Which CRM firms can you remember, unaided?

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on February 15, 2002

A study from ITSMA reveals that few people can remember the names of CRM firms. Building a strong brand in this US$40 billion market could reap huge rewards.

IBM Global Systems, Accenture and Siebel Systems were the CRM firms that most people could remember by name, unaided. This was revealed in a study just released by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA). Surprisingly, the study, Customer Relationship Management Services: Understanding Brand Awareness and Positioning in the CRM Services Market,  found that nearly half the respondents couldn't name a single provider of CRM services.

Unaided awareness
According to Julie Schwartz, ITSMA's vice president of research: "Decision makers clearly identified Siebel, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP as the top providers of CRM software. But when it comes to identifying specific firms that provide CRM services, half the respondents couldn't even name a single provider, and only IBM Global Services, Accenture and Siebel registered any sort of significant unaided awareness."

The CRM market is vast - Gartner puts it at over US$40 billion globally - so building a strong CRM services brand could reap huge rewards. According to the survey, Oracle, Siebel, IBM Global Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Consulting have the highest favourability ratings among CRM solutions providers.

Reputation counts
The most important attributes in selecting providers of CRM services were reputation and financial stability, agility and responsiveness, and ability to integrate new CRM systems with existing systems. When asked what sources most influenced their consideration of CRM firms, respondents chose (in descending order): referrals from colleagues, recommendations from business or strategy consultants and recommendations from CRM software vendors.

Four hundred key decision makers from Fortune 1,000 companies and government departments were interviewed for the study.

More Info: 

http://www.itsma.com