Editing Customer relationship management (section)

== Components ==
[[File:CRMTypesComponents2.png|thumb|762px|Components in the different types of CRM<ref name="Tavana-2013"/>]]
The main components of CRM are building and managing customer relationships through marketing, observing relationships as they mature through distinct phases, managing these relationships at each stage and recognizing that the distribution of the value of a relationship to the firm is not homogeneous. When building and managing customer relationships through marketing, firms might benefit from using a variety of tools to help organizational design, incentive schemes, customer structures, and more to optimize the reach of their marketing campaigns. Through the acknowledgment of the distinct phases of CRM, businesses will be able to benefit from seeing the interaction of multiple relationships as connected transactions. The final factor of CRM highlights the importance of CRM through accounting for the profitability of customer relationships. By studying the particular spending habits of customers, a firm may be able to dedicate different resources and amounts of attention to different types of consumers.<ref name="Reinartz-2004">{{Cite journal |last1=Reinartz |first1=Werner |last2=Krafft |first2=Manfred |last3=Hoyer |first3=Wayne D. |date=August 2004 |title=The Customer Relationship Management Process: Its Measurement and Impact on Performance |journal=Journal of Marketing Research |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=293–305 |doi=10.1509/jmkr.41.3.293.35991 |s2cid=167683988}}</ref>

Relational Intelligence, which is the awareness of the variety of relationships a customer can have with a firm and the ability of the firm to reinforce or change those connections, is an important component of the main phases of CRM. Companies may be good at capturing [[demographic data]], such as gender, age, income, and education, and connecting them with purchasing information to categorize customers into [[profitability]] tiers, but this is only a firm's industrial view of customer relationships.<ref name="Brown-2015">{{Cite web |title=What's Your Relational Intelligence? |url=http://www.strategy-business.com/article/15103?gko=5de4a |access-date=23 November 2015 |website=strategy+business}}</ref> A lack of relational intelligence is a sign that firms still see customers as resources that can be used for [[up-selling|up-sell]] or [[cross-sell]] opportunities, rather than people looking for interesting and personalized interactions.<ref name="Avery-2014a">{{Cite journal |last1=Avery |first1=Jill |last2=Fournier |first2=Susan |last3=Wittenbraker |first3=John |date=July–August 2014 |title=Unlock the Mysteries of Your Customer Relationships |url=https://hbr.org/2014/07/unlock-the-mysteries-of-your-customer-relationships |journal=Harvard Business Review |access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>

CRM systems include:

* [[Data warehouse]] technology, which is used to aggregate transaction information, to merge the information with CRM products, and to provide key performance indicators.
* [[Opportunity management]], which helps the company to manage unpredictable growth and demand and implement a good forecasting model to integrate sales history with sales projections.<ref name="Zeng-2003">{{Cite journal |last1=Zeng |first1=Yun E |last2=Wen |first2=H. Joseph |last3=Yen |first3=David C |date=1 March 2003 |title=Customer relationship management (CRM) in business-to-business (B2B) e-commercenull |journal=Information Management & Computer Security |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=39–44 |doi=10.1108/09685220310463722 |issn=0968-5227}}</ref>
* CRM systems that track and measure marketing campaigns over multiple networks, tracking customer analysis by customer clicks and sales.
* Some CRM software is available as a [[software as a service]] (SaaS), delivered via the internet and accessed via a web browser instead of being installed on a local computer. Businesses using the software do not purchase it but typically pay a recurring subscription fee to the software vendor.<ref name="crmsoftware-2015" />
* For small businesses, a CRM system may consist of a contact management system that integrates emails, documents, jobs, faxes, and scheduling for individual accounts. CRM systems available for specific markets (legal, finance) frequently focus on event management and relationship tracking as opposed to financial [[return on investment]] (ROI).
* CRM systems for [[eCommerce]] focus on marketing automation tasks such as cart rescue, re-engaging users with email, and personalization.
* Customer-centric relationship management (CCRM) is a nascent sub-discipline that focuses on customer preferences instead of customer leverage. CCRM aims to add value by engaging customers in individual, interactive relationships.<ref name="Reinartz-2004" />
* Systems for non-profit and membership-based organizations help track constituents, fundraising, sponsors' demographics, membership levels, membership directories, volunteering and communication with individuals.
* CRM not only indicates technology and strategy but also indicates an integrated approach that includes employees knowledge and organizational culture to embrace the CRM philosophy.