Customer Relationship Management and Supply Chain Management

         Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing an organization’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability. There are three types of CRM Technology offered. Such as, On-premises CRM system puts the onus of administration, control, security and maintenance of the database and information on the company using the CRM software, Cloud-based CRM also known as SaaS (Software as a service) or on-demand CRM. Data is stored on an external, remote network that employees can access anytime, anywhere there is an internet connection, sometimes with a third-party service provider overseeing installation and maintenance and Open source CRM system make source code available to the public, enabling companies to make alterations at no cost to the company employing the system. Open source CRM systems also enable the addition and customization of data links on social media channels, assisting companies looking to improve social CRM practices. The examples of CRM are contact center that traditionally, data intake practices for CRM systems have been the responsibility of sales and marketing departments, as well as contact center agents. Sales and marketing teams procure leads and update the system with information throughout the customer lifecycle, and contact centers gather data and revise customer history records through service calls and technical support interactions, social CRM that involves businesses engaging customers directly through social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social media presents an open forum for customers to share experiences with a brand, whether they’re airing grievances or promoting products, mobile CRM is CRM applications built for smartphones and tablets have become a must-have for sales representatives and marketing professionals who want to access customer information and perform tasks when they are not physically in their offices. Mobile CRM apps take advantage of features that are unique to mobile devices, such as GPS and voice-recognition capabilities, to give sales and marketing employees access to customer information from anywhere, and business-to-business (B2B) practices is a CRM system in a B2B environment helps monitor sales as they move through the sales funnel, enabling a business to address any issues that might come up during the process. CRM systems in the B2B market help create more visibility into leads and, therefore, increase efficiency throughout the sales process. There are a lot of benefits and advantages of using CRM. Such as, enhanced contact management, cross-team collaboration, heightened productivity, empowered sales management, accurate sales forecasting, reliable reporting, improved sales metrics, increased customer satisfaction and retention, boosted marketing ROI, and enriched products and services.

          Supply chain management (SCM) is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Supply chain management creates efficiencies, raises profits, lowers costs, boosts collaboration and more. SCM enables companies to better manage demand, carry the right amount of inventory, deal with disruptions, keep costs to a minimum and meet customer demand in the most effective way possible. These SCM benefits are achieved through the appropriate strategies and software to help manage the growing complexity of today’s supply chains. There are some benefits of using SCM. Such as, Improved product and material flow, seamless information flow, enhanced financial flow.