There is going to come a point (and we may already be seeing it) where there is no one-size-fits-all CRM solution.  The trend of horizontal CRM companies creating CRM applications that are applicable across industries is never going to provide companies with the best-fit of software to match CRM processes.  At the same time, CRM implementations that rely on the heavy use of customizations will deliver an end result that is a better fit for a company, but usually with an astronomically high price tag.  At some point, when does the CRM industry decide to go vertical?

Sure, the big players have some vertical solutions, which are simply slightly modified or preconfigured versions of their applications created for specific verticals.  There are few major CRM companies out there that have created a CRM solely targeted at a specific industry.  Rather, there are a multitude of small companies that have created their own vertical CRM applications, but they don’t have the force of the marketing of a Salesforce.com or a Microsoft.  These companies are usually focus on a single vertical, and have some expertise in that vertical, but don’t have the marketing and sales machine to make the product the CRM product for their industry.

Therin lies the perennial problem.  To verticalize, one has to focus on a niche, and to focus on a niche in a horizontal industry means focusing on a small customer base.  Yet at some point, verticalization must happen as companies strive towards greater process efficiencies and look for software that matches their own industry and internal process.  The company that can capitalize on that, and do it across several industries will make a huge splash.

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