Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy that focuses on making customers the center of the business. The primary goals of CRM are to optimize business revenue and profit while reducing costs through improved interactions at each customer touch point. CRM attempts to accomplish these goals by providing greater visibility into customer information and by empowering people to make better use of customer data to drive successful business outcomes.

Businesses find many reasons that justify a CRM investment.

1. Companies are seeking to improve relations with existing customers, leading to:
   • Increased sales through better timing based on historic trends.
   • More effective anticipation of customer needs achieved by better understanding specific customer requirements.
   • Increased cross-selling achieved by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or enhancements based on customer data.
2. Better customer relations leads to better marketing of products or services by focusing on:
   • Effectively targeted marketing communications aimed specifically at customer needs.
   • A more personal approach in the development of products and services in order to win more business in the future.
3. Ultimately these factors have an overall beneficial effect on the business, including:
   • Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that a good reputation in the marketplace continues to grow.
   • Increased value from existing customers and reduced cost associated with supporting and servicing them, increasing overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sale