In an interview of 131 business managers for the Business Intelligence report "Measuring and Valuing Relationships", 53% were found not to know what the term CRM means. However, in a recent survey, 77% of executives said CRM was becoming a top priority in their business , while a survey of IT managers found that improved customer service was the number one business priority for the use of technology. A survey of visitors to the Direct Marketing Fair held in London in March 2000 showed that 95% said they needed CRM software to support their marketing database.
The Softworld Sales and Marketing Annual Survey questioned 120 members of the CIM. Fifity-five per cent of companies said they were plan- ning to review their sales and marketing IT systems within the next 12 months. A large percentage was unhappy with their existing systems, and one in four was not satisfied with the performance of their IT. Less than half had customer databases, but 63% were planning one within the next three years. However, according to a survey carried out by MBO Solutions, there is a gap between the hype and the reality of CRM. Eighty per cent of marketing and services directors have done nothing to implement policies. But is the industry keeping pace with consumer expectations and the development of the Internet, David Owen of Deloitte Consulting said: [Our research] shows the technology gap between consumers' awareness and their adoption of new technology and new channels is shrinking and that, as a result of this, European consumers are now signalling a wake-up call to business. There is clear evidence of a pent-up ';permission pool" - where for the first time consumers are showing signs of a massive willingness to be communicated with and sold to across these new channels. Forty-three per cent of European consumers already say that remote technology fits with their lifestyle.