In recent years, implementing CRM technology on a phase-by-phase or module-by-module basis has risen almost to the level of a best practice. The rationale supporting this approach is twofold: First, it is cheaper; and second, it heads off many of the well-documented woes that beset large suite deployments.
In a new report, Aberdeen Group takes issue with this latter assumption and challenges the related belief that a high proportion of CRM users are dissatisfied with their end results. "There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the industry over the last few years, but it has not been supported by any broad-based research," Denis Pombriant, vice president and managing director of Aberdeen's CRM practice, told CRMDaily.com.
The report, "Does CRM Work?" is based on a wide-ranging survey of Siebel customers to gauge their satisfaction with CRM in general and Siebel in particular. Aberdeen chose Siebel as a bellwether, Pombriant said, because it is the installed base leader in CRM license sales and because it was one of the earliest vendors in the market. In general, its customers have more experience with CRM technology than those of other vendors.
The survey disclosed somewhat surprising results: "Basically, Siebel customers are happy and satisfied with their implementations," Pombriant said, and that is significant not only for Siebel, but also for the industry as a whole.
Happy People
Among Aberdeen's findings:
More than 95 percent of survey respondents said they are satisfied with their CRM investment and will continue to use Siebel.
Some 73 percent of survey respondents said they will add to or upgrade their CRM system in the next 12 months.
Most customers cited specific benefits they receive from their CRM deployments, and most pointed to productivity improvements in specific areas. For example, customers reported that sales productivity increased 17 percent, on average; service and contact center productivity increased 16 percent; and marketing productivity increased 12 percent.
Operating costs declined by 10.4 percent for more than 87 percent of customers surveyed.
More than 90 percent of survey respondents said they would recommend Siebel to others contemplating a CRM deployment;
Just 0.6 percent of survey respondents said they would discontinue using their CRM systems altogether; 1.5 percent said they would change vendors.
Industry Fodder
To be sure, reported dissatisfaction among Siebel customers has been fodder for analysts, competitors and the media for a long time. Some of the negative attention certainly has been justified; some can be attributed to the inevitable jousting that occurs when companies try to knock a lead vendor from its perch. (continued...)
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