CRM software, applications & profitability

After a period of decline at the turn of the century, demand for CRM software appears to be rebounding in the Australian marketplace. However, a large proportion of companies are still undeveloped in terms of their application of software to support customer management. Our research shows that less than 40% of companies use CRM software to support their customer management strategies. When it is used, software more commonly supports customer retention and development than customer acquisition. However, when applied to customer acquisition activities our research indicates that it results in more cost-effective marketing. Companies that do employ software are generally satisfied with its return on investment, with the exception of larger companies. Non-service oriented companies are less likely to use the software to support their marketing activities of acquisition, retention and development compared to service-oriented companies. The performance of the software in meeting companies' expectations of customer retention is a statistically significant predictor of profitability. We conclude that the intelligent adoption and deployment of CRM software can yield improvements in profitability.