Princeton, NJ (June 08, 2011) - According to a recent survey on customer relationship management (CRM) trends in North American life science market conducted by update CRM Inc., a pioneer in the development of industry-specific CRM solutions for life sciences companies, and ISM Inc., a leading CRM research and advisory firm, many in the life sciences industry are optimistic about the opportunities presented by the integration of Enterprise 2.0 technologies such as social media and enterprise mobility within CRM. However, cohesive, efficient implementations combining CRM with new technologies have yet to gain hold among companies already using such platforms, few are using those technologies for generating and action on sales leads.
The initial survey was presented to a select group of sales professionals and executives in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries during the first quarter of 2011, measuring an array of criteria including CRM usage, social media and mobile technology integration and market dynamics. The results provided a greater insight into the typical CRM user in the life sciences industry as new communication and collaboration tools become available as part of the rise in “social CRM.”
SOCIAL CRM: A Growing part of the business process
Specifically, the survey revealed that 45 percent of respondents use social media in some kind of business process, while nearly 80 percent of life sciences companies not yet using social media expect to do so in the coming two years. Across all respondents, 43.4 percent said they thought social media/CRM integration could be advantageous to sales management and lead generation, yet only 8.1 percent reported currently using social media for generating sales leads. A slimmer 1.9 percent reported using social media functions directly integrated with their existing CRM solution.
“The rise of social media platforms and application is a great opportunity for customer relationship management, but especially intriguing in the life sciences industries, where many elements of the sales process are unique and compliance issues are crucial,” said Florian Vogel, Head of US Operations for update CRM. “Customers clearly want to take advantage of these new social media platforms and we are excited to see their integration into CRM and the industry as a whole.”
MOBILE CRM CONTINUES TO GROW
In the mobile arena, 47.9 percent of respondents reported using or planning to implement a mobile CRM platform within the next two years. More than half of mobile CRM users use the smartphone as their primary mobile platform, while the most popular operating system was Apple (iPhone/iPad).
Update CRM’s survey program will continue throughout the end of the year, with additional data and reports to be released in the third and fourth quarter of 2011.
To request the report conducted by update CRM/ISM visit http://www.update.com/en/Microsite/CRM-Trends-Life-Sciences/CRM-Report.
A question-by-question analysis of the data is available for interested media on request.
About ISM
Founded in 1985, ISM Inc. offers strategic advisor services to organizations planning and implementing Customer-Centric Business Strategies. ISM annually publishes The Guide to CRM Automation and the Top 15 CRM and Social CRM software reviews. Barton Goldenberg, founder and president of ISM, is author of CRM in Real Time and is a columnist for a number of publications including BusinessWeek, CIO, CRM Magazine, eWEEK, Information Week, Nielsen, and Selling Power. ISM private sector clients include AAA, Deutsche Bank, DHL, ExxonMobil, Giorgio Armani, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, Lucent Technologies, McGraw-Hill, Merck, Nike, NYSE, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Samsung, Sara Lee, T. Rowe Price, United Way of America, and Verizon; ISM’s government clients include the Amtrak, Department of Defense, the UK Post Office, and the US Postal Service.
About update CRM Inc.
update CRM Inc. is a leading provider of premium customer relationship management (CRM) solutions designed specifically for the life sciences industry. update CRM’s innovative and unique cloud-based customer solutions, coupled with extensive experience in the CRM and life sciences industries, ensures that our customers are more successful. With its parent company, update software AG, and hosting partner, IBM, the company offers a complete CRM solution to more than 1,500 companies serving 170,000 end users in 80 countries. update CRM provides its customers with industry-specific CRM solutions emphasizing speed, quality and sustainability - without financial risk to the customer.
Contact:
Efrain Viscarolasaga
Elevate Communications
+1 (617) 861-3652
efrain@elevatecom.com
Brenna Garay
update CRM, Inc.
+1 (814) 360 8054
Brenna.Garay@update.com
John Gates
Elevate Communications
+1 (617) 861-3651
john@elevatecom.com
