Sales and CRM

by Anonymous
(US)

How come everywhere else I go on the Internet CRM is talked about like it is for salespeople? If that's not the case, what is it for?

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Mike's Response:

The reason you see this all over the Internet is because most people don't understand what CRM is. CRM is not software, nor is it Sales Force Automation. There is no "Automation" tagged onto the end of Customer Relationship Management last time I checked.

This is why I started this site, although I'm not the only voice. Check out CustomerThink sometime if you don't believe me. They are dedicated to this message as well.

CRM is **not** just for the sales organization. That is a single functional (tactical) part of your business. CRM is a way of putting your customer at the core of ever decision you make. Sales automation was designed to put the sales people at the center of every decision, or the products they sell.

Customer Service
Marketing
Sales
Technical Support
Shipping
Receiving

Any area that interacts with your customers is fair game to throw into the CRM mix. This is a cross-functional solution that incorporates all of those functions into the flow of information through your company. Many companies operate with Silos where the only processes are those within the department. CRM blows through those boundaries and understands that your customer doesn't want to deal with 3 or 4 different parts of your company.

So, as I go off on a tangent, just remember that CRM is not software, it's not Sales automation, it's not marketing automation it's not call center software. It's a business strategy that is supported by these technologies.

Mike Boysen - Effective CRM