Move Over - CRM Is #1 in Enterprise SaaS

This week on Funnel Frontier: See why CRM is #1 in SaaS, explore Twilio's new tools, and get CRM fundraising & integration strategies.

This week:

• CRM undefeated in Enterprise SaaS 

• 2x new tools from Twilio: Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot

• Voyage to real business value (via Forrester)

• CRM for VC fundraising (via TechCrunch)

• A couple CRM integration ideas from ClickUp

Stat of the Week 

In 2023, 78% of sales leaders said that CRM improved alignment between sales and marketing. (HubSpot Research)

CRM crowned #1 in Enterprise SaaS

Welcome back to the SpaceX-esque sphere of enterprise SaaS investment, where the thrills of rocketeering fiscal growth come with the risk of blowing up (in a bad way). 

After a meteoric rise heading into 2021, we’ve seen a few “The Man Who Fell To Earth” years of depressed investment here.

But peering into the smoking crater, one finds fresh flowers blooming. Venture capital is on the rebound, and the stock market is doing the moonwalk. Not only that, but recent findings from PitchBook indicate something else “weird”: CRM is back on top! 

It’s true. Ye olde CRM was the highest growth category for enterprise SaaS in Q4 2023. 

VC investment in CRM was up 72.5% from Q3. The growth in conversational AI is a major reason, for sure, but analytics tools are probably the bigger deal, offering a way to turn data into actionable insights. 

To be fair, part of why CRM is growing is because the definition of CRM is growing. What was once purely a customer database tool is now doing sales enablement, marketing automation, e-commerce, customer support and service, and more, more, more. 

Meanwhile, the universe of enterprise software spending is itself expanding faster than the beard of a retired star captain, aiming to hit an astounding $1 trillion this year. 

CRM “to the moon” indeed.

The Week @ CRM.org

Best Marketing CRM. Thinking of jumping on the marketing CRM bandwagon? Sounds like fun, but you might wanna check our roadmap first. 

CRM for Small Business. No, picking a good SMB CRM is not as hard as spotting a frugal Martian at the galactic gift store. Our freshly updated guide. 

Top 10 CRM in 2024. So many CRMs to think about—here’s a manageable 10.

Weekly Bloom

“The Good Life” and Self-Actualization. Life according to humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers (1902-1987). He was a bit like an alien trying to explain emotions to robots: “No, feelings are not an error in your programming; they’re a fundamental part of finding your place in the world.”

Twilio double-dips on new engagement tools: Unified Profiles and Agent Copilot launch

In the customer engagement space, everyone can hear you scream. 

Serenity now? Unified Profiles and Agent Copilot promise to put a balm on inefficiencies and soothe the process. Both are now available via the contact center/digital engagement platform Twilio Flex. 

This double-barrel effort ‘tis but the first act in Twilio’s trilogy of releases promised this year—all aimed at getting their Segment customer data platform (CDP) running natively in their communication products. 

Unified Profiles takes all the little ditties you’ve collected from CRM systems, data warehouses, and real-time behavior trackers—melding them into a molecular map of customer insights. 

The idea is to predict your customer's next move with eerie accuracy. Support or sales get the cybernetics treatment: equipped with real-time data lenses, the idea is they’ll see through the customer space-time continuum.

Agent Copilot is like a snarky AI butler armed with a tray of reliable cocktails. As its name suggests, this wing-person piggybacks off the info from Unified Profiles, automating grunt work and helping you zip through post-call summaries like a crazy comet. The intention? Feed the virtuous cycle of LLM-enhanced customer knowledge.

Both tools tip their fedora to the power of data-fed personalized interactions. For Twilio, it seems 2024 is the year that real-time consented data got its groove back.  

Stellar Strategies: Tips & Tricks for Sales, Marketing & Service

Voyage to real business value (via Forrester)

Wrapping your head around lead-to-cash, source-to-pay, and other complex biz processes can feel like navigating from a napkin-scribble map. 

And as you ponder, the gravity of siloed departments tugs you in different directions. 

Getting to #nofriction across silos can seem like a moonshot. You need to get your operations working together, but how? 

Enter the era of “Intelligent Enterprise.” A utopian dream where leveraging industry solutions, automation, and AI might transform your biz into the most agile automation on the astral plane.

Some pro tips: 

• Tackle technology sprawl, compartmentalized data, and disconnected systems. Picture a unified interface. 

• Define workflows, digitize core processes, and embed AI that adapts to signals (for example, real-time econometric data).

• Embrace the cloud, where flexibility and adaptability are the norms and where industry-specific AI might offer insights that ain’t insipid.

Hey, sounds kind of CRM-y. More big-brain thoughts from Forrester here. 

How to win at CRM and influence VC fundraising (via TechCrunch)

Ah yes, the thrilling yet terrifying voyage that is VC fundraising. 

But it doesn’t need to be “hair-pulling” too. Enter CRM.

Yes, it can play a role in the cosmic dance of investor relations, too.

First up, letting the right CRM in. It needs enough seats for your investors to sit comfortably and a sound navigation system. It could be the USS Salesforce, the Good Ship HubSpot, or the Zoho Rover—depends on you, my friend.  

Next, organize your potential investor-oids into neat little categories – from “just blipped on my radar” to “crash into me.” Keep a log of every encounter because no follow-up is just too sad. 

Automate those reminders, or you'll be floating aimlessly in the void of missed opportunities.

Use analytics like a map of the stars. And remember, integrating your CRM with other twinkling tools ensures your fundraising journey stays humming with efficiency. 

May the funds be with you.

Clear-cut CRM integration ideas from ClickUp

So many CRM integrations, so little time. What’s a CRM-er to do?

Fear not, here’s a refresher on the major types:

• Email - perhaps the most bread-and-butter of the bunch. You do a lot in email already, so why not use it to capture customer info and beef up sales and lead processes?

• Calendar - helps you avoid double-booking and gives an omniscient overview of team schedules.

• Communication - “the call is coming from inside the CRM.” Messenger, phone, and live chat integrations tidy up the comms.

• Accounting - billing and invoicing in-app. Don’t cook the books—straighten ‘em up!

• Helpdesk - When support and ticketing sync with CRM, E.T. can go home.

There you go, a certified Cassiopeia of five-star integration. But there are more ideas here. 

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

Nucleus Research releases 2024 Salesforce Technology Value Matrix. The results are in: CRM has matured and salesforce automation is indispensable. This year’s leaders include Creatio, SugarCRM, and Zoho. Accelerators named include monday.com and Keap. 

Second wave of IAMPHENOM 2024 speakers announced. There’s some real power in there, like SAP’s Regional VP of Sales at SAP SuccessFactor and the SVP, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Mastercard. By the way, this HR bonanza takes place April 23rd to 25th in Philadelphia. 

Salesforce grants equity awards to 107 Spiff employees. The sales commission app was recently acquired by Salesforce.

Astronomical Assets

Significant Stock Moves from Last Week

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