CRM & CX: What’s the Difference?

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It’s no secret that keeping customers happy is the key to any successful business. But as new technologies empower customers in their decision-making and transform how they interact with brands, you’ll need more than competitive pricing and quality products to gain their loyalty. In today’s world, it’s all about customer experience (CX).

A recent study by PwC reveals that customers are willing to pay up to 16% more for a product or service in exchange for a great experience. But give them one bad experience, and a third of them will walk away from a brand that they love.

It’s no coincidence that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions are now shifting their focus toward CX. At first glance, CRM and CX may appear to be synonymous since they both aim to enhance customer satisfaction and generate sales, but they are in fact, two different ways of using customer insights.

Let’s compare the two in more detail and see how they work together.

What is CRM?

CRM is more than just a tool – it’s a behavior that helps businesses manage their relationships with current customers and prospects well beyond their employees’ inboxes and meeting notes. It combines people, processes, and tools to create highly personalized, effective customer interactions.

By centralizing customer data, CRM software ensures that your business relationships are owned by the organization. You get more transparency between your sales, marketing, and customer service teams, which enables a consistent, predictable response from any employee.

What is CX?

By definition, CX is a customer’s perception of your brand based on all the interactions they’ve ever had. It’s an integral part of CRM behavior that focuses on gaining a deeper insight into your customer needs to proactively influence their perceptions of your products or services. And like CRM, CX is more than just a set of tools – to work, it also requires robust processes in place, proper training of your employees, and connected data across multiple channels.

CX strategies are all about understanding who your customers are and what they want instead of telling them what they want. The insights obtained with CX will help you optimize the current customer journeys, build brand credibility, and ultimately create brand loyalty.

To learn more about CX and common flaws companies make when improving it, be sure to check out this blog!

How do CRM and CX work together?

Whereas traditional CRM solutions provide an overview of your customer relationships, they do not provide insights into why things happen. This is where CX completes the puzzle and allows your organization to answer questions such as what communication channels work best with your demographics or what products you should be showcasing next to a returning customer.

It’s fair to say that CRM and CX go hand-in-hand even though they answer different questions, follow different processes and use different tech stacks and data. Together, they form a powerful solution to building stronger, long-term customer relationships.

Conclusion

At Faye, we’ve long been advocating that CX is the cornerstone of CRM. And as the number of communication channels multiplies and customer expectations grow, the need for an integrated CRM and CX strategy has never been greater.

By supporting this strategy with the right technology, you’ll be unlocking valuable insights that can help you enhance customer satisfaction and outpace your competitors.

Need help finding the right technology? Reach out to our certified CRM and CX experts today!

By Sarah Hurd, VP Professional Services

Sarah Hurd is a momentum builder with over 15 years of expertise in technical project management and a proven track record leading complex, multi-technology initiatives. She works closely with organizations to align technology, collaboration, and culture around a shared vision that drives results.