Top CRM Trends from SugarCRM’s Report

CRM has come a long way in just a few years, and SugarCRM’s State of CRM Report shows not only how much has changed but also what’s coming next. Nearly 60% of businesses say that CRM is more important today than it was five years ago, and that is no surprise to us here at WeDoCRM! Based on insights from more than 800 sales, marketing, service, and IT professionals, as well as our team of experts, the top priorities are clear: a single source of truth for customer data, smarter use of AI, and a deeper focus on retention and upselling. 

Whether you’re scaling demand generation, optimising marketing automation, or unifying sales and service around a single source of truth, these are the CRM trends you simply can’t ignore. In this article, we break down SugarCRM’s most impactful insights and here’s what you need to know from our CRM team.

CRM as a Central Hub & 360° Customer View

Insight: 60% said using CRM as a central hub for nurturing leads/customers is the top priority; 45% said a complete view of interactions is the next big priority

The report says CRM should be a central hub and single source of truth.

Georgina Bailey – CRM Manager

Question 1: What are your thoughts on this statement? Do you agree, or do you think in 2025 we’ve gone further?

“I agree that a CRM should be the central hub, but in 2025, it’s become much more than that. For many brands, especially those with subscription or retention models, the CRM is now the support for managing customer journeys. It’s no longer just a place to store data; it’s where automation, personalisation, and cross-channel activity come to life. Today, CRMs are expected to integrate seamlessly with marketing, service, and data platforms, delivering real-time insights that teams can act on, rather than just static reports.

A recent example is what we have recently done for our client, where CRM-driven automations have been used to help reduce the likelihood of subscription cancellations before Month 3. The CRM acts as the central hub, bringing together subscription data, customer interactions, and marketing communications to deliver timely guidance and support to each customer. This improves engagement and retention while freeing the customer care team to focus on other communications instead of preventable cancellations. CRMs are most effective when all systems are fully connected; without seamless integration, important insights can be missed, reducing the impact of these initiatives.”

Question 2: Looking forward, what do you think will be the next big development in centralisation and customer visibility over the next few years? 

“The next shift will be from visibility to predictive action as support. AI-driven CRMs will anticipate needs, trigger retention journeys automatically, and connect more closely with product usage data to drive proactive engagement.”

Sales Automation & Pipeline Visibility

Insight: The top benefits of CRM platforms in 2024 were the pipeline visibility (37%), quality of leads (35%), and forecasting accuracy (43%)

The report highlights pipeline visibility and lead quality as the biggest CRM gains.

Jordana Makin – CRM Manager

Question 1: Do you agree with this based on what we’ve seen in 2025, or do you think CRM has gone beyond this?

“I strongly agree with pipeline visibility, but I think lead management is more suited than lead quality. However, I don’t think this is any truer in 2025 than in any previous year. Businesses survive by truly understanding their pipeline, what’s going to land, how much it’s worth, and when it’s going to be secured. In order to do that, it has to be very well documented, which is where CRM systems come into play. CRMs can vary in terms of their features, but generally speaking, they are very feature-rich rich and what you find in a lot of cases is that businesses are not taking full advantage of those features to highlight the quality of leads. This could be a deliberate choice if the internal resource isn’t there to build or customise it to the company’s needs.

Without a doubt, CRM helps identify the ‘quality of leads’, but only if a business really understands what it defines as a quality lead. The more you understand what that looks like, the more you can customise your lead scoring or processes to help convert that lead to a sale. While a CRM can highlight that, it’s up to Marketing & Sales teams to understand how to get a lead from A to B.”

Question 2: What do you think will be the next step for sales automation — e.g., more predictive forecasting, AI-driven lead scoring, or something else?

“I think AI-driven lead scoring and persona creation would be such a helpful tool. Constructing things like this takes time, and if AI can step in and do some of the initial heavy lifting, it could really assist in getting the ball rolling in what can be a very time-consuming task. I think we’re going to see tools start pulling in more intent data, behavioural signals, and even third-party info like online activity or content engagement. That way, leads get scored dynamically, and reps can focus their energy where it’s most likely to actually pay off.

In terms of sales automation specifically, I think we’ll see AI agents becoming a much bigger part of sales. Instead of just chatbots answering basic questions, they’ll start taking on real tasks — like discovery, qualification, or even early outreach, which cuts down on a lot of the repetitive work for reps. I have seen this on support pages, which IMO has been pretty helpful. Instead of static docs, which, although obviously helpful, can be quite hard to apply to your scenario, I’ve been able to ‘talk’ to the support bot to really focus in on my use case and help me get to the solution that I can follow much easier. Twilio was a good example of this when I was struggling to understand certification processes and what was needed.”

AI & Analytics in CRM

Insight: 80% said AI will be central for CRM value over the next five years; 41% prioritised intent data/lead scoring

The report predicts AI and analytics will drive personalisation, forecasting, and lead scoring.

Shannon Drees – CRM Executive

Question 1: Why is CRM becoming such a critical driver of sales and marketing success right now?

“I’m not surprised to read that CRM is more important than ever for achieving sales and marketing goals. More businesses are seeing diminishing returns on paid media, particularly PPC campaigns—knock-on effects of market saturation, ad fatigue, and widespread click fraud. Naturally, these organisations are turning to their CRM and ESPs to uncover untapped potential and get more bang for their buck. I expect to see a continued shift toward CRM-based channels, with a growing focus on maximising lead generation and nurturing. The timing for this shift is ideal, as platforms are entering a competitive growth phase, integrating AI tools to make these processes even easier and more efficient.”

Customer Service, Retention & Upsell

Insight: One-third said the most important CRM focus is customer service and upsell/cross-sell opportunities

The report says CRM is key to strengthening service, retention, and upselling.

Jessica Beck – CRM Campaign Executive

Question 1: Do you agree with this based on what we’ve seen in 2025? Or do you think clients are expecting even more now?

“I completely agree that CRM is central to strengthening service, retention, and upselling – but by 2025, client expectations have risen further. That’s where WeDoCRM comes in. It’s no longer just about logging interactions or tracking renewals; customers expect proactive, personalised engagement that anticipates their needs before they raise them. CRMs are now being judged not only on how they help companies retain customers but also on how intelligently they surface new value opportunities.

For example, when a new client first came on board, we found they had no clear customer profiles in place. After we expressed the benefits of having these in place, we began working with the client to build these out so that we could have a clear picture of who the audience is, and who we’re talking to. It also enables them to segment their users, track behaviours, and tailor conversations far more effectively. That shift alone makes it easier to spot risks early and highlight natural upsell paths.”

Question 2: Over the next few years, where do you think the biggest opportunities will be for using CRM to keep customers engaged and expand revenue?

“Looking ahead, the big opportunity is predictive retention: using CRM not just to react, but to anticipate and automate how we keep customers engaged and growing. That’s where real competitive advantage lies.”

How WeDoCRM Can Help You

At WeDoCRM, we stay ahead of the latest CRM trends, helping our clients drive measurable results through a mix of strategy, data-driven insights, and creative execution.

You can check out another piece from our comment series, this time featuring Salesforce, right here: Insights from Salesforce’s B2B Marketers Guide to Winning Customers. Want to learn more about how we can help your business thrive? Contact us today.