Market Perspectives

ISG Research is happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The CRM Sales: ISG Research Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by ISG Research. This research is part of a portfolio of ISG Buyers Guides in CRM covering marketing, customer service, platform, digital commerce and sales engagement.

Customer relationship management (CRM) allows sales management and sellers to utilize the tools in what has historically been called salesforce automation (SFA) and remains a critical component of modern CRM systems. As the digital transformation of businesses continues to evolve, CRM systems have become more sophisticated, providing sales teams with advanced tools and capabilities to drive performance and maximize revenue. The integration of comprehensive sales management and selling functionalities within CRM systems is essential for streamlining processes, enhancing customer interactions and ultimately achieving sales goals.

ISG defines CRM Sales as the set of applications that support the processes and tasks for leaders, managers and sellers.

Modern CRM systems offer a suite of sales tools designed to assist sales leaders and teams in various aspects of their work, from lead generation to deal closure. Effective lead management is fundamental to any sales strategy. CRM systems offer functionalities to capture, track and nurture leads throughout the sales pipeline. Automated lead scoring mechanisms help sales teams prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert, ensuring that the largest opportunities receive immediate attention.

Organizing and maintaining detailed information about customers and prospects is a key aspect of sales management. CRM systems provide a centralized repository for account and contact information, allowing sales representatives to access up-to-date data, track interactions and manage relationships more effectively.

Visualizing and managing the sales pipeline is crucial for forecasting and planning. CRM systems offer real-time tracking of sales opportunities, enabling sales managers to monitor the progress of deals, identify bottlenecks and make informed decisions to improve pipeline health. Customizable dashboards and reports provide insights into key performance metrics and sales trends.

To stay organized and productive, sales teams need tools to manage their activities and tasks. CRM systems offer features for scheduling meetings, setting reminders and tracking follow-up actions. Integration with email and calendar applications ensures that sales representatives can manage their schedules and communications seamlessly.

Generating accurate and timely quotes is essential for closing deals. CRM systems streamline the quote creation by integrating with pricing and product catalogs. Sales representatives can generate customizable quotes, manage approvals and convert quotes into orders with just a few clicks, reducing administrative tasks and accelerating the sales cycle.

Insightful sales forecasting and analytics capabilities are crucial for strategic planning. CRM systems provide advanced analytics tools that enable sales managers to analyze historical data, predict sales trends and create data-driven forecasts. These insights help in setting realistic sales targets, identifying growth opportunities and optimizing resource allocation.

When it comes to targets, whether providing the functionality with the CRM system or offering close integration with third-party applications, setting up the sales organization for success is dependent on good planning. Within the sales domain, key planning components have the ability to take corporate goals and targets and ensure they are distributed to individual and teams. Likewise, the design and management of incentive compensation is important to maintain motivation for sellers. Unlike in the past, modern planning is not one and done, but continuously adjusted as actual and projected results occur during the year.

Effective collaboration and communication within sales teams are vital for success. CRM systems offer integrated communication tools such as chat, email and video conferencing. Additionally, collaboration features like shared workspaces and document management enhance teamwork and ensure that all team members have access to the necessary information.

The integration of AI and automation in CRM systems is revolutionizing sales management and selling. AI-powered tools, such as predictive analytics, customer sentiment analysis, and intelligent lead nurturing, provide sales teams with actionable insights and recommendations. Automation of routine tasks, such as data entry and follow-up reminders, allows sales representatives to focus on high-value activities and improving efficiency.

Generative AI (GenAI) is particularly impactful in enhancing the sales process. GenAI can assist sales teams in crafting personalized communication, generating tailored product recommendations, and identifying potential upsell and cross-sell opportunities. By leveraging AI-driven insights, sales teams can better understand customer needs and preferences, resulting in more effective engagement and higher conversion rates.

It is important that enterprises also recognize the need to empower sales organizations to take advantage of using AI. We believe that by 2027, one-quarter of enterprises will invest in new skills for sellers to better utilize data and AI to improve revenue outcomes. 

The integration of sales management functionalities within CRM systems offers numerous benefits to organizations. CRM systems automate and streamline various sales processes, reducing manual tasks and minimizing errors. This leads to increased efficiency and allows sales teams to focus on strategic activities. Centralized customer data and advanced analytics tools provide sales teams with a 360-degree view of customers. Understanding customer behavior and preferences enables personalized interactions and fosters stronger relationships.

With access to real-time data, sales forecasts and performance metrics, sales managers can make informed decisions to drive performance. Tracking KPIs and setting achievable targets help in achieving sales objectives. Integrated communication and collaboration tools facilitate better teamwork and information sharing within sales teams. This leads to a more coordinated approach to sales and improved overall team performance. Modern CRM systems are highly customizable, allowing organizations to tailor the sales management functionalities to their specific needs. This flexibility ensures that the system can adapt to changing business requirements and support growth.

Sales management and selling is a vital aspect of modern CRM systems, providing sales teams with the tools and capabilities needed to drive success in a competitive marketplace. By leveraging advanced features such as lead management, sales pipeline tracking, AI-driven insights and integrated communication, CRM systems empower sales representatives to build stronger relationships with customers, improve efficiency and achieve their sales targets. As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, the role of CRM systems in sales management will undoubtedly become even more significant, driving innovation and growth.

The ISG Buyers Guide™ for CRM Sales evaluates software providers and products in key areas such as opportunity and pipeline management, collaboration, digital sales engagement, integration with specific systems, and sales planning including forecasting, territory, quota and incentives, as well as reporting and analytics, and the support for sales and revenue operations and insights to the support of the evolving use of AI and machine learning.

This research evaluates the following software providers that offer products that address key elements of CRM sales as we define it: Creatio, HubSpot, Microsoft, Monday.com, NetSuite, Oracle, Sage, Salesforce, SAP, SugarCRM, Zendesk and Zoho.

This research-based index evaluates the full business and information technology value of CRM sales software offerings. We encourage you to learn more about our Buyers Guide and its effectiveness as a provider selection and RFI/RFP tool.

We urge organizations to do a thorough job of evaluating CRM sales offerings in this Buyers Guide as both the results of our in-depth analysis of these software providers and as an evaluation methodology. The Buyers Guide can be used to evaluate existing suppliers, plus provides evaluation criteria for new projects. Using it can shorten the cycle time for an RFP and the definition of an RFI.

The Buyers Guide for CRM Sales in 2024 finds Salesforce first on the list, followed by Oracle and HubSpot.

Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.

The Leaders in Product Experience are:

• Salesforce
• Oracle
• Zoho

The Leaders in Customer Experience are:

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Oracle

The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:

• Oracle and Salesforce, which have achieved this rating in six of the seven categories.
• HubSpot in five categories.
• SAP in two categories.
• Zoho in one category.

The overall performance chart provides a visual representation of how providers rate across product and customer experience. Software providers with products scoring higher in a weighted rating of the five product experience categories place farther to the right. The combination of ratings for the two customer experience categories determines their placement on the vertical axis. As a result, providers that place closer to the upper-right are “exemplary” and rated higher than those closer to the lower-left and identified as providers of “merit.” Software providers that excelled at customer experience over product experience have an “assurance” rating, and those excelling instead in product experience have an “innovative” rating.

Note that close provider scores should not be taken to imply that the packages evaluated are functionally identical or equally well-suited for use by every enterprise or process. Although there is a high degree of commonality in how organizations handle CRM sales there are many idiosyncrasies and differences that can make one provider’s offering a better fit than another.

ISG Research has made every effort to encompass in this Buyers Guide the overall product and customer experience from our CRM sales blueprint, which we believe reflects what a well-crafted RFP should contain. Even so, there may be additional areas that affect which software provider and products best fit an enterprise’s particular requirements. Therefore, while this research is complete as it stands, utilizing it in your own organizational context is critical to ensure that products deliver the highest level of support for your projects.

You can find more details on our community as well as on our expertise in the research for this Buyers Guide.