Over the years, we’ve spoken to thousands of prospective CRM software buyers, providing us unparalleled insight into their motivations for investing in new technology. Recently, we analyzed 5,279 of these interactions (conducted between January and August this year) and uncovered the following trends.

1. CRM Software
BuyerView Report
Insight into today’s software buyer

2. Abstract
Recently, Software Advice analyzed 5,279 interactions with prospective CRM
software buyers (conducted between January and August this year) to uncover
the following trends:
• While half of the organizations in our sample didn’t have a preference when it
came to the deployment model, for those who did, 96 percent wanted a Cloudbased system.
• A vast majority of prospective buyers wanted to evaluate best-of-breed
solutions (e.g. Marketing Automation, Sales Force Automation) over an
integrated suite.
• Sales Force Automation was the top-requested CRM application among both
best-of-breed buyers and those wanting an integrated suite.

3. Top Evaluated Deployment Model Among Buyers
2%
50%
48%
On-premise
Cloud-based
Not determined
Though half of the sample had not yet made a decision on the deployment model,
among those who had, only 2 percent were seeking an on-premise solution.

4. Buyers' Integration Requirements
7% 2%
Best-of-breed
Integrated suite
Multiple products
91%
The vast majority of the sample was interested in evaluating a single, best-ofbreed solution, as opposed to an integrated suite, or even multiple applications.

5. Best-of-Breed Buyers' Top-Requested Applications
3%
4%
4%
6%
Sales automation
Field service
Marketing automation
Call center
Help desk
Customer service
8%
76%
Sales Force Automation was the No. 1 most-requested CRM application among
organizations wanting to evaluate best-of-breed products.

6. Integrated Suite Buyers' Top-Requested Applications
Sales automation
Marketing automation
Customer service
Help desk
Web self-service
Call center
Knowledge management
Field service
Channel management
Social CRM
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Percent of sample
Organizations evaluating integrated suites were most interested in systems that
integrated sales, marketing and support applications.

7. Top-Requested CRM Software Features
Contact management
Note-taking capabilites
Reporting/analytics
Integration
Server/database
Custom dashboards
User friendly interface
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Percent of sample
Our sample asked for traditional features (e.g. contact management) most, though
reporting often included newer types of analysis, such as social and predictive.

8. Buyers' Existing CRM Systems
26%
44%
5%
Commercial CRM
Proprietary CRM
Software other than CRM
Nothing
24%
Sixty-eight percent of the buyers we sampled were either using non-industryspecific software (e.g. Microsoft Office) or manual methods, such as spreadsheets.

9. Top Reasons for Replacing Existing CRM System
Improve efficiency
Need more/better features
Need better integration
Unhappy with current system
Time to update/upgrade
Other
Company growth/transition
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Percent of sample
For those replacing a system, more than 60 percent said either their current
solution didn’t do enough to increase efficiency, or that features were inadequate.

10. Top Reasons for Replacing Another Type of Software
Improve accuracy/efficiency
Need more/better features
Time to update/upgrade
Unhappy with current system
Other
Customer support issues
Company growth/transition
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Percent of sample
People replacing another type of software reported similar reasons as those
replacing a CRM, with the exception of citing support issues instead of integrations.

11. Reasons for Purchasing CRM Software for the First Time
Improve efficiency
Need specific features
Starting new company
Company growth
Other
Improve integration
Improve collaboration
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Percent of sample
The need to increase efficiency was by far the most significant impetus behind firsttime buyers’ decision to invest in software; 60 percent cited this as their reason.

12. Number of Employees in Buyers' Companies
Best-of-breed buyers
Integrated suite buyers
0%
1 employee
21-100 employees
20%
40%
2-5 employees
101-500 employees
60%
80%
100%
6-20 employees
>500 employees
Buyers of integrated suites tended to be much larger than buyers of best-of-breed
solutions. Half of best-of-breed buyers had 20 or fewer employees.

13. Annual Revenue of Software Buyers' Companies
Best-of-breed buyers
Integrated suite buyers
0%
<$1 million
$101-500 million
20%
$1-5 million
>$500 million
40%
60%
$6-25 million
80%
100%
$26-100 million
Half of best-of-breed buyers earned less than $1 million per year on average, while
integrated suite buyers were closer to $5 million in revenue.

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15. @SoftwareAdvice
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@SoftwareAdvice
Software Advice™ is a trusted resource for software buyers. The company's
website, www.softwareadvice.com, provides detailed reviews, comparisons and
research to help organizations choose the right software. Meanwhile, the company’s
team of software analysts provide free telephone consultations to help each
software buyer identify systems that best fit their needs. In the process, Software
Advice connects software buyers and sellers, generating high-quality opportunities
for software vendors.