What is CRM?

CRM Definition

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategy for managing a company's interactions with its customers. The goal is to establish and nurture stronger, more profitable customer relationships. This kind of management involves using modern information and communication technologies to organise and optimise business processes for sales and marketing activities, customer service, and technical support.

Implementation of customer relationship management

It is important that customer relationship management is seen as a process, and not only as another software that your business uses to collect and manage customer data. This should ideally also include the definition of CRM processes in marketing, customer service and support, sales, and all other areas of your business that are involved in any form of customer contact. The implementation of CRM in a company requires an integrated information management system, referred to here as a CRM solution, a CRM system, or CRM software.

CRM Software - Multiple deployment options

There is a range of possibilities and software systems when implementing CRM in your business. On-premises CRM software is installed locally on your company’s servers. Cloud CRM is based on cloud computing and is an Internet-based technology. The advantage hereby is that you can access your data from anywhere and anytime, and software maintenance is usually done by the software provider. A modern form of cloud CRM is social CRM, where social media is part of the process. All solutions have the advantage of centrally stored data, enabling real time data editing and version control.

Collecting all relevant information about each customer and synchronising all communication channels will help you better understand your customers, their behaviour and their requirements, and enable you to target them more effectively.