CEM and CRM Software: The Difference Between the Two
CRM and CEM
You may have seen the acronyms CRM and CEM floating around the web, and you may be unsure about what they stand for, as well as the difference between the two. Although CRM and CEM may seem like they are the same thing, they are actually two different concepts.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management
and
CEM stands for Customer Experience Management
When you think of CRM, imagine a business managing all of its customer contacts. Imagine keeping track of information such as phone numbers, addresses, and statistics on customers, as well as when you last talked to someone, where you met, the location, through what medium of communication, etc. The data is typically more statistical. Think of it as a more quantitative focus.
With CEM, think of customer service. Experience is the key term here, because it involves customers' feelings and thoughts on a company, as well as their interactions with a company. Information you may find in a CEM system includes customers' attitudes toward a certain product, problems they have had in the past, their hobbies, etc. All of this information is used to create the best experience possible for the customer and to make it personalized as possible. Customer perspective is essential to CEM.
The reason many people get CRM and CEM confused is because there is often a fine line between the two. Many CRM software systems contain features that are representative of something you may find in CEM software, and vice versa. For example, you may find that in some CRM software there is a place for users to make notes on customer likes and dislikes, or there may even be survey tools built in.
When it comes to choosing a system that best suits your company, you need to think about what your goals are. You may find that you would benefit from having one system that encompasses functions of both CRM and CEM.
Written by Melissa Cocks
Touch Ahead Software LLC