Customer Service Skills Knowledge Base and Frequently Asked Questions
What is Customer Relationship Management Conceptually?
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CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has grown to the point where almost anything can be considered part of managing the customer experience, since the customer experience is tied to so many different variables with respect to how a company does business (systems issues).So it's hard to define it in a meaningful way, and determine the boundaries of what is and is not CRM.
Still, we have to start somewhere. Here's a definition from Wikipedia:
Customer relationship management is a corporate level strategy which focuses on creating and maintaining lasting relationships with its customers. Although there are several commercial CRM software packages on the market which support CRM strategy, it is not a technology itself. Rather, a holistic change in an organisation's philosophy which places emphasis on the customer.
Here's another defintion from CRMguru:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy to select and manage customers to optimize long-term value. CRM requires a customer-centric business philosophy and culture to support effective marketing, sales, and service processes. CRM applications can enable effective Customer Relationship Management, provided that an enterprise has the right leadership, strategy, and culture.
Robert Bacal is the author of two books on customer service: Perfect Phrases for Customer Service: Hundreds of Tools, Techniques, and Scripts for Handling Any Situation, and Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook. Most of the questions and answers in the Customer Service Knowledgebase (which you are reading now) is based on the material in these books.