News | September 24, 2007

Commence Explains Rationale For Place In Crowded CRM Space

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is growing at a significant pace with other hosted solutions significantly surpassing traditional client server technology offerings. This growth has allowed several smaller companies, like Commence Corporation to quickly capture marketshare in the small to mid-size business sector. Larry Caretsky, CEO of Commence Corporation, was recently interviewed regarding the rationale for getting into a crowded CRM space, populated with big players, such as Salesforce.com.

Caretsky suggested, "A few years ago industry experts asked Jet Blue executives why they choose to start an airline when the industry was in turmoil and even the giants were struggling to stay alive. Jet Blue succeeded in becoming a significant carrier. Unlike the airline industry, the CRM space and is growing rapidly and no single vendor has more than a 5% market share. The new battlefield is the SMB market, which Commence has been servicing for almost twenty years. This is our core competency and we know how to compete effectively." He also noted that there were elements missing in the CRM market that Commence could address more effectively, noting that, "Hosted solutions such as Salesforce.com addressed the difficulties associated with deploying traditional client server based CRM solutions, but utilization rates have remained low and customer renewals have been problematic. This is the direct result of a business model that does not include the proper planning and coaching required to ensure customer utilization. Regardless of the deployment model (in-house or hosted), there is still a reasonable degree of planning and mentoring necessary for the successful implementation and utilization of CRM."

About Commence Corporation
Commence Corporation is a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management solutions. The company's products are designed to provide small to mid-size businesses with flexible solutions that leverage the Web to offer an integrated platform for managing sales execution and customer service. Commence supports several thousand customers through a world-wide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.

SOURCE: Commence Corporation