50+ CRM Stats All Sellers Need to Know for 2021

Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to technology / systems used for staying on top of every aspect of your interactions with customers. These tools help with everything from streamlining communication and sales processes to storing and organizing customer information, and they can have a dramatic impact on your company’s profitability. 

When you send an email to your marketing list on HubSpot, for example, you’re using CRM. Additionally, utilizing Replyco Helpdesk Software for eCommerce to centralize messages from all of your customers into one inbox represents customer relationship management. 

To truly understand how this technology can affect your business and why every company should be using it, let’s take a look at some recent CRM facts and stats that all sellers need to know for 2021 and beyond. 

Better Access to Data and Improved Productivity

One of the main reasons for using CRM is that it helps to store and organize customer information. In fact, according to recent research from Software Advice, 74% of users surveyed reported that their CRM systems gave them “improved access to customer data.” 

And with better access to data also comes improved work performance. Additional studies suggest that mobile CRM can increase employee productivity by as much as 15%. 

Furthermore, a study from Nucleus Research concluded that when salespeople enjoy good data accessibility, the sales cycle is shortened by 8 to 14%. 

CRM Is Integral to Sales, Marketing and Customer Retention

Speaking of sales, this guide will contain a ton of stats that relate to how CRM is integral to increasing sales, retaining customers and creating more effective marketing campaigns. Let’s just jump right into the myriad of key facts… 

First of all, Salesforce recently reported that CRM systems can help increase sales by a whopping 29%. The same research also showed that customer relationship management can boost sales productivity by 34% and sales forecast accuracy by 42%. 

A study from the Aberdeen Group shows that sales teams that are productive and have effective workflows are 81% more likely to be making consistent use of CRM systems. Additionally, the “Startup Sales Stack Report: 2017” concluded that CRM is widely considered to be one of the most important aspects of sales, along with lead generation and lead engagement. 

Entrepreneurial influencer and software reviewer Adam Enfroy has also released new data for 2021. It shows 48% of companies report that improving their CRM sales funnel is among their list of top priorities for this year. On that same note, HubSpot’s “Not Another State of Marketing Report” contained research showing that 13% of companies say investing in CRM is one of their overall top priorities. 

A compilation of research published by Finances Online states that CRM can boost conversion rates by a staggering 300% and increase revenue by up to 41% per sales representative. 

Additionally, Finances Online reported that sales professionals can use customer relationship management to reduce lead costs by 23%, while improving customer retention by 27%. Even more than that, a significant 47% of users reported that CRM “greatly improved their customer retention rates” in a recent Nutshell release. Another 47% of respondents also said it made a significant impact on customer satisfaction rates. 

Finally, 48% of sales teams heavily utilize CRM to improve operations, according to CSO Insights’ 2018 “Sales Optimization Study.”

CRM Leads to Big ROI

Along with better sales and marketing results, CRM also leads to a big return on investment (ROI). 

In fact, a study by Inc.com showed that an effectively implemented system can remit a minimum ROI of $2.50 to $6.50 on each and every dollar invested. Going further, 54% of businesses reported viewing CRM tools as impactful to their bottom line in a 2016 Business.LinkedIn report. And according to Nucleus, the average ROI per dollar spent on customer relationship management is even higher, at $8.71. 

IBM also reports that a CRM system, when properly implemented, can net a massive 245% ROI, overall. 

We can also deduce that the aforementioned reduction in lead costs, improvement in employee productivity and other effects CRM has on sales, marketing and retention efforts all mean better ROI. 

Adoption Rates Are Growing Exponentially

Businesses are really catching on to the many benefits offered by CRM. As a result, adoption rates have absolutely exploded in recent years. 

First of all, the CRM market size currently has a value of $120 billion, according to Forbes. The market is also predicted to continue growing at an exponential rate of 12% per year through at least 2025. 

According to Stellaxxius, usage of CRM systems increased from 56% in 2018 to 74% in 2019. In addition, an overwhelming majority of companies (91%) with more than 11 employees use such systems. And another 46% of sales teams report “widespread use of CRMs,” as shown in a study by Entrepreneur.com.

Finally, G2 recently reported that the number of CRM products on its site had increased from 178 to 394 (a 121.3% jump) in just one year.

Why are companies investing so heavily in customer relationship management? The answer is simple. In addition to the many benefits that have already been mentioned in relation to sales and ROI, businesses know that making an effort to better connect with and understand customers will help their companies grow. As we’ve stated before, acquiring a new customer is 5X more costly than retaining an existing one. In fact, investing in customer loyalty by just 5% can increase your profits by as much as 95%. And one of the best ways to achieve all of this is to keep your customer relationship management on point. 

Mobile and Social CRM Are Also Rising in Popularity

Speaking of keeping customer relationship management on point, mobile and social CRM are also rising in popularity at an enormous rate. 

Mobile CRM Stats

According to Algoworks’ “Envisioning CRM 2019 – Facts, Stats and Predictions,” 81% of marketers now operate their CRM systems from multiple devices. And data from SuperOffice shows that 61% of companies now view mobile CRM as a “mainstream method for tapping into their customer base.”

It’s no surprise that companies are adopting mobile CRM. After all, 87% of customers shop through their mobile devices and use them to interact with brands, according to this Nielsen report. Meanwhile, this presentation shows that 65% of sales reps who adopted mobile CRM were able to meet their sales targets (as opposed to only 22% of respondents who were using “non-mobile” CRM systems).

The SuperOffice study also reported that users of mobile business applications experienced an 87% increase in sales, as well as 74% and 73% improvements in customer satisfaction and business efficiency rates, respectively. 

A panel of company “decision makers” told Nucleus Research that mobile CRM increased their productivity by 14.6%, while a Forrester Research study showed that a full 50% of businesses reported using it to boost productivity. And on the same topic of productivity, 48% of CRM users work from their smartphones, while another 45% also utilize tablets, according to ForceManager. Finally, 24% more sales reps report being able to achieve annual sales quotas when they have access to mobile CRM solutions. 

Lastly, this data compilation shows that the adoption numbers for cloud-based CRM systems are also on the rise. In 2008, only 12% of CRM-using businesses utilized a cloud-based system. But in 2012, that number had jumped all the way up to 87%. 

Social CRM Stats

According to Twitter’s internal research, customer interactions on the social media platform have increased by an enormous 250% in the past two years. Furthermore, 86% of customers report the expectation to hear back from companies on Twitter when they lodge a complaint there. 

A research report from Adweek also supports this idea, showing that 25% of social media users expect businesses to reply to their complaints within one hour. 

However, using social CRM isn’t just about responding to complaints. As shown by this Global Web Index data, 1 in 4 customers follow their favorite brands on social media. Additionally, social CRM has been shown to improve customer retention by up to 26%, while BYOD (bring your own device) and the incorporation of social media into customer relationship management have also increased employee productivity by the same percentage (26%). 

Going even further on how social CRM improves employee efficiency, 26.4% of sales reported an increase in productivity since adding mobile and social CRM capabilities to their apps, according to Nucleus. The same report also showed an overall increase of 8% in general company productivity in association with social CRM usage. 

Most Companies Adopt CRM Early

Statistics show that most businesses adopt a CRM system early in the company’s inception. According to data from Capterra, in fact, a full 65% of businesses implement a customer relationship management solution within their first five years of existence. 

Businesses Value Ease of Use

In the Finances Online stat compilation, respondents were very clear on what they value most highly when it comes to selecting a solution. The majority of those surveyed (65%) said ease of use is the most important factor for a CRM system to offer. Schedule management and “data snapshot capability” came in second and third, at 27% and 18%, respectively. 

And a report from SoftwareAdvice.com laid out the most commonly requested CRM features. They include contact management at 94%, interaction tracking at 88% and schedule / reminder creation at 85%. 

Customer Experience Stats

When it comes to using CRM software, the whole purpose is to improve customer experience in order to, in turn, increase factors such as sales and retention. So let’s look at a few customer experience stats that relate to CRM. 

For starters, 84% of customers say the experience a company offers is every bit as important as the products or services they sell. Another 69% of shoppers also report the expectation of receiving a “connected experience” when they engage with a company. And 78% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments. 

We already know from previous Replyco articles that customer service is poised to overtake price and product as the number one factor in brand selection / preference. But research also shows that 94% of customers are looking to make repeat purchases from the same store. That presents companies with a golden opportunity to retain those shoppers and encourage repeat business by properly managing customer relationships. 

One great way to use CRM to improve customer experience? Personalization. Epsilon reports that an overwhelming 80% majority of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases when brands offer a personalized experience. Meanwhile, this presentation shows that 90% of respondents said personalization makes a sales website more appealing. 

Other shoppers report placing a high value on a company’s culture and stance on social issues. In fact, a Cone Communications study found that 87% of shoppers say they are more willing to buy from companies whose stance on social matters they share. During that same study, another 76% of consumers said they would refuse to do business with a company that held or supported stances and beliefs that conflicted with their own. 

Challenges

CRM isn’t without its challenges, however. To start, Hubspot’s “The State of Inbound 2016,” concluded that 22% of sales professionals are still unsure about what CRM even is. Hubspot also reported that the biggest obstacle companies reported to obtaining a CRM solution was price. 

And while CRM systems exist to help employees better manage customer relations, Normalys reports that fewer than 37% of sales pros actually take advantage of the CRM software their companies have available. The same study also said data synchronization is a “major issue” for 51% of CRM users. And yet another report, this one by SalesFlare, says 43% of CRM users only utilize less than half of the features included in their CRM platform. 

The aforementioned “Not Another State of Marketing Report” from HubSpot cites another primary roadblock to CRM adoption: manual data entry. And the Normalys report says that 32% of sales reps spend more than an hour each day on manual data entry. Finally, sales professionals reportedly spend ⅔ of their work day on administrative tasks like CRM software management. 

The problems also go beyond simple difficulty with managing the data for CRMs or not utilizing all of their available features. Users also cite problems with long setup and implementation times. In fact, the previously mentioned report from ForceManager shows that businesses say that it takes 1 to 6 months on average to get a CRM system implemented. It can then take a further 3 to 5 years before the company begins seeing significant ROI from the adoption. 

But the statistics in this section aren’t meant to point out reasons not to adopt a CRM system. Quite the opposite, actually. They just serve to illustrate how important it is that you find the right CRM for your business. You need to research the software, learn all about setup times, steps and costs, ask questions and compare features against your company goals. 

HELPDESK FOR ECOMMERCE SELLERS

Improve Customers Service & Save Time

From centralized messaging to automation and team collaboration, Replyco is designed to help your support team save time, improve the customer experience and boost your eCommerce business.

Learn More

For example, if you’re a multi-channel eCommerce seller who’s looking to centralize all customer messages into one inbox, Replyco may be the perfect solution for you.

Want to learn more? Feel free to take a tour of our features or head over to our Public Roadmap and discover what’s on tap for 2021. Or you can get started today with you no-risk, no-credit-card-required, free 7-day trial! 

If you ever have any questions about how we help online sellers get a handle on their customer service, please reach out to us any time. We’re always happy to chat!