A new report from CRM provider Workbooks, highlights the widespread frustrations faced by global sales and marketing leaders who feel “stuck” with underperforming CRM systems that fail to deliver on their promises.

Responsible for balancing the dual challenges of driving both sales and marketing, these professionals require CRM tools that genuinely support the broad scope roles, yet most find their current systems lacking.

Survey participants hail from various companies across the UK and North America, but the dissatisfaction is universal: only 31% believe their CRM system “does the job,” while half of respondents feel it simply isn’t good enough and are either actively seeking alternatives or unsure if their current CRM setup is worth keeping.

The report found that 80% of respondents use CRM but, shockingly, half remain dissatisfied. Among those without a CRM, the majority rely on outdated methods, like spreadsheets, accounting software, or even “nothing” at all.

Sixty-two percent feel “stuck” with their CRM despite their dissatisfaction, citing major barriers to change, including concerns over Staff disruption (55%), Cost impact (45%) and Time investment (36%).

This dissatisfaction is impacting critical business outcomes. Sales and marketing leaders who are satisfied with their CRM systems report significantly higher effectiveness across key performance areas compared to their dissatisfied counterparts particularly in lead generation and pipeline management:

• Lead Generation: Happy CRM users scored 5.9 versus 4.9 (out of 10) among the dissatisfied.
• Pipeline Management: Happy CRM users scored 7.6, while those unhappy with their CRM lag behind at 5.7 (out of 10).

Dan Roche, Chief Marketing Officer at Workbooks, highlighted the urgency of this trend, stating, “Sales and marketing leaders have a unique challenge of running dual functions. This means it’s even more important that their tools work for, rather than against them. But our research shows that when they find the right CRM approach, it can dramatically improve performance across their wide span of control.”

What’s Holding Businesses Back?

For the 62% of users feeling trapped in their current CRM setup, several key factors are discouraging them from making a switch -namely, Capped functionality that requires costly add-ons (18%) and Complex technology that hinders adoption and frustrates users (45%).

Sales and marketing leaders are seeking a middle ground between powerful functionality and ease of use, a balance that current CRM solutions have largely failed to provide. When asked what would persuade them to change their CRM provider:

With 77% calling for software that’s easier to use, and 46% seeking systems that deliver ROI before any upfront payment, CRM buyers are no longer willing to compromise between functionality and ease of use. Better customer support (31%) and lower costs (23%) are also leading incentives to make the shift to a new CRM.

These findings emphasise the industry’s unmet need for CRM systems that balance powerful functionality with straightforward usability, a balance that has proven elusive in current CRM offerings.

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“An issue is that many Sales & Marketing leaders don’t have the empirical data to show that moving CRM is not more trouble than it’s worth. With this new research, the benefits of taking a different approach are now clear both quantitatively and qualitatively,” says Roche.

Transition Barriers: How Hard is the Switch?

For those ready to switch, the anticipated hurdles are real but manageable. Participants rated the disruption and risk of change as substantial yet manageable:

• Disruption (7.6 out of 10)
• Risk (7.4 out of 10)
• Cost (7.0 out of 10)
• Time (6.8 out of 10)

Successful transitions, however, lead to substantial gains in efficiency. Workbooks encourages organisations to take their time selecting the right CRM system, prioritising robust change management and training processes to ensure adoption and long-term success.