Social CRM, SaaS Sales to Reshape CRM Market

The next few years will reshape the CRM market, significantly altering the way manufacturers and other businesses buy and use CRM software.That’s the forecast from the CRM analysts at research firm Gartner. They predicted in a recent report that trends such as social CRM, the SaaS delivery model, and more empowered consultants and systems integrators will be crucial factors in changing the market for customer relationship management software.

A few years ago, few business users were familiar withsocial CRM; within two years, Gartner predicts, social CRM technology will account for $1 billion in sales. That would be 8% of the $12 billion CRM market. The catch-all phrase social CRM encompasses elements of social networking technology, and is often used for initiatives such as crowd-sourcing product ideas, broadening the reach of customer service beyond traditional call centers, and building new customer relationships through the growing universe of online social networks and applications.