CRM refers to both a strategy and a technology used by businesses to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The goal is to improve business relationships, enhance customer service, and increase sales and retention.
Focus: Automating and managing customer-facing processes
Used by: Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support teams
Key Features:
Contact management
Lead generation
Email marketing automation
Customer support ticketing
Focus: Analyzing customer data to improve decision-making
Used by: Business analysts, marketing strategists
Key Features:
Customer segmentation
Sales forecasting
Data mining
Trend analysis
Example Tools:
SAP CRM
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Oracle CRM
Use Case Example:
You analyze customer buying patterns to see which products are popular and what time people are most likely to purchase.
Focus: Improving communication between different teams (sales, support, marketing)
Used by: Cross-departmental teams and customer-facing staff
Key Features:
Shared customer data
Internal chat and collaboration tools
Multi-channel communication (email, phone, social media)
Example Tools:
Freshworks CRM
Insightly
Bitrix24