.
“In terms of overall financial value, the CRM projects studied in this analysis delivered 63% direct benefits, such as cost savings or avoided staff appointments, and 37% indirect benefits, such as increased productivity or greater customer retention. In fact, CRM investment is a ‘no brainer’.”
Founded in 2000 in the US, Nucleus publishes ongoing technology research following an investigative, case-based approach rather than traditional analyst opinions. The company has published a number of controversial investigative research reports, including one stating that 61% of customers listed as references on Siebel’s website had not achieved a positive ROI from their Siebel deployments.
