| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Relationship Management (CRM) | A technology for managing all company relationships and interactions with existing and potential customers. A CRM system helps organizations stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability. It includes strategies, practices, and technologies that companies use to analyze and manage customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships, customer retention, and driving sales growth. | Core Concept |
| Cloud CRM | A CRM system that is hosted on the vendor’s servers and accessed via web browser or mobile apps. Also known as Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM, this model eliminates the need for organizations to install and maintain software on individual computers or manage the associated hardware. Cloud CRMs typically offer subscription-based pricing, automatic updates, and the ability to access customer data from anywhere with an internet connection. | Deployment Model |
| On-Premise CRM | A CRM system that is installed locally on a company’s own servers and computers. The organization is responsible for maintaining the hardware, installing updates, and managing security. On-premise CRMs typically require larger upfront investments but offer greater customization control and may be preferred by organizations with specific security or compliance requirements that necessitate keeping data within their own infrastructure. | Deployment Model |
| Hybrid CRM | A CRM solution that combines elements of both cloud-based and on-premise deployments. In a hybrid model, some components or data may be stored locally while others are hosted in the cloud. This approach allows organizations to balance the benefits of cloud accessibility with the security or compliance advantages of keeping certain data on-premise. | Deployment Model |
| Mobile CRM | CRM applications designed specifically for smartphones and tablets that enable salespeople, service technicians, and other users to access and update customer information while working in the field. Mobile CRMs typically offer optimized interfaces for smaller screens, offline access to key data, and specialized features like location-based services or mobile communication tools. | Deployment Model |
| Social CRM | An extension of traditional CRM that incorporates social media channels and interactions to provide a more comprehensive view of customer relationships. Social CRM enables organizations to monitor social conversations, engage with customers on their preferred platforms, gather insights from social data, and integrate social profiles with customer records to enhance relationship management. | CRM Type |
| Operational CRM | CRM systems focused on automating and improving customer-facing business processes such as sales, marketing, and customer service. Operational CRMs streamline and enhance day-to-day customer operations by providing tools for contact management, sales force automation, marketing automation, and service automation. The primary goal is to generate leads, convert them to contacts and customers, and provide service throughout the customer lifecycle. | CRM Type |
| Analytical CRM | CRM systems that focus on capturing, interpreting, and using customer data to improve business decisions. Analytical CRMs employ data mining, pattern recognition, and predictive analytics to analyze customer information and identify trends, opportunities, and potential issues. These insights can help organizations better understand customer behavior, optimize marketing campaigns, improve sales forecasting, and enhance customer service strategies. | CRM Type |
| Collaborative CRM | CRM systems that facilitate coordination and communication across different departments (such as sales, marketing, and support) to improve customer service and retention. Collaborative CRMs enable internal teams to share customer information seamlessly and ensure consistent customer experiences regardless of which department is interacting with them. Features typically include shared calendars, document repositories, and communication tools. | CRM Type |
| Strategic CRM | An approach that focuses on developing long-term customer relationships to increase loyalty and lifetime value. Strategic CRM emphasizes collecting and analyzing customer data to better understand their needs and preferences, then using these insights to create personalized experiences that build stronger connections. This customer-centric approach involves aligning business processes, communications, and company culture around delivering superior customer value. | CRM Type |
| Sales Force Automation (SFA) | A core component of CRM systems that automates sales-related tasks such as contact management, opportunity tracking, pipeline management, activity logging, and sales forecasting. SFA tools help sales teams organize their work, prioritize leads, track progress against targets, and close deals more efficiently by reducing administrative burdens and providing better visibility into the sales process. | CRM Function |
| Marketing Automation | CRM functionality that automates repetitive marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media posting, lead scoring, audience segmentation, and campaign tracking. Marketing automation helps organizations deliver personalized content to prospects and customers at scale, nurture leads through the sales funnel, and measure the effectiveness of marketing initiatives to optimize return on investment. | CRM Function |
| Contact Management | The core functionality of CRM systems that enables organizations to store and organize detailed information about customers and prospects in a centralized database. Contact management includes capturing basic details like names, addresses, and phone numbers, as well as recording interactions, preferences, purchase history, and other relevant information. This creates a comprehensive view of each contact that supports personalized engagement and relationship building. | CRM Component |
| Lead Management | CRM functionality for tracking and managing potential customers (leads) through the acquisition and qualification process until they become opportunities or are disqualified. Lead management includes tools for lead capture from various sources, lead assignment to appropriate sales representatives, lead scoring to prioritize follow-up, lead nurturing to maintain engagement, and analytics to measure lead conversion performance. | CRM Component |
| Opportunity Management | The process of tracking and managing potential sales deals within a CRM system from initial identification through the sales pipeline until they are won or lost. Opportunity management includes recording key details such as product interest, potential value, probability of closing, expected close date, stage in the sales process, and activities needed to advance the opportunity. This provides visibility into the sales pipeline and helps forecast future revenue. | CRM Component |
| Account Management | CRM functionality for organizing and maintaining information about customer organizations (accounts) and their relationships with your business. Account management includes tracking company details, key contacts within the organization, purchase history, service issues, contract terms, and account-level activities. This comprehensive view enables strategic management of important business relationships, particularly in B2B environments. | CRM Component |
| Pipeline Management | The process of tracking and managing sales opportunities through various stages from initial contact to closed sale. Pipeline management in CRM provides visualization of all potential deals, their stages, values, and probabilities, helping sales teams prioritize activities, identify bottlenecks, allocate resources effectively, and accurately forecast sales. It typically includes dashboards showing both individual and team pipeline metrics. | CRM Component |
| Activity Management | CRM functionality that helps users plan, track, and record customer-related activities such as calls, meetings, emails, tasks, and follow-ups. Activity management ensures important actions aren’t forgotten, provides a complete history of interactions with each contact or account, and enables managers to monitor team productivity. Features typically include calendars, task lists, automated reminders, and activity logging tools. | CRM Component |
| Customer Data Platform (CDP) | A technology that collects and unifies customer data from multiple sources to create comprehensive, individual customer profiles that can be used by other systems, including CRMs. Unlike CRMs, which primarily focus on known customers and direct interactions, CDPs can incorporate anonymous visitor data and customer information from across the organization. CDPs enhance CRM capabilities by providing more complete customer insights and enabling more sophisticated segmentation and personalization. | Data Management |
| Data Enrichment | The process of enhancing CRM records with additional information from third-party sources to create more complete and accurate customer profiles. Data enrichment might include appending business information like company size and industry, demographic details, social media profiles, or technological insights. This supplemental data helps sales and marketing teams better understand their prospects and customers, improving segmentation, personalization, and targeting efforts. | Data Management |
| Customer Segmentation | The practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals with similar characteristics, needs, or behaviors. CRM systems facilitate segmentation by providing tools to categorize customers based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, engagement level, or custom attributes. Effective segmentation enables organizations to tailor their marketing, sales approaches, and service offerings to address the specific needs of different customer groups. | Analytics |
| Predictive Analytics | Advanced CRM functionality that uses historical data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify patterns and predict future outcomes in customer behavior. Predictive analytics in CRM can forecast which leads are most likely to convert, which customers might churn, what products customers might purchase next, or when customers might be ready for upselling opportunities. These insights enable more proactive and effective customer engagement strategies. | Analytics |
| Customer 360 | A comprehensive view of the customer that aggregates data from all touchpoints and systems to provide a complete understanding of their relationship with the organization. Customer 360 in CRM brings together information from sales, marketing, customer service, e-commerce, billing, product usage, and other sources to create a unified profile of each customer. This holistic view enables more personalized interactions and coordinated engagement across departments. | Data Management |
| Customer Insights | Actionable intelligence derived from analyzing customer data within CRM systems to understand preferences, behaviors, and needs. Customer insights go beyond basic reporting to identify meaningful patterns, trends, and opportunities that inform business decisions and customer engagement strategies. Modern CRMs increasingly use AI and machine learning to generate these insights automatically and deliver them to users when and where they can take appropriate action. | Analytics |
| Sales Pipeline | A visual representation of sales prospects and their progress through the sales process, from initial contact to closed deal. The sales pipeline in CRM systems is typically displayed as a series of stages that reflect the organization’s sales methodology, with opportunities moving from left to right as they advance. This visualization helps sales professionals and managers monitor progress, identify bottlenecks, prioritize activities, and forecast results. | Sales |
| Sales Forecast | Predictions about future sales performance based on pipeline data, historical trends, and probability assessments. CRM systems generate sales forecasts by calculating the value of opportunities in the pipeline, weighted by their likelihood of closing, and projected across time periods. Accurate forecasting helps organizations make informed decisions about resource allocation, inventory management, hiring needs, and financial planning. | Sales |
| Lead Scoring | A methodology used in CRM systems to rank prospects against a scale that represents the perceived value of each lead to the organization. Lead scoring typically assigns points based on attributes (demographic and firmographic information) and behaviors (website visits, content downloads, email engagement). This prioritization helps sales teams focus on the most promising leads and determines which leads need further nurturing before sales engagement. | Sales |
| Opportunity Scoring | An advanced CRM feature that uses AI and historical data to predict the likelihood of winning sales opportunities. Similar to lead scoring but focused on active deals, opportunity scoring analyzes factors such as deal characteristics, customer engagement patterns, sales activities, and competitive situations to estimate close probability. This helps sales teams prioritize their efforts on opportunities with the highest potential and identify deals that may need additional attention. | Sales |
| Sales Cadence | A structured sequence of sales activities and touchpoints designed to systematically engage prospects and move them through the sales process. CRM systems with sales cadence functionality help sales representatives implement consistent outreach patterns by scheduling and tracking calls, emails, social touches, and other activities for each prospect. This ensures timely follow-up, reduces missed opportunities, and applies proven engagement strategies consistently. | Sales |
| Territory Management | CRM functionality that enables organizations to define and manage sales territories based on geographic regions, industries, account size, product lines, or other criteria. Territory management helps distribute leads and accounts fairly among sales representatives, prevent coverage gaps or overlaps, align resources with market potential, and measure performance by territory. This supports efficient sales coverage and appropriate resource allocation across the market. | Sales |
| Campaign Management | CRM functionality for planning, executing, and evaluating marketing initiatives across channels. Campaign management includes defining target segments, creating campaign content and offers, scheduling activities, managing campaign budgets, tracking responses, and measuring results. This centralized approach helps marketers coordinate multi-channel campaigns, maintain consistent messaging, and analyze which campaigns generate the best ROI. | Marketing |
| Lead Generation | The process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business’s products or services. CRM systems support lead generation by capturing prospect information from various sources (web forms, events, social media, etc.), tracking initial interactions, and beginning the qualification process. Effective lead generation in CRM connects marketing activities directly to the sales pipeline and provides visibility into which lead sources produce the best results. | Marketing |
| Lead Nurturing | The process of developing relationships with prospects who aren’t ready to buy but may become customers in the future. CRM systems with lead nurturing capabilities automate personalized communications based on prospect behavior, interests, and position in the buying journey. This typically involves drip campaigns, targeted content delivery, and engagement tracking to gradually move leads towards sales readiness while maintaining their interest and building trust. | Marketing |
| Email Marketing | The use of email to promote products or services and develop relationships with potential and existing customers. CRM-integrated email marketing enables personalized communication at scale by leveraging customer data to tailor messages based on recipient characteristics, preferences, and behaviors. Features typically include email template creation, list management, personalization tokens, scheduling, deliverability optimization, and response tracking. | Marketing |
| Marketing ROI | A measurement of the effectiveness of marketing campaigns in generating revenue compared to their cost. CRM systems facilitate marketing ROI analysis by connecting marketing activities to leads, opportunities, and closed deals, enabling organizations to calculate the return on specific campaigns or channels. This closed-loop reporting helps marketers optimize budget allocation by investing more in the most effective marketing strategies. | Marketing |
| Marketing Attribution | The process of determining which marketing touchpoints contribute to lead conversion and revenue generation. CRM systems with attribution capabilities track customer interactions across various channels and campaigns, then allocate credit for conversions using models such as first-touch, last-touch, linear, or multi-touch attribution. This analysis helps marketers understand which channels and content most effectively influence buyer decisions at different stages of the customer journey. | Marketing |
| Service Automation | CRM functionality that streamlines and enhances customer support processes through automation. Service automation includes case routing, escalation workflows, service level agreement (SLA) monitoring, knowledge base integration, and automated notifications. These capabilities ensure consistent service delivery, reduce manual effort, prevent cases from falling through the cracks, and enable support teams to handle higher case volumes while maintaining quality. | Customer Service |
| Case Management | CRM functionality for tracking and resolving customer support issues or inquiries. Case management systems record the details of customer problems, assign them to appropriate agents, track resolution progress, maintain communication history, and capture solution details. This systematic approach ensures that customer issues are addressed efficiently and provides data for analyzing common problems, service performance, and improvement opportunities. | Customer Service |
| Knowledge Base | A centralized repository of information about products, services, policies, and procedures that can be accessed by customer service agents or customers directly. CRM-integrated knowledge bases provide quick access to verified solutions for common issues, standardizing service responses and reducing resolution time. These systems typically include search functionality, article categorization, version control, and usage analytics to continuously improve the knowledge content. | Customer Service |
| Service Level Agreement (SLA) | A contract between a service provider and customer defining the expected level of service, including response and resolution times for different issue priorities. CRM service modules include SLA tracking that monitors case age against commitment timeframes, provides alerts for approaching deadlines, and reports on SLA compliance. This ensures that customer expectations are met consistently and helps identify areas where service delivery needs improvement. | Customer Service |
| Customer Portal | A secure website or application that allows customers to access personalized information and services related to their relationship with an organization. CRM-connected customer portals typically provide features such as account management, order history, subscription settings, support case submission and tracking, knowledge base access, and community forums. These self-service capabilities enhance customer experience while reducing support costs. | Customer Service |
| Omnichannel Support | An approach to customer service that integrates multiple communication channels (phone, email, chat, social media, messaging apps) into a unified experience. CRM systems with omnichannel support capabilities maintain consistent context and conversation history as customers switch between channels, allowing agents to pick up where previous interactions left off regardless of channel. This seamless experience increases customer satisfaction and improves service efficiency. | Customer Service |
| Customer Lifetime Value (CLV/CLTV) | A prediction of the total revenue a business can expect from a customer throughout their entire relationship. CRM systems calculate CLV by analyzing purchase history, frequency, average order value, retention rates, and customer lifespan. This metric helps organizations determine how much they should invest in acquiring and retaining different customer segments, prioritize customer relationships, and develop strategies to increase long-term revenue per customer. | Metrics |
| Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) | The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. CRM systems help calculate CAC by tracking the expenses associated with marketing campaigns, sales activities, and other acquisition efforts, then dividing by the number of new customers gained during that period. Comparing CAC to customer lifetime value helps organizations assess the efficiency of their growth strategies and ensure sustainable customer acquisition economics. | Metrics |
| Customer Churn Rate | The percentage of customers who stop using a company’s products or services during a specific time period. CRM systems track churn by monitoring customer status changes, contract non-renewals, subscription cancellations, or periods of inactivity. Analyzing churn patterns helps organizations identify at-risk customers, understand reasons for defection, and implement retention strategies before customers leave. Reducing churn is typically more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. | Metrics |
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | A metric that measures customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend a company’s products or services. NPS surveys ask customers to rate, on a scale of 0-10, how likely they are to recommend the company to others. Respondents are then categorized as Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), or Detractors (0-6), and the final score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. CRM systems can distribute NPS surveys, track scores over time, and associate feedback with specific customer records. | Metrics |
| Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) | A metric that measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction, purchase, or experience. CSAT surveys typically ask customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale (commonly 1-5 or 1-10). CRM systems can automate CSAT surveys after key touchpoints like purchases or support interactions, store the results with customer records, track trends over time, and trigger follow-up actions for low scores. | Metrics |
| Customer Effort Score (CES) | A metric that measures how much effort customers must expend to get an issue resolved, a request fulfilled, or a product purchased. CES surveys typically ask customers to rate the ease of their experience on a numeric scale. Low effort correlates strongly with customer loyalty, especially in service contexts. CRM systems can deploy CES surveys after interactions, track scores alongside other customer data, and identify high-effort processes that need improvement. | Metrics |
| AI-Powered CRM | CRM systems enhanced with artificial intelligence capabilities to automate tasks, deliver predictions, and generate insights that would be difficult or impossible through manual analysis. AI applications in CRM include lead and opportunity scoring, next-best-action recommendations, automated data entry, conversation analysis, sales forecasting, customer sentiment analysis, and predictive service. These capabilities help users work more efficiently and make better decisions based on patterns in large volumes of customer data. | Technology |
| Conversational CRM | CRM systems that integrate with or include conversational interfaces such as chatbots, voice assistants, and messaging platforms to enable natural language interactions with customers and CRM data. Conversational CRM allows users to query customer information, update records, and receive notifications through voice or text commands. For customers, it provides self-service options through familiar conversation patterns rather than traditional web forms or phone systems. | Technology |
| Customer Journey Mapping | The process of visualizing and analyzing the complete sequence of experiences a customer has with an organization across all touchpoints. CRM systems with journey mapping capabilities track customer interactions across channels and departments, visualize the paths customers take from awareness to purchase and beyond, and identify pain points or opportunities for improvement. This holistic view helps organizations design more coherent, satisfying customer experiences that align with buyer expectations. | Strategy |
| Next Best Action | AI-powered CRM functionality that recommends the optimal next step to take with a specific customer based on their history, preferences, and current context. Next best action systems analyze patterns in successful customer interactions, current customer status and needs, and business rules to suggest personalized offers, communications, or service interventions that maximize both customer satisfaction and business objectives. | Technology |
| Voice of the Customer (VoC) | Programs designed to capture, analyze, and act upon customer feedback, opinions, preferences, and expectations. CRM-integrated VoC programs collect feedback through surveys, reviews, social media, support interactions, and other channels, then associate this feedback with customer records to inform personalization and improvement efforts. This systematic approach to listening helps organizations understand customer needs and address issues before they impact satisfaction and loyalty. | Strategy |
| Account-Based Marketing (ABM) | A strategic approach that coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts to target specific high-value accounts. CRM systems support ABM by providing unified views of target accounts, tracking engagement across contacts within those accounts, coordinating outreach activities, and measuring account-level progress. This approach is particularly valuable in B2B contexts with complex buying committees and long sales cycles. | Strategy |
| CRM Integration | The process of connecting CRM systems with other business applications to share data and functionality. Common CRM integrations include email platforms, marketing automation, ERP systems, e-commerce platforms, social media tools, customer service software, and communication systems. These connections create a more unified view of customer data, eliminate manual data entry, ensure consistency across systems, and enable end-to-end business processes that span multiple applications. | Integration |
| API (Application Programming Interface) | A set of protocols and tools that allow different software applications to communicate with each other. CRM APIs enable developers to create custom integrations, extend functionality, or build entirely new applications that leverage CRM data and capabilities. Modern CRMs typically offer REST or SOAP APIs with comprehensive documentation, allowing for flexible integration with both commercial software and custom systems. | Integration |
| CRM Marketplace | An online store or exchange where users can browse, purchase, and install pre-built applications, integrations, and extensions for their CRM platform. CRM marketplaces (like Salesforce AppExchange or HubSpot Marketplace) provide access to specialized functionality, industry solutions, and integrations developed by the CRM vendor or third-party partners. This ecosystem approach allows CRM platforms to serve diverse business needs without building every possible feature natively. | Ecosystem |
| Middleware | Software that acts as a bridge between different applications, allowing them to communicate and share data even if they weren’t originally designed to work together. In CRM contexts, middleware platforms (like MuleSoft, Boomi, or Zapier) facilitate integration between CRM systems and other business applications, enabling data synchronization and process automation across the technology stack. This is particularly valuable for connecting legacy systems or applications without native integration capabilities. | Integration |
| Single Sign-On (SSO) | An authentication process that allows users to access multiple applications with one set of credentials. CRM systems with SSO support enable users to log in once and gain access to the CRM as well as other integrated business applications without re-entering credentials. This improves security by reducing password proliferation while enhancing user experience and productivity through seamless transitions between systems. | Integration |
| Customer Data Integration (CDI) | The process of consolidating customer data from multiple sources into a single, coherent view. CDI solutions address challenges like duplicate records, conflicting information, and fragmented customer profiles by providing tools for data cleansing, matching, and merging. In CRM environments, effective CDI ensures that customer interactions are based on complete, accurate information regardless of which systems or channels captured the original data. | Integration |
| Salesforce | The market-leading cloud CRM platform offering a comprehensive suite of sales, service, marketing, commerce, and analytics applications. Launched in 1999 as a pioneer of the Software-as-a-Service model, Salesforce has evolved into a complete customer experience platform with products including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and Experience Cloud. The platform is known for its extensive customization capabilities, robust AppExchange marketplace, and Lightning development framework. | CRM Platform |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | Microsoft’s suite of intelligent business applications that combines CRM and ERP capabilities. The CRM components include Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Field Service, and Customer Insights modules. Dynamics 365’s key advantages include native integration with Microsoft Office, Power Platform (for low-code development), and Azure cloud services. The system offers both cloud and on-premise deployment options and is particularly strong in organizations already invested in Microsoft technologies. | CRM Platform |
| HubSpot CRM | An inbound marketing-focused CRM platform known for its user-friendly interface and freemium business model. HubSpot’s approach centers on the integration of marketing, sales, service, CMS, and operations hubs to provide a complete growth platform. The system is particularly popular with small and medium-sized businesses due to its free core CRM offering, ease of implementation, and comprehensive educational resources on inbound methodology. | CRM Platform |
| Oracle CX (Customer Experience) | Oracle’s suite of cloud applications for managing the entire customer experience lifecycle. Oracle CX includes modules for sales, service, marketing, commerce, loyalty, and configure-price-quote (CPQ). The platform leverages Oracle’s enterprise technology strengths in databases, analytics, and integration, and offers industry-specific capabilities for sectors like financial services, retail, and telecommunications. Oracle CX appeals particularly to large enterprises with complex requirements. | CRM Platform |
| SAP Customer Experience | SAP’s suite of cloud solutions for customer engagement and commerce, formerly known as SAP C/4HANA. The suite includes modules for sales, service, marketing, commerce, and customer data management. SAP Customer Experience integrates tightly with SAP’s ERP and business applications, making it a strong choice for organizations already using SAP for back-office operations. The platform emphasizes data privacy, personalized experiences, and end-to-end business process integration. | CRM Platform |
| Zoho CRM | A web-based CRM system offering sales force automation, marketing automation, customer support, and analytics. Zoho CRM is part of Zoho’s broader suite of business applications covering operations, finance, HR, and collaboration. The platform is known for its affordability, flexibility, and international support. Zoho appeals particularly to small and medium businesses seeking a cost-effective solution with a wide range of functionality beyond core CRM. | CRM Platform |
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| CRM Requirements Gathering | The process of collecting and documenting the specific needs, expectations, and constraints that will guide CRM system selection and implementation. Requirements gathering typically involves interviewing stakeholders from sales, marketing, service, and management; mapping current processes; defining desired functionality; and establishing success criteria. This foundational step ensures that the chosen CRM solution will effectively support the organization’s customer relationship strategies and business objectives. | Implementation |
| CRM Configuration | The process of setting up a CRM system to match an organization’s specific requirements without custom coding. Configuration typically includes defining user roles and permissions, creating custom fields and objects, designing page layouts, building workflows and approval processes, establishing sales stages, and setting up email templates. Proper configuration ensures the CRM reflects the organization’s unique processes while leveraging the platform’s standard capabilities. | Implementation |
| CRM Customization | The development of custom functionality for a CRM system beyond what can be achieved through configuration. Customization involves writing code, creating custom applications, modifying system behavior, or developing unique integrations to address specific business requirements not met by the CRM’s standard features. While customization can deliver tailored functionality, it also introduces complexity, potential upgrade challenges, and ongoing maintenance requirements. | Implementation |
| CRM Data Migration | The process of transferring customer information, interaction history, and related data from legacy systems or spreadsheets into a new or upgraded CRM platform. Data migration involves data extraction from source systems, cleansing to remove duplicates and correct errors, transformation to fit the new system’s structure, loading into the CRM, and validation to ensure accuracy and completeness. Effective migration preserves valuable historical data while improving overall data quality. | Implementation |
| CRM Change Management | A structured approach to transitioning individuals and organizations from current processes to new ways of working with a CRM system. Change management includes communication planning, stakeholder engagement, training, incentive alignment, and ongoing support to help users adapt to new systems and processes. This human-focused element is critical to CRM success, as technology implementations often fail due to resistance or adoption challenges rather than technical issues. | Implementation |
| CRM User Adoption | The degree to which users embrace and effectively utilize a CRM system in their daily work. User adoption is influenced by factors including system usability, perceived value, leadership support, training quality, and alignment with existing workflows. Successfully driving adoption requires understanding user motivations, demonstrating clear benefits, removing barriers to use, and reinforcing desired behaviors through both incentives and accountability measures. | Implementation |
| CRM Governance | The framework of policies, procedures, roles, and standards that guide how a CRM system is managed over time. CRM governance establishes decision-making authority, change control processes, data standards, security protocols, and performance metrics to ensure the system continues to meet business needs while maintaining data integrity and compliance. Effective governance balances centralized control with flexibility to address evolving requirements. | Implementation |
| CRM Training | Structured instruction designed to help users understand how to effectively utilize a CRM system in their specific roles. CRM training approaches include in-person workshops, virtual classrooms, self-paced e-learning, role-based learning paths, and on-the-job coaching. Effective training goes beyond basic system functionality to address how the CRM supports business processes, benefits users personally, and enables delivery of superior customer experiences. | Implementation |
| CRM ROI (Return on Investment) | A measurement of the business value generated by a CRM system relative to its total cost. CRM ROI calculations typically factor in improvements in revenue (through increased sales productivity, higher conversion rates, larger deals, or better retention), cost savings (from process automation, reduced administrative time, or lower customer acquisition costs), and sometimes intangible benefits like improved customer satisfaction. This analysis helps justify CRM investments and identify opportunities for increasing value. | Implementation |
| CRM Admin | An individual responsible for day-to-day management, maintenance, and optimization of a CRM system. CRM administrators typically handle user management, system configuration, data quality monitoring, custom field and workflow creation, reporting setup, security settings, and first-level support for users. They serve as the bridge between business users and technical resources, translating business needs into system capabilities. | Implementation |
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Low-Code/No-Code CRM | CRM platforms that allow users to create custom applications, automations, and interfaces with minimal or no traditional programming. Low-code CRM environments use visual development tools, drag-and-drop interfaces, and pre-built components to enable business users and administrators to extend system functionality without deep technical expertise. This approach accelerates delivery of custom solutions, reduces dependence on IT resources, and helps organizations adapt quickly to changing requirements. | Technology |
| Mobile-First CRM | CRM systems designed primarily for mobile device usage rather than treating mobile as a secondary interface. Mobile-first CRMs optimize the user experience for smartphones and tablets, focusing on essential functionality, touch-friendly interfaces, offline capabilities, and location-aware features. This approach recognizes the reality that many salespeople, field service technicians, and other customer-facing employees primarily interact with CRM systems while away from their desks. | Technology |
| Embedded CRM | CRM functionality integrated directly within other business applications or workflows that users interact with regularly. Embedded CRM might appear within email platforms, productivity suites, communication tools, or industry-specific applications, allowing users to access and update customer information without switching contexts. This approach improves adoption by bringing CRM capabilities to users in their preferred work environments rather than requiring them to use a separate system. | Technology |
| Open Source CRM | CRM software whose source code is publicly available and can be modified by users. Open source CRM systems (like SuiteCRM, vTiger, or Odoo) provide organizations with complete control over their CRM implementation, freedom from vendor lock-in, and potential cost savings on licensing. However, they typically require more technical expertise to implement and maintain than commercial solutions, and organizations must consider the total cost of ownership including development and support resources. | Technology |
| CRM Data Model | The underlying structure that defines how customer information and relationships are represented within a CRM system. The data model includes entities (like contacts, accounts, opportunities, and activities), their attributes (fields), and the relationships between them. A well-designed CRM data model balances completeness (capturing all relevant information) with usability (organizing data logically) and flexibility (accommodating future needs) to support effective customer relationship management. | Technology |
| CRM Platform | An extensible foundation that provides core CRM capabilities while supporting the development of custom applications and integrations. Modern CRM platforms typically include development frameworks, APIs, integration tools, and app marketplaces that extend beyond out-of-the-box functionality. This platform approach allows organizations to build comprehensive business solutions on top of their CRM investment rather than implementing disconnected point solutions for different departments or functions. | Technology |
| CRM Workflow | Automated processes within a CRM system that execute predefined actions based on triggers or conditions. CRM workflows might update records, create tasks, send notifications, route leads, or escalate cases when specific criteria are met. These automation capabilities ensure consistent process execution, reduce manual effort, minimize oversights, and help enforce business rules. Modern CRMs typically include visual workflow builders that allow non-technical users to create and modify automated processes. | Technology |
| CRM Security Model | The framework that controls access to data and functionality within a CRM system. CRM security models typically include user authentication, role-based permissions, record ownership rules, field-level security, and sharing rules that determine which users can view or modify specific information. A well-designed security model protects sensitive customer data while ensuring that users have appropriate access to the information they need to perform their jobs effectively. | Technology |
| CRM Multi-Tenancy | An architecture where a single instance of a CRM application serves multiple customer organizations (tenants) while keeping each tenant’s data isolated and secure. Multi-tenant CRM solutions allow vendors to deliver cloud services efficiently by sharing infrastructure and application code across customers. This approach typically results in lower costs, faster innovation cycles, and simpler updates compared to single-tenant architectures where each customer has a dedicated instance of the software. | Technology |
| CRM Report | A formatted presentation of CRM data designed to provide insights into business performance, customer relationships, or user activities. CRM reports might include sales forecasts, pipeline analysis, activity metrics, customer acquisition trends, or service performance statistics. Modern CRM systems typically include both pre-built report templates for common use cases and flexible report builders that allow users to create custom views of their data without programming knowledge. | Technology |
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Conversational AI in CRM | The integration of artificial intelligence-powered conversational interfaces into CRM systems to enable natural language interactions with customers and users. Conversational AI in CRM includes chatbots that can handle routine customer inquiries, virtual assistants that help users navigate the CRM system, and voice interfaces that allow hands-free CRM access. These technologies improve customer experience through instant response, 24/7 availability, and consistent service while enhancing user productivity through simplified data access and entry. | Emerging Trend |
| Predictive Customer Intelligence | Advanced CRM capabilities that analyze customer data to anticipate future behaviors, needs, and issues before they occur. Predictive customer intelligence uses machine learning algorithms to identify patterns in customer interactions, transactions, and attributes that signal likely outcomes such as purchase intent, churn risk, or service needs. These insights enable proactive engagement strategies that address customer needs at the optimal moment, improving satisfaction and business outcomes. | Emerging Trend |
| Customer Data Ethics | The principles and practices governing the responsible collection, storage, and use of customer information in CRM systems. Customer data ethics goes beyond legal compliance to address questions of transparency, consent, fairness, and customer control over their personal information. As CRM systems collect increasingly detailed customer data and apply advanced analytics, organizations must balance personalization benefits with ethical considerations to maintain customer trust and avoid reputational damage. | Emerging Trend |
| Vertical CRM | CRM systems specifically designed for the unique requirements, workflows, and terminology of particular industries such as healthcare, financial services, real estate, or manufacturing. Vertical CRMs incorporate industry-specific data models, compliance features, process templates, and integrations with specialized systems. This focused approach reduces implementation time and customization needs while providing functionality that directly addresses industry-specific customer relationship challenges. | Emerging Trend |
| Composable CRM | A modular approach to CRM architecture where organizations assemble their customer experience technology stack from best-of-breed components rather than adopting a single vendor’s suite. Composable CRM leverages API-first, cloud-native services that can be combined flexibly to address specific business needs. This approach prioritizes adaptability and specialized functionality over the convenience of integrated suites, allowing organizations to tailor their CRM ecosystem precisely to their requirements. | Emerging Trend |
| Real-Time CRM | CRM systems designed to capture, analyze, and respond to customer interactions and events as they happen rather than through batch processing. Real-time CRM enables immediate recognition of significant customer moments (like cart abandonment, service issues, or engagement milestones) and triggers appropriate responses without delay. This capability is increasingly important in digital-first customer journeys where expectations for responsiveness are high and engagement opportunities may be fleeting. | Emerging Trend |
| Voice of Employee (VoE) in CRM | The integration of employee feedback and insights about customer interactions into CRM systems to improve both customer experience and operational efficiency. Voice of Employee programs capture structured and unstructured input from customer-facing staff about customer needs, friction points, and process improvements. When this feedback is incorporated into CRM systems alongside customer data, organizations gain a more complete understanding of relationship dynamics and practical opportunities for enhancement. | Emerging Trend |
| CRM Automation | The use of technology to perform routine CRM tasks without human intervention. CRM automation encompasses capabilities like data capture from email and social interactions, meeting scheduling, follow-up reminders, lead routing, forecast updates, and personalized communications. Advanced automation leverages artificial intelligence to make context-aware decisions about optimal actions. These capabilities free users from administrative burden while ensuring consistent execution of customer-facing processes. | Emerging Trend |
| Unified Commerce CRM | CRM systems that provide a comprehensive view of customer interactions across both digital and physical commerce channels. Unified commerce CRMs connect online shopping, marketplace sales, mobile commerce, and brick-and-mortar retail experiences to create a single customer profile and consistent experience regardless of channel. This approach supports omnichannel strategies like buy-online-pickup-in-store, endless aisle, and personalized recommendations based on complete purchase history. | Emerging Trend |
| Embedded Analytics in CRM | The integration of business intelligence capabilities directly within CRM workflows and interfaces, enabling users to access insights in the context of their daily activities. Embedded analytics in CRM might include interactive dashboards within record views, in-line visualizations of relationship trends, predictive indicators next to opportunities, or automated insight narratives that explain what data means and suggest next steps. This approach increases the practical value of analytics by delivering insights when and where decisions are being made. | Emerging Trend |
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Nonprofit CRM | CRM systems designed for the unique needs of charitable organizations, foundations, associations, and other nonprofit entities. Nonprofit CRMs include specialized functionality for donor management, grant tracking, volunteer coordination, membership management, fundraising campaigns, and impact reporting. These systems help organizations build and maintain relationships with various stakeholders including donors, members, volunteers, beneficiaries, and partners, while addressing sector-specific requirements like tax receipting and donation processing. | Industry CRM |
| Real Estate CRM | CRM systems tailored for real estate agents, brokerages, property managers, and developers. Real estate CRMs include specialized features for property tracking, client matching, transaction management, showing scheduling, lead capture from property portals, drip marketing campaigns, and referral tracking. These systems help real estate professionals manage long-term relationships with buyers and sellers while coordinating the complex processes involved in property transactions. | Industry CRM |
| Healthcare CRM | CRM solutions adapted for healthcare providers, insurers, and services that address the unique aspects of patient relationships and healthcare delivery. Healthcare CRMs include features for patient engagement, care coordination, referral management, appointment scheduling, health risk assessments, and population health management. These systems must maintain HIPAA compliance and integrate with electronic health records while supporting improved patient experience, preventive care engagement, and provider relationship management. | Industry CRM |
| Wealth Management CRM | CRM systems designed for financial advisors, investment firms, and private banking services. Wealth management CRMs include specialized functionality for client financial profiles, household relationships, asset tracking, investment preferences, financial goals, compliance documentation, and life events. These systems help advisors deliver personalized service to high-net-worth clients, manage complex household relationships, ensure regulatory compliance, and coordinate specialized expertise around client needs. | Industry CRM |
| Higher Education CRM | CRM solutions tailored for colleges and universities to manage relationships throughout the student lifecycle and beyond. Higher education CRMs include specialized functionality for recruitment, admissions, student success, alumni relations, and advancement. These systems help institutions personalize communication with prospective students, track application progress, identify at-risk students, maintain alumni connections, and coordinate fundraising efforts, often supporting multiple departments with distinct but related relationship management needs. | Industry CRM |
| Channel Partner CRM | CRM systems or modules specifically designed to manage relationships with distribution partners, resellers, dealers, agents, or franchisees. Channel partner CRMs include specialized functionality for partner onboarding, certification, deal registration, lead distribution, co-marketing, performance tracking, and incentive programs. These systems help organizations effectively recruit, enable, and manage the external businesses that sell or deliver their products and services, creating visibility and alignment across indirect sales channels. | Specialized CRM |
| Project-Based CRM | CRM systems tailored for businesses that deliver custom projects or professional services to their clients. Project-based CRMs integrate client relationship management with project delivery tracking, resource allocation, time and expense capture, milestone management, and project profitability analysis. These solutions help organizations maintain client satisfaction throughout complex delivery processes, identify opportunities for additional services, and ensure projects remain aligned with client expectations while maintaining profitability. | Specialized CRM |
| Event CRM | CRM systems specialized for organizations that host conferences, trade shows, seminars, and other events as part of their business model. Event CRMs include functionality for attendee registration, speaker management, exhibitor relationships, session scheduling, venue coordination, on-site check-in, and post-event follow-up. These solutions help event organizers deliver personalized experiences to attendees, maintain relationships with participants between events, and measure engagement to improve future offerings. | Specialized CRM |
| Inside Sales CRM | CRM systems optimized for sales teams that primarily sell remotely via phone, email, and web meetings rather than through field sales. Inside sales CRMs emphasize features like automatic call logging, call scripts, email templates, meeting scheduling, click-to-dial functionality, conversation intelligence, and high-velocity activity tracking. These solutions help remote sales representatives maximize productive customer contact time, maintain high activity levels, and efficiently manage larger numbers of prospects than would be possible in field sales models. | Specialized CRM |
| Relationship Intelligence CRM | CRM systems that automatically capture, analyze, and surface insights about the nature and quality of customer relationships. Relationship intelligence CRMs use AI to analyze communication patterns, sentiment, engagement levels, and network connections across emails, meetings, phone calls, and social interactions. These insights help organizations identify relationship health indicators, prevent customer attrition, leverage existing connections for new opportunities, and understand which engagement strategies are most effective for different relationship types. | Specialized CRM |
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-Centric Culture | An organizational culture that places customer needs and experiences at the center of business thinking, decision-making, and operations. Customer-centric cultures prioritize long-term customer relationships over short-term gains, empower employees to solve customer problems, gather and act on customer feedback, and evaluate success through customer outcomes rather than just internal metrics. CRM systems support this orientation by providing access to comprehensive customer information, but technology alone cannot create customer-centricity without corresponding values, incentives, and leadership. | Strategy |
| CRM Strategy | A comprehensive plan for how an organization will build, maintain, and leverage customer relationships to achieve business objectives. CRM strategy encompasses technology selection, data management approaches, business process design, organizational structure, performance metrics, and change management. Effective CRM strategies align relationship management practices with the organization’s overall business strategy and customer experience vision, using CRM technology as an enabler rather than defining success solely through system implementation. | Strategy |
| Customer Experience Management (CXM/CEM) | The practice of designing and optimizing customer interactions across all touchpoints to meet or exceed customer expectations, increase satisfaction, and build loyalty. CXM extends beyond CRM by focusing on the entire customer journey and emotional experience rather than just managing transactional relationships. While CRM systems provide critical data and interaction management for CXM, comprehensive experience management also involves product development, service design, physical environments, and organizational culture. | Strategy |
| Voice of Customer (VoC) | The systematic collection and analysis of customer feedback, opinions, preferences, and expectations to understand their needs and improve their experiences. VoC programs gather insights through multiple channels including surveys, interviews, social media monitoring, support interactions, and sales conversations. When integrated with CRM systems, VoC data enhances customer profiles, informs personalization efforts, triggers appropriate interventions, and helps organizations understand how their products, services, and interactions are perceived by different customer segments. | Strategy |
| Customer Success Management (CSM) | A proactive approach to ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while using a company’s products or services, typically in subscription-based business models. Customer success management involves understanding customer goals, monitoring product usage and health indicators, providing proactive guidance, driving adoption of valuable features, and identifying growth opportunities. CRM systems support CSM by tracking customer health scores, usage metrics, engagement history, and success plans while facilitating coordinated customer interactions across teams. | Strategy |
| Relationship Marketing | A marketing approach focused on building long-term customer loyalty and engagement rather than short-term customer acquisition and individual transactions. Relationship marketing emphasizes customer retention, cross-selling, upselling, and advocacy by delivering ongoing value, personalized communications, and exceptional service. CRM systems enable relationship marketing by providing the customer insights, segmentation capabilities, communication tools, and interaction tracking needed to nurture meaningful long-term connections with customers. | Strategy |
| Customer Lifecycle Management | The strategic approach to engaging customers appropriately at each stage of their relationship with an organization, from initial awareness through acquisition, onboarding, development, retention, and advocacy. Customer lifecycle management involves mapping the typical progression of customer relationships, identifying key moments that influence relationship trajectory, and designing stage-appropriate experiences and communications. CRM systems support lifecycle management by tracking customer status, automating stage-based communications, and providing visibility into lifecycle metrics. | Strategy |
| Key Account Management (KAM) | A strategic approach to managing relationships with the most important customers, typically in B2B contexts. Key account management involves developing deep understanding of selected customer organizations, creating account-specific value propositions and growth plans, coordinating resources across departments to serve these accounts, and building multilevel relationships within customer organizations. CRM systems support KAM by providing account planning tools, relationship mapping, team collaboration features, and visibility into all interactions with these strategic accounts. | Strategy |
| Relationship Value Management | The practice of strategically investing resources in customer relationships based on their current and potential value to the organization. Relationship value management involves segmenting customers by profitability, growth potential, or strategic importance, then designing differentiated service models, pricing approaches, and engagement strategies for different value tiers. CRM systems support this approach by calculating customer value metrics, facilitating segmentation, and helping organizations balance resource allocation between high-value relationships and more transactional interactions. | Strategy |
| Customer Data Strategy | A plan for how an organization collects, manages, governs, and utilizes customer data to support business objectives while respecting privacy preferences and regulatory requirements. Customer data strategy addresses what data to capture, how to ensure quality and completeness, where and how long to store it, who can access it, how to integrate it across systems, and how to derive actionable insights. CRM systems are typically central to executing this strategy, serving as the primary repository for customer information and the platform for translating data into relationship-enhancing actions. | Strategy |
Resources for Ongoing Learning
For the most up-to-date information on CRM terminology and best practices, consider these authoritative resources:
- Salesforce Trailhead – Free, interactive learning platform with CRM fundamentals and Salesforce-specific training
- HubSpot Academy – Comprehensive courses on CRM, sales, marketing, and customer service
- CustomerThink – Global community of business leaders focused on customer-centric business strategy
- CRM Magazine – Industry publication covering CRM trends, technologies, and best practices
- Gartner CRM Research – Analyst reports and market insights on CRM technologies
- Forrester CRM Research – Industry analysis and thought leadership on customer experience and CRM
- CRM Software Blog – Practical advice and implementation insights from CRM practitioners
- MyCustomer – Resources on customer experience, CRM, and customer service
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Community – Forums and resources for Microsoft’s CRM platform
- Zoho CRM Resources – Guides, webinars, and best practices for CRM implementation
This glossary provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding CRM terminology, but the field continues to evolve with new technologies, methodologies, and best practices emerging regularly. Staying connected with industry resources, communities, and continuing education opportunities is the best way to keep your CRM knowledge current.