In industry theory, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the process that brings together various pieces of an organization's customer information.  The idea is that a company will be more successful if it has a complete, multi-faceted view of each and every customer. The technology involved in a CRM solution enables the centralization and coordination of all disparate customer information.  With detailed customer profiles at their fingertips, your employees will be empowered to make more prudent business decisions.

Customer Relationship Management is typically defined as Contact Management or Sales Force Automation. A complete definition of CRM, however, must go beyond industry and technology, and should always begin with business processes themselves.

Your processes are central and often unique to your individual company. They can incorporate industry standards and corporate policies, while also considering the corporate culture and individual working styles. Implementing the right Customer Relationship Management practice involves defining these business processes and aligning them with the appropriate technology solutions and tools. 

No CRM practice should ever be driven by technology. If your CRM solution delivers incomplete customer information to your employees based simply on the solution's own limitations, then your company is not adhering to the business processes that will make you grow and retain your customers. CRM is ultimately about relationships and not simply about technology solutions.

Any successful CRM solution improves customer relationships, leading to higher revenues, with a more efficient cost structure. A variety of secondary benefits also accrue, including data integrity, management level reporting, and even employee productivity.  The most powerful gains to your company, however, lie in the value of converting more prospects into customers, and turning one-time buyers into repeat customers. Business is about relationships and CRM is about helping you nurture those relationships.