What is a CRM?

In practice

CRM failure is rarely a software problem. It is that entering data is work for the person who gets the least benefit from it, so the data decays and reports become fiction. Automation fixes this from the right end: capture from the systems where the activity already happens — email, forms, calls, the website — so the record is a by-product of doing the work rather than an extra task.

Where it fits in a build

Any business with a pipeline longer than a week and more than one person touching it. The integration work is usually worth more than the feature comparison between products.

Common mistakes

• Buying more licences to solve a data quality problem.
• Custom fields added without an owner, until nobody knows which of the four status fields is real.
• Reporting built on fields that staff are not required to fill in.

Related terms

• System integration
• Workflow automation
• ERP

Working on something that involves this?

ASTACKRA designs and builds AI systems, automation and custom software for businesses that need technology shaped around their own workflow. If this term turned up in a proposal and you want a straight answer about whether it applies to your situation, ask us — no obligation, and we will tell you if the answer is no.