News

HubSpot made a number of announcements at its INBOUND 2014 event, including a CRM system and enhanced reporting features, as the company prepares to launch its IPO. 

HubSpot unveiled a sales platform that includes a free CRM as well as Sidekick, a sales acceleration product designed to provide sales reps with context about prospects and customers to improve sales productivity.

Most companies are practicing inbound marketing, and that is true of companies of all sizes. The concentration of inbound marketers peaks (93%) at companies with a marketing budget between $1 million and $5 million annually, according to the 3,570 marketers surveyed for HubSpot’s State Of Inbound 2014  report.

“Marketers are twice as likely to cite inbound as their primary source of leads as opposed to outbound,” said Joe Chernov, VP of Content for HubSpot, during a session outlining the study at INBOUND 2014. “Salespeople prioritize inbound leads because they know inbound works.”

SharpSpring, a provider of CRM and marketing automation solutions, announced new features for its marketing automation solution intended to provide users with call tracking capabilities. The feature is designed to give sales teams insights that include data from both web and phone touch points.

The first product enhancement since being acquired by SMTP in August, the call tracking feature aims to provide a unified look at prospective buyers by combining call tracking and web tracking data all in a single platform.

A recent study from the crowdsourced software review service G2 Crowd revealed  Nimble and Workbooks.com topped the customer satisfaction rankings, with both receiving 98%.

The Grid for CRM analyzed roughly 1,700 ratings and reviews of more than 150 CRM systems. Of the 27 products qualified. G2 Crowd rated CRM systems based on data sourced from product reviews shared by G2 Crowd users and data aggregated from online sources and social networks.

Larry Ellison has stepped aside as Oracle CEO, ending his 37-year reign as head of the company. He will be replaced in that role by co-presidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd. Both will take the title of CEO and Ellison will stay on as Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer.

All manufacturing, finance, and legal functions will continue to report to Catz, one of Silicon Valley’s highest ranking female executives. Catz was thought to be Ellison’s heir apparent until Hurd joined the firm in 2010 after resigning as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female contractor.