Commence prez proclaims off-the-shelf CRM a failure

Speaking of gauntlet, check out the doozy hurled by Commence Corporation president Larry Caretsky: “One stop, off the shelf CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software purchasing is failing distributors,” and further, “To thrive [today’s industrial sales environment], industrial distributors and manufacturers need more than leading technology or efficient warehouses to achieve long-term growth.”

Such are the proclamations in a newly-released study from Caretsky and co. entitled “Smart Practices That Pay: Leveraging Information to Achieve Industrial Selling Results,” an industry examination of CRM. The study focuses on the three key elements of a successful industrial sales effort: marketing strategy, sales management, and sales optimization through technology.

Commence Corporation is calling “Smart Practices” a “compendium of more than 40 smart practices in industrial selling, culled from interviews with leading executives within high-growth companies, and building on a comprehensive review of published perspectives on smart industrial selling.”