The most important factors that influence the purchase of customer relationship management (CRM) software are functionality and ease of use, according to a recent report from Capterra.

The report was based on data from a survey of 500 CRM users in the United States from B2B and B2C companies.

Some 24% of respondents say functionality was the most important factor that influenced their CRM purchase decision; the next most-cited factor was ease of use (20% of respondents), followed by price (14%) and vendor reputation (9%).

Below, additional key findings from the report.

Deciding to Use a CRM Solution

Some 61% of the companies surveyed first started using a CRM solution within five years of being founded; 66% of respondents had 100+ customers when they first adopted a CRM.

More than half (57%) of respondents say they started using a CRM because they needed a centralized customer database or needed to track key sales/revenue metrics (or both).

Who Uses CRM Software

Sales teams are the biggest users of CRM software within companies (80% of respondents say the Sales team has access), followed by Marketing, Customer Service, and IT.

Most Used Features

Calendar management is the most used CRM feature by respondents (52%), followed by email marketing (50%) and quote/proposal management (46%).

Most Desired Features

A quarter of respondents say they wish their CRM software included more social media monitoring functionality; 24% want their CRM to pull in contact information from social media profiles.

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 500 CRM users in the United States from both B2B and B2C companies.