Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and
organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to
support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be
entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals
are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for
targeted marketing.

While the term CRM generally refers to a software-based approach to handling customer
relationships, most CRM software vendors stress that a successful CRM effort requires a
holistic approach. CRM initiatives often fail because implementation was limited to software
installation, without providing the context, support and understanding for employees to
learn, and take full advantage of the information systems. CRM can be implemented without
major investments in software, but software is often necessary to explore the full benefits
of a CRM strategy.

From the outside, customers interacting with a company perceive the business as a single
entity, despite often interacting with a number of employees in different roles and
departments. CRM is a combination of policies, processes, and strategies implemented by an
organization to unify its customer interactions and provide a means to track customer
information. It involves the use of technology in attracting new and profitable customers,
while forming tighter bonds with existing ones.

CRM includes many aspects which relate directly to one another:

Front office operations — Direct interaction with customers, e.g. face to face meetings,
phone calls, e-mail, online services etc.
Back office operations — Operations that ultimately affect the activities of the front office
(e.g., billing, maintenance, planning, marketing, advertising, finance, manufacturing, etc.)
Business relationships — Interaction with other companies and partners, such as
suppliers/vendors and retail outlets/distributors, industry networks (lobbying groups, trade
associations). This external network supports front and back office activities.
Analysis — Key CRM data can be analyzed in order to plan target-marketing campaigns, conceive
business strategies, and judge the success of CRM activities (e.g., market share, number and
types of customers, revenue, profitability).
Perhaps it is important to note that while most consumers of CRM view it as a software
"solution", there is a growing realization in the corporate world that CRM is really a
customer-centric strategy for doing business; supported by software. Along these lines, CRM
thought leaders like Dick Lee of High Yield Methods define CRM as "CRM adds value to
customers in ways that add value back to the company"

An effective tool for identifying technical and human factors before beginning a CRM project
is a pre-implementation checklist. A checklist can help ensure any potential problems are
identified early in the process.

One of the primary functions of CRM software is to collect information about customers. When
gathering data as part of a CRM solution, a company must consider the desire for customer
privacy and data security, as well as the legislative and cultural norms. Some customers
prefer assurances that their data will not be shared with third parties without their prior
consent and that safeguards are in place to prevent illegal access by third parties