The ABC of CRM | FinanceAsia

A quick perusal of the stands at any e-commerce or software expo these days would likely yield the observation that every software company in the world offers some kind of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product. Cynical observers might see CRM as just one of the latest acronym bandwagons that software vendors are jumping aboard, and in some cases they would be right. But thousands of the world’s top companies have benefited greatly from CRM technology and an asssociated re-engineering of their business processes, so it is worthwhile to cut through the marketing hype and examine exactly what the technology is about.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an approach to business that uses continuously refined information about current and potential customers to anticipate and respond to their needs. Advances in information and communication technology enable companies to capture and conduct thorough analysis on customer data, as well as communicate with customers through many channels in an increasingly personalised way.