It’s no secret that much of a company’s CRM success depends on selecting the right technology. Organizations have to weigh the costs, features, and functionality, a vendor’s ability to cater to specific industries, and more. There’s so much to consider that the vendor selection process can be overwhelming. That’s why we offer a place to start with our annual CRM Market Leader awards.
According to this year’s Market Leaders research, organizations today want CRM technology that provides easy access to essential data (through the cloud, mobile devices, and a unified user interface); the ability to personalize customer experiences; and predictive and prescriptive analytics that can scour oceans of data. This year’s CRM Market Leaders have responded with solutions that will meet—and in some cases exceed—these demands.
In addition to rating CRM vendors’ product functionality, our judges gave scores on customer satisfaction, company direction, and product costs to vendors in nine market segments. In each market segment, we name one category winner (the company with the highest overall score compared to its peers), four industry leaders, and one company to watch. The results are revealed in the following pages. Read on to begin your vendor selection journey. —By the editors of CRM magazine
As the editors of CRM magazine present our 14th annual Market Awards, we must, as we do every year, express our gratitude to the analysts and experts who, in degrees large and small, made this issue, and the awards themselves, possible. Many thanks to: Leslie Ament, senior vice president, research, and principal analyst, Hypatia Research Group; Joanne Correia, research vice president, Gartner; Jim Dickie, managing director, CSO Insights, a division of MHI Global; Mike Fauscette, group vice president, software business solutions, IDC; Paul Greenberg, president, The 56 Group; Andy Hayler, founder and CEO, The Information Difference; Doug Henschen, principal analyst, Constellation Research; Steve King, partner, Emergent Research; Esteban Kolsky, founder, ThinkJar; Brent Leary, cofounder and partner, CRM Essentials; Laurie McCabe, cofounder, The SMB Group; Anne Moxie, analyst, Nucleus Research; Denis Pombriant, founder and managing principal, Beagle Research; John Ragsdale, vice president, technology and social research, Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA); Ray Wang, founder and principal analyst, Constellation Research; Rebecca Wettemann, vice president, Nucleus Research.