CRM in 2010: The experts' predictions

image MyCustomer.com is looking at what 2010 might hold for the CRM industry.

"CRM is a solid industry. There may be naysayers who state that the CRM failure rate is 50-70% and so on, but the reality is that this isn’t even true anymore. That was from a Gartner report six or seven years ago when CRM was an immature industry and when the hype surrounding it was greater than what the reality could deliver. Now it has settled into reality and it is now a $13bn industry that has projected growth. Businesses are not so stupid that they would keep investing in something that has a great likelihood of failure. But not only are they not stopping, but they are increasing their investment in it. And furthermore, the projects continue to increase because there is enough success in CRM to indicate that it is worth the risk - and everything is a risk.

CRM has matured and consequently people realise that the seven cities of gold are not going to appear as a result of their CRM implementations. But what is going to happen is that you get better results with your customers. With expectations a little more realistic and legitimate, it provides enough value to be worth it, and when you combine that and the downturn, where businesses are looking to retain customers, overall you’re looking at a healthy industry." – Paul Greenberg

This is a good read.