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Article's Content
Salesforce is one of the most successful and prominent SaaS companies in the world.
The total valuation of Salesforce today is 153 billion dollars.
It’s a CRM software that boasts one of the most valuable ecosystems in software. It has built a moat throughout many industries on the back of partnerships, data, integrations, and more. Today, hundreds of CRM tools and software companies compete with Salesforce for a piece of the CRM pie. These companies have unbundled the CRM giant for niches and unlocked significant success as a result.
This is what they call Vertical SaaS.
For example, Veeva, a cloud-based CRM that operates on the back of Salesforce in the life science industry, has skyrocketed in valuation thanks to staying laser-focused on a specific niche. It’s essentially developed a CRM solution that offers life science professionals the ability to manage relationships and similar sets of information and experiences that Salesforce would offer. Today, Veeva has a 26 billion dollar valuation and is one of the most successful SaaS companies in the world.
But not every CRM needs to aim for the moon.
You can create a small CRM, capture a small % of the market and still unlock life-changing wealth.
We wanted to understand the power of search in the CRM landscape and identified 9 verticals that seem to demonstrate an opportunity. If you were to convert 1% of the annual traffic in these various verticals, you would be able to generate thousands (even millions) of dollars worth of annual revenue.
Here’s one of my favorite verticals and a glimpse into the possibilities associated with it:
Let’s dive into each of these verticals and discuss the opportunity at hand:
CRM For Automotive Shops: $232k ARR Opportunity
Each month hundreds of automotive shop owners and employees go to Google looking for CRM tools for automotive shops, car repair shops, and other variations. These shop owners see value in managing their relationships with clients and customers—Both those who recently dropped off their vehicle and those with whom they want to maintain long-term relationships for things like oil changes and tire changes.
Simple interactions, reminders, and follow-ups can make a world of difference to these organizations’ bottom line. We estimate that with 1% of the traffic converting against the primary keyword, you could earn $232k a year in revenue with that alone.
CRM For Financial Advisors: $1.2M ARR Opportunity
The opportunities for generating revenue on the back of Financial Advisors to drive ROI on CRM software are significant. The existing market already charges a premium price tag compared to niches like Real Estate agents, making it a very attractive space. Competitors are limited, but the brands competing for this keyword have an amazing opportunity to capture value.
The company Moxo raised $20M to go after this market and acquire customers in this space. If you were to capture just 1% of the total market value, you could have a million-dollar business.
CRM for Law Firms: A MultiBillion Dollar Industry
The legal space is one of the longest-lasting industries in the world. It’s been around for decades, and while technology continues to disrupt the space – it seems like lawyers and law firms will be a part of capitalism for many years to come. Law firms need to keep track of their clients and relationships. Like any other business, they must maintain relationships, nurture relationships and compete for opportunities (especially in B2B).
CRM tools like Clio and MyCase refer to themselves as ‘case management software’ but are essentially CRM solutions with a few niche features. Clio has raised over $110M and is valued at $1.6B. This shows that the opportunity to find riches in the niches is a true concept and idea.
CRM for Car Dealers: More Than $250k Worth Of Opportunity
Every single day cars are being sold at dealerships around the world. Used cars. New cars.
You name it, they’re getting sold, and as much as we like to see technology shake this industry up (I hate going to dealerships), the industry revolves around dealerships. Dealerships are getting much savvier with the way they manage relationships. From text messaging to email marketing – smart dealerships are using technology to accelerate and improve their customer experience.
In this space, companies like Dealerpull and DealerSocket have taken on generic CRMs head-on. I reached out to a few friends who run dealerships, and they advised that tools like Pipedrive are commonly used in their space. All in all, the opportunity here is significant, but the market is price sensitive. In the same way, dealerships will push for a price point that helps their bottom line – you can guarantee the same thought process will be applied when picking a CRM.
CRM for Insurance Agents: $181k Opportunity
The insurance industry is considered slow-growing, but it’s also a highly profitable industry. It’s been around for years, and agents are very sales-driven. The goal is simple. Convince people to buy the insurance and hopefully retain them for the rest of their life. It’s typically a low-volume industry, but the highest-performing insurance agents can use technology to thrive.
The opportunity in this market is real for SaaS developers and founders. AgencyBloc is a software company out of Iowa that offers a CRM built specifically for life and health insurance agencies. The company has over 3,000 insurance agencies throughout the US and, in 2021, received an investment from Resurgens Technology Partners. Agencybloc has 84 employees on LinkedIn.
All that to say… The market is clearly a good one.
The search volume in this space is a bit less than in other industries, and the annual return on 1% of the market looks to be around $129k. Not bad for a solo founder. But it feels like this is an industry where you will be rewarded most by offering ‘seats’ to your customers and selling to the firms.
CRM for Accountants: $91k Opportunity
Accounting firms operate similarly to Insurance and Law Firms. Industries that have been around for decades show no signs of disappearing. The growth of this industry has been flat, but the opportunity to serve accounting firms and solo accountants with software is on the rise.
The days of using a Rolodex to manage the names and emails of customers are long gone. And the days of using nothing more than an email with all your clients bcc’d is also long gone. CRMs provide accountants with a solution to better manage their clientele and optimize long-term relationships.
Karbon is one of the leaders in this space, boasting an impressive 98% positive reviews on G2. In 2021, they raised $12M pre-series A, with plans to use the funds to improve product development, accelerate hiring plans and improve operations. The team shared that they expected to double its headcount to 60 but as of today… LinkedIn suggests they have 172 employees.
Seems like the round accelerated their growth.
CRM for Real Estate Investors: Very Niche (But Tons Of Opportunity)
This was one of the few CRM verticals that had limited search volume and low returns. It’s enough to replace a salary, but the demand in this space is not as significant as in many other industries. Real estate investing is a relationship play, but it’s not as relationship-driven as some of the other industries in this list and opportunities found for potential CRMs.
Covercy is described as a real estate investment management software & banking platform for commercial real estate investment firms. It’s estimated that they generate nearly 2k organic search visits a month. My expectation in this space is that you will need a sales team to help hit your customer acquisition targets.
Summarizing The Opportunity
Across the board, there are a ton of opportunities to be found in the world of CRM.
Founders and developers who make the time to build a CRM software are better off niching down today than going after the goliaths of Salesforce and HubSpot. These organizations have established brand excellence and a competitive advantage that will be hard to shake. Some of these niches, however, are filled with opportunities as the software on the market is average at best and does not embrace some of the best-in-class qualities or features that buyers will eventually want.
This is a space filled with opportunity.
Go capture it.
