CRM is no longer enough say leading software companies

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are no longer enough for the digital era, according to more than 200 software companies.

In a declaration published as an open letter in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, the Platform of Independents set out its belief that companies should never be locked into CRM suites, and that building better products, respecting customer privacy, and making smarter business decisions requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach to their technology stacks.

The Platform of Independents is made up of Segment, Airship, Amplitude, Drift, Iterable, Mixpanel, Outreach, Pendo, Radar, and Tray.io, as well as more than 190 co-signatory companies.

The declaration states, "CRMs were perfect for the Rolodex era. They are not equipped for today's digital age, where massive volumes of data about customer interactions flow directly from your websites, mobile apps, emails, kiosks, and call centers every single second of every day. Companies need to use the best technology available for each of these channels. Instead, they are often locked into the tools and capabilities (or lack thereof) which their CRM suites provide."

The ten software companies that lead The Platform of Independents have built their products in the belief that businesses should never be forced into a one-size-fits-all approach, or locked into a single cloud suite.

Peter Reinhardt, CEO and co-founder at Segment says:

The time has come for businesses to realize that there's a whole new world outside the legacy CRM suite. Together with our partners, we're proud to stand up for what's best for customer-first businesses in the digital age: choice, flexibility, and the freedom to build data stacks using any combination of best-in-class technology.

In short, CRM just isn't enough anymore.

You can sign up for a webinar to discuss the world beyond CRM to be held on February 5 at 9am PT.

Image credit: Mazirama/depositphotos.com