Inquiry Insights: CRM Customers Focus On Business Processes, Not Technologies

In the past 18 months, the questions we've received about customer relationship management (CRM) software show that people implementing these applications are more focused on business processes than technology. These results have important implications for CRM vendors, many of whom are trying to win customers by touting their platform technology strengths. These technology issues — on-premise or on-demand deployments, the merits of underlying database and application server components, the degree to which the application is customizable — are interesting only insofar as they have a direct impact on revenue, market share, and other bottom-line issues. From marketing to product design, many CRM vendors are dangerously out of alignment with customer priorities.