AcumatiCaresWhere does Acumatica’s CRM software land in Nucleus Research’s recently released CRM Technology Value Matrix 2021 and what part does usability play? Acumatica’s Divya Ganesh breaks it down.
Global ROI-focused technology research and advisory services provider Nucleus Research has released their CRM Technology Value Matrix 2021, and we’re pleased to announce that Acumatica’s CRM software is holding strong as one of only three CRM vendors in the Facilitator’s quadrant.
What’s happening in the CRM space? Why is Acumatica cloud ERP a Facilitator? How does Nucleus Research decide where to position each vendor? We’ll answer these questions and more today.
The state of CRM software and Nucleus Research’s CRM Technology Value Matrix
CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, software is essential for businesses that want (and need) to efficiently manage their leads, contacts, opportunities, and customer accounts. In a time when online sales are surging, customers can pick and choose where they purchase their products and services, putting them in the driver’s seat. Retail, manufacturing, and distribution companies are doing everything they can to entice customers to buy from—and remain loyal to—them, and CRM vendors are trying to entice these companies to buy from—and remain loyal to—their CRM software.
The Nucleus Research analysts note that there has been an increased investment in automation, application integration, reduction of IT complexity, integrating analytics and AI-based functionality, and remote-working capabilities. There has also been a shift in mindset towards making customer service, marketing, and back-office functionalities a part of their sales process rather than a separate strategy while also suggesting that automation technologies will play a big part in the overall customer experience (CX).
“Recently the space has experienced an overhaul expanding from primarily sales-focused to be customer-centric and focused on the full customer life cycle, from first impressions with a brand to post-sale service and follow-up,” write the analysts. “As a result, the most successful vendors are offering an integrated platform that is customer-centric rather than role-centric.”
The CRM Technology Value Matrix goes into further details about what vendors have done regarding how they leverage analytics and use the data to make strategic decisions; how they are improving platform flexibility to adjust to the changes brought by the pandemic; and how they are continuing to focus on their “omnichannel reach.”
With this in mind, Nucleus Research determines each vendor’s position in the Value Matrix based on the Usability and Functionality (as assessed through customer/user input, vendor participation, and Nucleus’ own ROI assessments) of each vendors’ solution. There are four quadrants, starting first with Core Provider, followed by Expert, Facilitator, and Leader; each vendor is placed in their quadrant based on their Usability and Functionality scores.
Acumatica positioned as Facilitator, leader in Usability
According to Nucleus Research, Acumatica’s high ranked position as a Facilitator is based on our continued investment in our CRM platform. The analysts write, “The CRM platform has a high usability among Acumatica customers.” So much so that Acumatica’s CRM scored higher in usability over Oracle CX Cloud and the other twelve assessed vendors. Only Salesforce achieved a usability ranking above Acumatica’s in the Value Matrix.
Acumatica’s CRM solution is not a separate application but an essential and built-in component of Acumatica’s comprehensive cloud ERP solution. Together, the integrated CRM and ERP solution helps businesses easily and effectively manage leads, contacts, opportunities, and customer accounts with source of awareness through the sales cycle.
A Microsoft Outlook integration and integrated content management along with side panels and dashboards for pipeline management ensures the sales team has the funnel management and reporting capabilities they need. And a portal for self service and case creation combined with configurable service levels/response times (and more) provide a team approach to support.
Other key features and benefits include:
- Streamlined data entry with one click conversions, address lookup, and more
- Complete lifecycle reporting
- Organized hand-offs and take-backs from sales
- Full integration with one-step order placement
- One system for account management, billing, and support
- Company-wide access to real-time data
- Time savings with automation
- Improved visibility and forecasting
The analysts also point out the customer-friendly improvements provided by Acumatica in Acumatica’s 2020 R1 release. The improvements include Acumatica Point-of-Sale; enhanced electronic banks and credit card transaction feeds (improving efficiency through downloading and automating bank transactions and allowing the connection to over 11,000 financial institutions); and advancements on AI/ML capabilities in expense management.
“At Acumatica, ERP-based products continue to be the focus of the company’s expansion efforts. The inclusion of CRM serves as an assisting feature to customers and can aid in bettering usability,” the report notes. “This year, Acumatica plans to continue its efforts in providing a simplified solution to its users that allows convenient customer management and financial solutions.”
Acumatica customer grows and thrives with Acumatica’s highly usable CRM software
Usability, which is also a way of saying easy to use or user friendly, is a huge decision-making factor for businesses seeking success in a competitive marketplace. Acumatica is an intuitive and role-based solution with a modern UI and flexible workflows. The video below shows exactly why Acumatica is consistently ranked as a Leader in Usability.
For Acumatica customer American Meadows (AMI), implementing Acumatica Customer Management, along with other Acumatica modules, has given the garden solutions provider exactly what they needed to service their customers at the highest level. Says President Ethan Platt, “You need to have a tool like Acumatica that’s integrated with all the other tools you have in place to meet Amazon-level consumer expectations.”
He also says in the company’s customer success story, “We now have the data visibility and accessibility to identify our core customers, understand their challenges, and support them with tailor-made gardening solutions. We can do all of this at scale now by leveraging cutting edge technology thanks to Acumatica.”
AMI is growing and thriving, thanks to Acumatica’s highly usable and functional cloud ERP software and integrated CRM system. Download Nucleus Research’s CRM Technology Value Matrix to read how other CRM vendors compare to Acumatica. Contact our team to ask questions or to set up a demonstration.
