What is CRM

The overall process of marketing, sales, and service within any organization.

CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it be sales or
service related. CRM an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually
Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way.

Like, Oracle's Siebel Customer Relationship Management (CRM) enables organizations to transform the
customer experience.

Defining CRM

CRM is not just a technology; it’s a philosophy for survival in the customer-centric economy.

Some define CRM as a call center solution. Some companies view it as sales force automation,
others as direct mail, marketing automation, or simply a Web page. Many companies see it as a
front-end application only, interacting at the point-of-contact, point-of-purchase, or customer
support.

Others believe the secret to CRM success is in “back-end” activities, such as data mining, data
warehousing, and the proper distribution of actionable data to those across the enterprise who
interact with customers. Still others see it as anticipating customers’ needs via auto
replenishment.

CRM encompasses all of these -- and much more.

It is better to view CRM as a bridge, not an end-point. It is the means by which companies are
meeting the needs of customers who now expect high levels of personalization and care at every
touchpoint.

Obtaining a software package, hiring IT support, launching a Website, and rolling out a customer
interaction center is just the front-end beginning. The real back end of CRM implementation is
making sure that the culture of a company is on board. This often involves a training and
education perspective.

CRM is an enterprise-wide change that involves the development of intellectual capital as much
as structural change. It not only involves collecting data, but also determining which data is
actionable. It involves educating senior and middle managers as well as sales reps and call
center reps in how to listen to customers.

CRM Principles

 360 degree view of the customer

o Profile information
o Key usage and revenue data, Interaction history across channels
 Provide customers what they want – when and how they choose
 Understand customer behavior and leverage the knowledge for differentiated
customer experience
 Evaluate and segment customers and provide targeted offers for upsell, revenue
assurance and churn management
 Keep things simple – mask the complexity by process automation and tight
integration