For all the hype currently surrounding Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, research from Call Centre Research (CCR) has determined that only 19 percent of Australian call centres are currently using CRM software in their day-to-day business.
The CCR research did indicate, however, that this relatively low figure would increase over the next 12 months, based on predictions that the CRM market as a whole will grow by 25 percent.
Fresh from presenting at the first CRM Institute in Sydney last month, Martin Conboy, Managing Director of CCR, said that the growing demand for CRM in the Asia Pacific region comes as business and marketing directors begin to understand the technology and are now "leapfrogging" up the technology path.
CCR (a division of ACA Research), regards CRM software as vital for companies wanting to retain customers, maximise new business opportunities and sustain profitability. Companies without an integrated CRM strategy face "stormy waters" in the years ahead.
Conboy added that Australia is currently witness to the transformation of call centres into all-encompassing "contact centres" as demand for CRM software rises from its current US$300 million level to US$3 billion in the Asia Pacific region by 2002.
"Our research shows that the future of contact centres is in global, integrated communications strategies," Conboy said. "Customers will be able to communicate with a company for information and assistance without facing geographical obstacles. The contact centre will be the logical point where all sides of the customer or company relationship come together."
