CRM Glossary

In this section we help you understand CRM jargon and explain the most commonly used buzzwords.

Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM uses Business Intelligence (BI) and data mining to report on and predict customer behavior.

Back Office
Administrative staff of a company who do not have face-to-face contact with the company's customers such as operations, IT and Finance.

Channel
How products and services are sold to end customers. Retailers and wholesalers are examples of different channels.

Channel conflict
This happens when a company tries to sell products or services to the same customer group using different channels Selling via Internet and via retail is a good example of channel conflict.

Customer Churn
Customer defection or disloyalty. Can be calculated as the number of lost customers from the average number of customers within the same period, and shown as a percentage.

Collaborative filtering
A feature of CRM software that allows a business to provide products or services to a customer based on what other customers with similar preferences have purchased in the past.  Internet retailers use collaborative filtering to recommend popular products to you.

Cross selling
Identifying and selling additional different goods as a result of the customer’s original purchase, either at the time of purchase or after.

Customer loyalty
Measured as the extent to which customers will purchase additional products or services based on a previous buying experience.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A business strategy that puts the customer at the heart of the business and utilises software to retain and improve customer loyalty and profitability.

Data Mining
Analyzing information to identify trends, patterns and business opportunities.

Data Warehouse
An information repository such as a databse that allows companies to access and analyze data and trends.

Front Office
The operations and staff of a company that are customer facing. These may include: customer service, customer support, call centers, and internal sales.

One-to-one marketing
Learning about and  developing a relationship with the customer on a personalized, interactive basis.

Segmentation
Dividing customers into groups, each with common demographic attributes and assessing their value to the business.

Up selling
increasing the value of a sale to the customer, for example by offering a more expensive version or add-ons, either at the time of sale or after.