Firms are continuing to invest in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, according to a recent study, despite many failing to receive the anticipated benefits.

The study by the National Computing Centre (NCC) found 45 per cent had achieved partial success with their CRM deployment, while five per cent said they had seen no major benefit at all.

And while around half of firms reported seeing some benefit, not a single respondent said their CRM projects to date had been a complete success.

But the recession has heightened the desire to improve customer relations, and many firms will continue to invest in CRM, according the NCC study: it found that 18 per cent of firms will increase spending on CRM activities in the coming year,

NCC sees the budget for CRM activities holding up well, with 18 per cent of organisations expecting to spend more on CRM; 50 per cent keeping expenditure at the same level; and only 12 per cent expecting to see a cut in CRM spending.

“It’s reassuring to see that organisations are maintaining their investment in CRM software to better understand their customers and improve their service levels,” said Steve Fox, NCC’s Evaluation Centre managing director.

Firms have invested heavily in customising their CRM systems, with 10 per cent of respondents having made "very significant" modifications, while 35 per cent have made "significant" adaptations.

However, few of the firms surveyed show an appetite for the supposedly cost-effective on-demand CRM, with just 10 per cent adopting this approach. A further 26 per cent said they may consider implementing on-demand CRM, but 43 per cent have ruled it out all together.

The survey polled a broad cross-section of more than 100 organisations, from the public sector, financial services sector and others.