Sales Research Publications

Customer Relationship Management Series

• On Demand versus On Premise CRM: Are There Performance Differences?
  

  In our assessment over the years of the success of CRM systems, one dynamic stood out - the type of system installed. It seemed to have a profound impact on the results achieved through leveraging CRM to improve sales performance. Specifically, there were significant differences in user experiences by firms implementing On-Demand versus On-Premise CRM applications.
  
  For this analysis, we compared the survey responses from participants who implemented the leading On-Demand CRM solutions (Salesforce.com, Siebel OnDemand, and NetSuite) with those who implemented the most widely known enterprise On-Premise CRM systems (Siebel, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, and Microsoft). In the following white paper, these differences are explored in depth.
  
  Readers will note that, based on user experiences, On-Demand CRM holds the edge over On-Premise CRM in key areas including:

  • Considerably more firms are achieving significant improvements in performance
  • Dramatically shorter system implementation times
  • Significantly fewer project budget overruns
  • Noticeably higher customer satisfaction

  
  In this white paper, for each of these areas, the differences in user ratings will be profiled as well as perspectives on the trends that are contributing to these differences in project results.

• Improving Inside Sales Effectiveness Using Technology : Putting Web Collaboration to Work
  

  In our first survey on Inside Sales Effectiveness, over 400 companies responded to the survey covering more than 50 different metrics. A summary report was prepared that looked primarily at the demographic profile of participants. For example, the number of inside sales reps on their team, how these reps are assigned quota and compensated, tasks they routinely perform, time associated with these tasks, etc.
  
  There are other areas of interest to further investigate from the survey data, principle among these is the impact of technology on inside sales effectiveness. This paper, a companion piece to the summary report referenced above, looks primarily at the Internet and how firms are leveraging the power of the web and tools now available to support their sales efforts. In the most general case, quota attainment is an indicator of sales effectiveness and of the tangible return companies can look toward at least as partial justification for future investments. These investments might be bringing in new technology to further support the inside sales effort, to allow greater customer self-service, to increase marketing and brand awareness, etc. We have mined the data to identify specific areas that warrant further consideration by companies interested in knowing what is working and what is not. What looks promising and what does not.
  
  One of the most common forms of technology, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications has been broadly implemented by firms reporting. CRM can range from ACT! or Outlook at one end to Siebel or Oracle (soon to be the same!) at the other. Can these applications contribute to improved sales effectiveness. Improved performance? The answer appears to be a solid .Yes.. Firms having implemented CRM outnumber those not implementing by 3:1 and their overall quota attainment is 60% versus 49%, respectively. Two conclusions can be drawn from these figures.
  
  First, CRM does not enjoy a 75% market penetration in general, so the high ratio here confirms that inside sales and call centers have been early and broad adopters of technology. Second, with overall quota attainment for the entire survey population at 58.2%, it is clear that new performance gains and competitive advantage will be coming from complementary and/or ancillary technologies.
  
  We have directionally observed and present in the following pages areas where certain companies are seeing real gains. These areas include:

  1. Using the web to conduct account research, on-line demos, web-based collaboration and seminars (.webinars.), and lead follow-up/fulfillment.
  2. Leveraging web-demos and collaboration to outpace other firms in quota attainment by 9-22%, depending on average deal-size.
  3. Seeing turnover rates 50-100% better than firms not using web-based collaboration technologies.

  
  It is our opinion that early adoption of appropriate technologies will provide immediate and near-term competitive advantage. In the longer term we feel the best of these technologies will become commonplace and firms continuing to resist their implementation will be at a definite competitive disadvantage.

• The Impact of CRM and Sales Process
  

  One issue we analyze in our annual surveys is the integration of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology and a formal sales process. We pay particular attention to its impact on sales performance.
  
  This white paper explores the topic in greater detail. In this analysis, we compare the effectiveness of sales organizations that have implemented a formalized sales process that can be actively tracked and analyzed using CRM applications against companies that have not. Compared to their peers, those firms that successfully implemented process and technology to focus and support their sales forces. efforts are monetizing their investments by achieving:

  • 11.3% improvement in the number of sales reps achieving quota;
  • Significant increases in success rates at major stages of the sell cycle;
  • 11.4% improvement in win rates of forecast deals; and
  • twofold improvement in the number of firms generating significant ROIs from their CRM investments.

  
  This white paper discusses the reasons behind these performance improvements and highlights the hard dollar impact they can have on sales performance.

$295.00