<p>Perhaps in no other industry are acronyms bandied about as they are in the world of technology, especially business technology. CRM is one such widely-used acronym that stands for Customer Relationship Management. Mention CRM and many listeners' eyes will glaze over with boredom but that's probably because they don't really understand what it is.</p><p>Actually, CRM is a strategic business tool that helps companies streamline their business processes especially with sales and marketing, and it can increase revenue by attracting and retaining customers and shortening the time it takes to close a sales deal. If you're not interested in all of that, you're probably not that serious about your business.But what the heck is it?</p><p>There are a lot of vague definitions of CRM. In a nutshell, CRM platforms focus on managing and tracking customers or potential customers (known as prospects). It's a business technology that is mainly used by sales teams and those who interact with or manage those teams. This means CRM can be implemented in a variety of different businesses across different verticals. Don't think CRM is just for companies that have sales teams, though CRM is used by marketing teams and even tech support. In short, it's beneficial for any business where customer attraction, retention and management are vital.</p><p>You may think that CRM sounds a lot like contact management or personal information management (PIM) software like Microsoft Outlook. While many contact management solutions are marketed as CRM, contact management is mainly about organising, sorting, and being able to quickly select contacts from a database or email. Contact management software is also quite limited when compared with full-blown CRM systems.</p><p><a href="http://www.itproportal.com/2014/02/03/a-novices-guide-to-crm/">Keep reading...</a></p>