Customer Relationship Management

Also called: CRM or customer relationship management

Customer Relationship Management is the active maintenance and optimization of relationships with existing customers. Organizations that apply CRM have a working method in which the marketing, sales and customer service departments work together, usually supported by CRM software.

CRM system

A CRM system stores valuable information about customers. Such as contact details, contact persons and which products have been purchased. In addition, contact moments can be recorded and future desired contact with the customer can be scheduled. This process need not focus only on existing customers; potential customers(prospects) can also be managed in the CRM system.

The idea is that employees who have all relevant information about a customer at their disposal can best help the customer. Also, planned touch points and actions can keep customer contact warm. Some organizations assign a value to customers to determine priorities within their CRM.

There are a number of major CRM solutions, including SAP, Oracle and Salesforce. A CRM system customized for the organization is also an option.

Many CRM systems are linked to the Internet. This makes the system more accessible to employees throughout the organization. It also makes it easier to open up information to the Web, for example, to provide a private online customer environment.

One possible component of Customer Relationship Management is after sales.