Survey Reveals CRM practitioners Have Been Slow to Embrace Social Networking

SugarCRM, a customer relationship management (CRM) company, announced the results of its 2010 Social CRM Survey. The poll’s results reinforced the notion that in the year 2010, CRM practitioners have been slow to embrace social. Those that have chosen to take advantage of this new technology have enjoyed a competitive advantage in the market and a considerable return on investment, placing them firmly ahead of their challengers.

Survey Results

-- 42 percent of respondents said LinkedIn is where they most often interact with or research customers and prospects, while 32 percent listed Facebook and 14 percent listed Twitter.

-- 50 percent of respondents said yes, social networks have helped their business become more successful in the last 12 months.

-- Only 26 percent of respondents said they currently integrate their customers’ social networking information with their existing CRM data.

-- 72 percent of respondents said they plan to integrate their customers’ social networking information into their existing CRM data within the next year.

After reviewing the results, the discrepancies among the responses become obvious. Over half of those polled indicated that social networks have helped their business become more successful, yet only 26 percent of respondents currently utilize this priceless social network information.

According to the survey, 2011 will bring much change to the CRM market; virtually all of the respondents agreed that over the course of the new year they planned to integrate their customers’ social networking information into their existing CRM data. While nearly half of all respondents stated that having social CRM capabilities would impact their decision-making when purchasing their company’s next CRM system, it’s clear that social CRM will become a staple in the market by 2012. 

More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.