The commercial sector in Bulgaria occupies the leading position in terms of implementation of CRM

The most CRM (Customer Relationship Management) projects in Bulgaria are implemented in the commercial sector, as shown by a market research made by the independent agency CBN Pannoff, Stoytcheff & Co. The data were presented at the conference entitled “Management of commercial teams, merchandising and distribution. Business talking about business!“, organised by consultancy company Balkan Services jointly with Microsoft Bulgaria.

The event was held on 22 March 2016 in Novotel, Sofia. Current topics related to the selection of a CRM solution and its successful implementation were discussed during the forum. Both specialists from Balkan Services and Microsoft Bulgaria, and users of the software system Microsoft Dynamics CRM took part in the conference. Representatives of the brands of Unilever Food Solutions and Bozhentsi dairy products presented real CRM projects and gave first-hand information about the challenges that might accompany the solution's implementation, and the advantages that it brings.
The data presented at the conference also showed a range of interesting facts about the use of CRM applications in Bulgaria. According to the analyst Lyudmil Stoychev, the real start of the market of CRM systems in Bulgaria was given in 2001, and since then, such systems have been implemented in 17 of the 18 active industries in the country. The number of vendors who have sold CRM applications in Bulgaria is 38, and the total number of integrators is nearly 70.
Other main issues of direct relevance to business users were discussed at the conference – when do we need a CRM system, what does the whole process of implementation involve, and do we need Project Management. Advisers from Balkan Services covered the current topic about measuring the efficiency of a CRM project and determining whether it is a successful one.

“We can already see the growing interest of the business towards mobile CRM applications and cloud technologies”, said Hristina Dimitrova, Head of CRM Department & Business Development, Balkan Services. She further shared that the moment between purchase and implementation of the solution is a key one. It is then that we answer the question of “What am I paying for?”

“It is important that anyone using the CRM system is happy and believes it helps them work better. An integrator’s job is to make its use as easy and convenient as possible”, said Milen Manchev, Microsoft Business Solutions Lead, Microsoft Bulgaria.