An explanation of customer relationship management (CRM)
In this video, Informa TechTarget customer success specialist Ben Clossey explains what customer relationship management (CRM) software is and how organizations use CRM tools to better serve their customers.
CRM puts the customer first.
Customer relationship management, or CRM, is a combination of practices, strategies and technologies that manage a company's interactions with customers. It's a data-driven process that helps companies improve relationships with current and potential customers, with the ultimate goal of driving sales.
Here, we'll explain the components and benefits of CRM systems and software.
CRM software gathers customer data from web forms, phone calls, email, social media and more, and consolidates it into a single database. From here, the data can be analyzed to get a clearer picture of customer purchase history, buying preferences and general customer sentiment.
CRM components and capabilities include:
- Marketing automation, to automate repetitive tasks.
- Sales force automation tools that track customer interactions and automate business functions in the sales cycle.
- Lead management, enabling sales teams to input, track and analyze data for leads.
- Contact center automation, to reduce tedious tasks like information dissemination.
- Location-based services that create marketing campaigns based on customers' physical locations.
- Human resource management to track employee information, reviews and benefits.
- Predictive AI, to analyze historical customer data to predict sales outcomes and market trends.
In practice, CRM allows a business to distribute information to users who are interested in their products, follow conversations about their brand, solicit customer suggestions for improvements and much more.
CRM technology can be offered as on-premises or cloud-based systems. Major CRM vendors for large enterprises include Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. But all organizations -- including small and mid-size enterprises -- use and benefit from CRM technology.
With CRM, organizations can expect the following benefits:
- Enhanced customer service, thanks to easily accessible customer information.
- The ability to identify trends through reporting and visualization features.
- Prevention of information silos through centralized customer data.
- Increased customer loyalty and retention, which drives business growth.
What type of CRM does your business use? Let us know in the comments, and remember to like and subscribe, too.
Tommy Everson is an assistant editor for video content at TechTarget. He assists in content creation for TechTarget's YouTube channel and TikTok page.
Sabrina Polin is a managing editor of video content for the Learning Content team. She plans and develops video content for TechTarget's editorial YouTube channel, Eye on Tech. Previously, Sabrina was a reporter for the Products Content team.