Learn more about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
Are CRMs part of sales or marketing?
CRMs are characteristically designed to assist sales and service teams, as agents in these departments are in the frontlines of answering customer inquiries, or attending to complaints/feedback. While marketing teams may not directly use the core functionalities of CRMs, they may find value in accessing any inbuilt reporting and analytics tools, if available.
Additionally, marketing teams can assist other teams that do actively use CRMs, by configuring custom workflows in order to automate common tasks, implement customer self-service tools, or deliver personalized recommendations directly within the CRM – based on insights derived from reporting tools.
Is a CRM a database?
CRMs are based on customer databases, all of which are connected to one another. But a CRM is more than just a collection of databases; it's an entire system, complete with an easy-to-navigate user interface that allows sales and service teams to interact with prospects/customers. Additionally, CRM systems also offer analytics across all the information in the system so that you can analyze that data to spot opportunities, issues, or trends to inform your decision making.
What is the difference between CRM and CDP?
Although CRMs and Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are both solutions that are utilized for customer engagement and management, there are key differences between each. The main difference between CRMs and CDPs, however, lies in their core functionalities; while CRMs are systems that offer sales and service teams a set of tools to interact with customers across any channel of their choice, CDPs build centralized customer profiles by ingesting, analysing and unifying customer data from multiple channels.
Typically, CDPs connect with CRMs, so business teams can obtain deep customer insights directly into the latter, via the former. This integration then helps teams to automate tasks, customize recommendations, and contextually interact with customers – directly from the CRM interface.