Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the combination of processes and technology used to manage information and interactions with customers and prospects over time.
How it works
A CRM can store profiles, contacts, preferences, opportunities, tickets, communication history and segments. Software is only one part of the system; ownership, data quality and clear use cases are also required.
Practical example
A retailer uses CRM data to distinguish new customers, high-value customers and inactive customers and activate different communications and treatments.
Why it matters
It is a foundation for retention, customer care, marketing automation and understanding the relationship beyond a single order.
What to watch
Collecting data without usage rules creates large but low-value databases. Value comes from processes and decisions powered by CRM data.