CRM again from same vendor? ‘Nope’ say buyers

BOSTON: According to a new report by Independent IT Analyst,  over 40 per cent of CRM/SFA buyers would not make a purchase from the same vendor again. Independent IT Analyst surveyed 1,242 sales leaders and IT executives in multiple industries in order to provide objective analysis to technology buyers.

Some answers give a better glimpse of this strong inclination towards what may be called as some sort of anti-incumbency. “We thought we made a good decision based on our needs and what our consultants recommended. We came to find out later our consultants and the research company we paid, make the same vendor recommendation to everyone ,” said a buyer.

"We thought we made a good decision based on our needs and what our consultants recommended. We came to find out later our consultants and the research company we paid, make the same vendor recommendation to everyone," said one VP of Sales.

Until now the purchasers of CRM and Sales Force Automation (SFA) technologies have not been able to obtain impartial data to assist them in the vendor selection process.

The typical CRM/SFA selection process is skewed in favor of the technology vendor. Product demonstrations usually highlight the product's strengths and mask weaknesses. Customer references are not always reliable since they may be receiving some form of compensation from their vendor. Technology vendors pay analyst firms to write supposedly "objective" white papers. From the buyer's perspective it becomes nearly impossible to tell fact from fiction.

According to James Fahey, founder and CEO of Independent IT Analyst, Inc.

 “There is too much hype out in the marketplace today and our goal is to help technology buyers make the most informed decision possible without the influence of the technology vendor.”

Vendors like Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce.com, SAP, GoldMine, and SalesLogix were rated and reviewed by the CEO's, Sales Vice Presidents, CIO's, and CMO's on actual use of their SFA systems. The 2009 Sales Force Automation Customer Satisfaction Vendor Ranking Report contains specific information such as vendor implementation success/failure rates, return on investment, greatest customer satisfaction, best CRM/SFA user interface, best reports and dashboards. Independent IT Analyst Inc. provides direct feedback on customer satisfaction directly from actual users of SFA systems. "