The concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has evolved in the last couple of decades and focuses a great deal on software. Initially, CRM was used by large enterprises with a limited functionality as a customer database only. Now, customer data is attainable to almost anyone within the company, as well as quickly analyzed and used in marketing and sales to increase profits. According to Gartner, Inc, in recent years, worldwide customer relationship management (CRM) software revenue overtook that of database management systems (DBMSs), making CRM the largest of all software markets. Worldwide CRM software revenue amounted to $39.5 billion in 2017 overtaking DBMS revenue, which reached $36.8 billion in the same year. “In 2018, CRM software revenue will continue to take the lead of all software markets and be the fastest growing software market with a growth rate of 16 percent,” said Julian Poulter, research director at Gartner. The strong growth rate of CRM software revenue is driven in particular by the segments of lead management, voice of the customer and field service management, each of which is achieving more than 20 percent growth.
Catering to Millennials by Improving Those Outdated CRM Models