ServiceNow officially enters the CRM market

During its 2025 partner kickoff, ServiceNow boldly declared: “We are in CRM.”

The announcement came when John Ball, SVP & GM CRM-workflows on ServiceNow celebrated the seller's leadership position in 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Center.

A system that evolves into a CRM solution

While ServiceNow previously avoided the term “CRM", has its customer service management platform has evolved in recent years to resemble such a solution. The platform now offers omnichannel support, case management, self-service, knowledge management, proactive outreach, conversational intelligence and a “360-degree customer view“.

Strong progress in customer service management

As these capabilities have been added, ServiceNow attracted significant new business. Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow, revealed during the company's latest earnings call:
“[We] are growing faster than the markets, especially the customer service management market.”

A data-driven CRM strategy

ServiceNow does not focus on competing with out-the-box CRM providers, but on offering complex service delivery based on data from ERP and back-end systems. By integrating AI across workflows, ServiceNow strives to deliver a more data-rich CRM experience.

Experts' take on ServiceNow's CRM push

Martin Schneider, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, recently commented:
“Because of its history, knowledge and deep data integration “ServiceNow can provide insights and capabilities that others cannot.”

Challenges for ServiceNow in the CRM market

Despite its potential, ServiceNow faces challenges. The platform is complex and expensive, meaning companies must invest significant resources to fully leverage its capabilities.

Need for a new marketing strategy

ServiceNow must reconsider its marketing strategy to reach out to service and CX leaders. The vendor has already started taking steps in this direction through partnerships with leading CCaaS vendors such as Five9, Genesys and Zoom.

Advances in AI and education

With Agentic AI as a key component, ServiceNow has the potential to transform workflows, but helping customers integrate the systems requires experts. The vendor has promised to hire 3,000 new employees to support this.

Which companies should consider ServiceNow for CRM?

Brands looking for a broad enterprise service management solution or want to connect all aspects of customer service should consider ServiceNow.

A game changer in CRM

Emil Lundvall from KPMG Sweden describes ServiceNow's initiative as a game changer:
“This development is not just a platform update; it is a game changer.”

Conclusion

ServiceNow has the potential to become a leading player in CRM, especially for companies that already use its platform. With a strong reputation and a growing portfolio, it is a player to be reckoned with CRM market.