Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was among the biggest buzzwords of the late 90's and commonly referred to the software application enabling the customer-facing operations of a business:

• Marketing (EMA - Enterprise Marketing Automation)
• Sales (SFA - Sales Force Automation)
• Service (CSS - Customer Service and Support)

However, this narrow interpretation led to the failure of many CRM initiatives (CRM project failure estimates range from 30% to 75%). Customer Relationship Management should be interpreted much more broadly than automation of these functions. In reality, CRM is comprised of the strategies, processes, metrics, and, yes, the technology that organizations use to connect with customers and measure the effectiveness of those interactions. CEM (Customer Experience Management) is now frequently thrown around as the next generation of CRM, but the primary objectives of CEM are very similar to those of its predecessor.

This site
The purpose of this site is to provide small businesses with information about Customer Relationship Management best practices and share ideas on how to implement CRM concepts being executed successfully at Fortune 500 companies for a fraction of the cost. My hope is to create a forum for sharing ideas on marketing, sales, and support as they apply to small business. Please share any feedback you have along the way by leaving a comment or filling out the contact form.