31 Sizzling CRM Statistics to Help Your Business Soar

By Damjan Jugovic Spajic

June 17, 2023

Yet another day at the office. It’s already 1 pm and you still haven’t finished entering all your customers’ data into that confounded Excel table. You’re drowning in sales quotas and you can feel the judgmental looks your managers are throwing your way, as if this whole mess is your fault.

Thankfully, technology is making sure situations like these will soon become a thing of the past. You can now schedule employees’ shifts online and organize contracts in a matter of minutes using enterprise contract management tools. Similarly, the development of CRM (customer relationship management) systems has made managing customer data, communicating with other teams, and creating effective sales strategies much easier. Unfortunately, implementing CRM systems does not always lead to success stories. 

Check out our CRM statistics below to improve your business and avoid the stress of managing your customer data manually.

CRM Statistics – Editor’s Choice

• In 2008, 12% of the businesses that used CRM used a cloud-based CRM system. By 2017, that figure had increased to 87%.
• CRM revenues are expected to reach over $80 billion in 2025.
• Only 22% of companies using non-mobile CRM have met their sales quotas compared to 65% of those that do use mobile CRM systems.
• Companies that use CRM successfully have improved sales by 29%.

CRM Market Size Statistics

The size of the global CRM market was around $48.2 billion in 2018.

(Gartner)

According to data from Gartner’s CRM market analysis, the market value of this software was $48.2 billion in 2018. This is a huge jump from the $14 billion of revenue this market had in 2010. Most CRM stats indicate that this trend will continue, especially because more and more companies are racing to implement CRM in order to stay competitive as well as to save time and money.

The global CRM market grew by 15.6% in 2018.

(Gartner)

Gartner’s CRM research on the state of the market shows that the global revenue of the CRM market grew by 15.6% in 2018. Around 72.9% of total CRM spending was on SaaS (Software as a Service). SaaS refers to a method of software delivery in which a software is accessed online, rather than being installed on individual computers. SaaS is expected to grow to 75% of total CRM spending during 2019.

91% of US businesses with more than 10 employees now use CRM.

(CRM Magazine)

As CRM Magazine reports, the overwhelming majority of American businesses that employ 10 or more people now use CRM. This is a good signifier that CRM is now becoming a must-have for all medium-size or large companies, as it can greatly reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Predictions suggest that the social CRM market will grow to $10 billion in value in 2019.

(Thomson Data)

Social CRM statistics provided by Thomson Data reveal that the social CRM market is predicted to reach $10 billion in size this year. Social CRM represents an integration between CRM and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter in order to improve businesses’ communication with customers and anticipate their needs.

In 2008, 12% of the businesses that used CRM used a cloud-based CRM system. By 2017, that figure had increased to 87%.

(IBM)

The next step in CRM evolution is certainly cloud-based systems. IBM reports that in 2008 most businesses that used CRM systems – 88% of them – operated these systems on-site. Now, almost all of these services are being transferred to the cloud, which allows users to access them remotely. As a result, by 2017, 87% of companies that used CRM had transferred these systems to the cloud.

CRM Adoption Rate Statistics

In 2017, 25.3% of participants surveyed by CSO Insights agreed that their CRM system had significantly improved the productivity of their sales team.

(CSO Insights)

A study conducted by CSO Insights indicates that, in 2017, 25.3% of respondents agreed that their CRM system significantly boosted the productivity of their salespeople. Furthermore, 22.4% somewhat agreed with this statement, while 30.3% disagreed. Nearly 50% of these teams admitted their operations required major redesigns or improvements.

For 13% of companies, investing in a CRM system is the top sales priority for 2019.

(HubSpot)

HubSpot’s excellent State of the Inbound CRM report from 2018 showcases what companies marked as their top sales priorities for 2019. In the report, only 13% of these companies identified investing in a CRM as their top priority. This should come as no surprise since most companies prioritize closing more deals, but this data is still an indication that many companies don’t recognize CRM as a crucial asset yet.

65% of companies start using a CRM system in their first five years of business.

(Capterra)

Data from 2015 provided by Capterra shows that over half of companies – 65%, to be precise – implement a CRM system within their first five years of doing business.

27% of sales professionals spend over an hour a day on data-entry work.

(HubSpot)

In any business, especially in sales, there’s one golden rule we should never forget: time is money. Bearing this in mind, HubSpot’s CRM statistics reveal that 27% of salespeople use over an hour of their office time every day on data entry, which emphasizes the need for a CRM. Since every minute they’re not selling is a potential loss of money, proper CRM implementation allows sales professionals to focus more on sales and generate more profit for their companies.

Sales reps spend only 17.9% of their time on CRM systems.

(Forbes)

Forbes reports that sales representatives only use 17.9% of their work time working with CRM systems. Over half of that time (9.1%) is spent handling spreadsheets related to CRM management. In order for CRM to be used efficiently, more time should be devoted to its proper use. To put things into perspective, nearly two-thirds (64.8%) of sales reps’ time is spent on activities that do not generate revenue. This indicates that salespeople do have time that could be devoted to efficient CRM use.

Only 45.7% of companies reported an adoption rate above the desired 90% in 2018.

(CSO Insights)

Adoption rates for CRM are one of the main challenges in CRM implementation and one of the main reasons CRM projects fail. Without high adoption rates and training, these systems can become a hindrance instead of helping your business. In a 2018 study by CSO Insights, 45.7% of companies that used CRM had an adoption rate higher than 90%.

General CRM adoption has increased from 61.6% in 2013 to 67.8% in 2018.

(CSO Insights)

CRM adoption stats have generally increased, with the percentage of companies that have an adoption rate over 75% rising from 61.6% to 67.8% over a five-year period.

In 2016, 22% of sales professionals weren’t sure what CRM was.

(HubSpot)

HubSpot revealed a surprising and worrying fact in its 2016 State of Inbound report: Around 22% of surveyed sales professionals weren’t sure what CRM was. This is certainly a major obstacle on the already bumpy road to full CRM implementation.

For 54% of salespeople, the biggest obstacle to obtaining CRM software is its cost.

(HubSpot)

One of the main difficulties to obtaining CRM is the most obvious one: money. Current CRM vendor trends show that monthly pricing ranges from $30 to $100 per user, which can really strain company budgets.

45% of surveyed organizations used CRM to store customer data in 2016.

(HubSpot)

As per HubSpot’s 2016 research, only 45% of respondents said their organization used CRM to store customer and lead data. This is a significant jump from 2015, when 23% of organizations used CRM for data storage. Unfortunately, as CRM usage for data grew, so did reliance on “traditional” tools such as Microsoft Excel. The use of informal tools for data storage rose from 24% to 40% in the same time period.

A third of CRM users spent between three and five hours weekly using CRM tools.

(LinkedIn)

LinkedIn’s State of Sales report on CRM trends from 2016 also provides useful data on the amount of time CRM users devote to these tools on a weekly basis. One-third of CRM users spend from three to five hours per week using CRM, while 24% spend more than 10 hours per week.

In 2015, 80% of respondents claim they implemented their CRM in 18 months or less.

(Capterra)

The time required to properly implement CRM systems can vary greatly. Considering that it can, in some cases, take years to fully implement, it’s often the difference between success and total disaster. Capterra’s user research from 2015 shows that things were not that grim after all – most respondents said they took 18 months or less to implement their CRM.

Statistics on CRM Effectiveness

Companies that use CRM successfully have improved their sales by 29%.

(Salesforce)

Data on the effectiveness of CRM tools can be hard to find. This is because there are many measurable factors that cause these tools to either fail or succeed. The latest and most trustworthy data comes from Salesforce, a major player in the CRM market. In 2013, it was reported that properly using CRM can greatly improve business effectiveness. Salesforce stats show that successful CRM implementation can boost sales by 29%, increase sales productivity by 34%, and sharpen sales forecast accuracy by 42%.

The CRM failure rate was between 18% and 69% in 2017.

(CIO)

Another difficult statistic to pinpoint is the rate at which CRM projects fail. Several studies conducted over the past two decades provide wildly different results as a consequence of different methodologies and terminologies used in research. As a result, different researchers put the failure rate of CRM between 18% and 69%. If we take the average results of these reports, we end up with a failure rate of around 30% for CRM projects.

By using CRM, customer retention and satisfaction rates increase by 47%.

(Capterra)

Surely some of the key stats in demonstrating the importance of CRM when running a sales business are customer satisfaction and retention. Customer retention – the company’s ability to keep its customers and inspire brand loyalty – is crucial when evaluating the effectiveness of your CRM. Capterra reports that CRM software boosts both retention and satisfaction rates by 47%. These impressive stats are sure to encourage further growth of the CRM market.

Conversion rates can rise by up to 300% using CRM.

(IBM)

Converting leads or potential customers into buyers is the bread and butter of any sales business. That’s why everyone is wondering “Will CRM improve my conversion rates?”. The stats we have say yes – proper CRM implementation can lead to an increase in conversion rates of up to 300%.

Customers spend between 20% and 40% more if they’re engaged by a company using CRM, 2017 data shows.

(LinkedIn)

As research conducted by Cloudswave suggests, using CRM in sales can increase the amount of purchases customers make with your company. When a company that uses CRM engages a customer, they are likely to spend 20-40% more on their next purchase with the same company.

2014 data indicates that the ROI for CRM is $8.71 per $1 spent.

(Nucleus Research)

The stats provided by Nucleus Research concerning ROI (return on investment) suggest that investing in CRM will pay off. For every $1 you spend, you make $8.71 back. That is if the CRM is correctly implemented, of course. This translates into an impressive 771% ROI.

34.6% of sales professionals say that CRM tools have a significant impact on their company’s bottom line.

(LinkedIn)

Among those surveyed in LinkedIn’s 2016 State of Sales report, approximately a third of respondents said that using CRM tools was important for their business. Another 29.6% described their usage of CRM tools as impactful.

Only 22% of companies using non-mobile CRM meet their sales quotas compared to 65% of those that use mobile CRM systems.

(Innoppl)

Mobile CRM leads the way. Just as cloud-based CRM is gaining momentum, the need for flexibility and ease of access has led to the increased popularity of mobile CRM, which refers to CRM tools you can access from your phone, tablet, or other devices. Not only is mobile CRM popular, it’s also effective. Research by InnoPpl shows that 65% of companies that use mobile CRM meet their quotas, compared to 22% of those that use non-mobile versions. Switching to mobile and cloud-based systems is the new CRM trend.

Customer satisfaction will become the most important factor in business by 2020.

(Walker)

A report on the future of sales published by Walker predicts that customer satisfaction will become a key differentiator as soon as next year. According to the report, customer satisfaction will surpass price and quality in terms of importance by 2020. Results from this report point out that 86% of customers are willing to pay 25% more for a better customer experience.

State of the CRM Market

Salesforce is the undisputed king of the industry with over 19% of the CRM market share.

(Forbes)

Salesforce is, without a doubt, the biggest player in the CRM market. As Forbes reports, Salesforce now has over 19% of the market. It boasts more than twice as many sales as SAP, the second-largest CRM company, and three times more than Oracle in third place.

Salesforce and Adobe grew faster than the overall CRM market in 2017.

(Gartner)

Research conducted by Garner on the state of the market reveals that Salesforce and Adobe’s growth was larger than that of the total CRM market in 2017. Salesforce grew by 23.2%, increasing its revenues from $7.6 billion in 2017 to $9.4 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, Adobe grew by 21.7%, with a revenue increase from $2 billion to $2.4 billion in the same period.

Salesforce has announced that’s it’s aiming for $60 billion in revenue by 2034.

(Seeking Alpha)

Here’s another stat about Salesforce, the market leader in CRM tool development and sales. In 2018, Salesforce’s CEO announced that the company was planning on reaching $20 billion in revenues by 2020, $40 billion by 2028, and $60 billion by 2034. To achieve this, Salesforce would have to grow by 12% annually for 16 years in a row.

Global CRM revenues are expected to reach over $80 billion in 2025.

(Grand View Research)

The global CRM market has shown remarkable growth and overall development in recent years. If CRM trends continue and the market keeps growing at the same pace, its worth will reach $81.9 billion by 2025.

Eastern and Western Europe are the fastest-growing regions in the global CRM market.

(Forbes)

CRM statistics from 2019 show that, at a regional level, the fastest-growing parts of the world are Eastern and Western Europe. Eastern Europe has a 19.7% growth rate, Western Europe is at 17.5%, while North America has a growth rate of 15.2%.