Define Customer Relationship Management
What is CRM (customer relationship management)?
CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for
methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise
manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise
might build a database
about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that
management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly
could access information, match customer needs with product plans and
offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a
customer had purchased, and so forth.
According to one industry view, CRM consists of:
- Helping an enterprise to enable its marketing departments to identify and target their best customers, manage marketing campaigns with clear goals and objectives, and generate quality leads for the sales team.
- Assisting the organization to improve telesales, account, and sales management by optimizing information shared by multiple employees, and streamlining existing processes (for example, taking orders using mobile devices)
- Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and maximizing profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service.
- Providing employees with the information and processes necessary to know their customers, understand their needs, and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners.
