what is happening as the SAAS CRM sector gets really crowded?

1. CRM Sector Snapshot
Lightning Survey and Narrative
Alan D. Wilensky

2. Overview
● Five vendors = > 45 percent of CRM market in 2015.
● The leading five experienced virtually zero change in rank since 2014.
● The market is experiencing an accelerated tightening due to the sheer number of
new entrants (not all underfunded startups).
● Market has two major segments - 1) Classic per seat SFA, and 2) Agencies /
Service Bureaus, still a large aggregate potential of 100’s of thousands of seats, or
more.
● Subdividing the verticals indicates a potential strategy to overcome a crowded CRM
market - via 1) selective verticalization, and 2) key technology partnerships, and 3)
platform enhancements (apps, connectors) via developer advocacy.

3. Signs of a Tightening Market Sector
1. Consolidation
2. Mid Maturity CRM Companies marketing under two or more aliases
3. Ultra Low or no cap startups buying wholesale or ‘junk’ seats from the CRM
majors and remarketing with near zero support availability (discount).
4. A calendar year with many Vencap based CRM startups pivoting out of SFA
and into other SAAS businesses.
5. Fairly Large increments in Ad buys and Optimizations fail to show a
convincing delta ROI

4. Sub Sectorization
● The predicted move towards verticalization options is in merging
Customization and Configuration with the SFA
● Why? The fastest CRM target growth sector other than retail is custom
manufacturing, specifically electronics sub assy remanufacturing
● The next major uptake for verticalized SFA is direct to servicer mobile fleet
operators, the key being independent owner / operators.....
● ...where Salesforce had entered into competition directly, or made direct
acquisitions

5. Nonexclusive Competitive Strategies
1. CRM Market: One ‘can’t ignore’ dynamic is a “No Salesforce” mindset in High technology
manufacturing, SMEs, remanufacturing, custom mfr. This group is sophisticated, having
experienced difficult ERP integration / growing pains, and they are increasingly unimpressed by
Gartner, Forrester, et al.
2. Implementers, including consultants and VARS, etc. are increasingly on the lookout for richer
systems that are easier (if only somewhat) to integrate with cloud-based accounting and on site
databases.
3. Functional Extensibility seems to be a common topic driven by those likely to be buying or
committing to Cloud CRM, so substantive technology partnerships may be very important for
mid-long-term growth and viability.

6. The Evangelist (Product Advocate)
● A master of Language, able to write, speak, and tell a convincing story
● At least as technical as the best support personnel and able to speak to
developers in depth
● Knows the competitive challenges, competitors, character of the clients
● Has a feel for the trade press, analysts, and key industry trade events
● Keeps up-to-date calendars for trade pubs, events, blog posts, etc.

7. Above and Beyond Advocacy
● Scouting Technology Partnerships
● At least 1/2 an Analyst - funneling industry commentary and context to
Product Management and the Execs.
● The customer’s pulse: is the appetite for credible information satisfied by the
default analyst bureaus? Gartner’s Magic Quadrant continues to fall out of
favor. Both Gartner and Forrester have compromised credibility by charging
clients for their coverage. Customers know this.