Customer Relationship Management, CRM, is in essence a way of managing relationships with customers. For any business that has “customers,” they are the life blood of the business since they are the source of revenue which sustains it. When you look at CRM in its basic form, there are three main areas: Marketing, the Sales Process and Customer Service. All three areas are equally important. When the marketing process is done correctly both prospects and customers move willingly into the “sales process” with the desire and intent to give some resource in exchange for something in return.  The customer service element is used to nurture the relationship with the customer in such a way that the relationship is totally geometric, and they are always gravitating toward the marketing element, which naturally leads to the sales process element. How quickly they themselves return to the marketing element depends on the industry: retail sales would be faster than cars, which would be faster than real estate.  In an ideal situation people will either bring other people with them or even send them alone as a referral. All this is pretty straight forward when it comes to a business that has “customers.”

So what about other organizations that don’t have “customers” but instead have members, contributors, or donors? Whatever term used to describe this group of people, they are like customers since it is money or other resources from them that sustains the organization. They give money for something in return, which could be anything from personal satisfaction to status or even the ability to play golf. The competition may not be blatant as sales organizations selling to customers, but it is still there.

Sales organizations are competing on the surface to get customers to purchase their product or service. There is also the “hidden competition” where they compete for available money that is budgeted to be spent. Businesses always move around money in the budget to cover other expenses. Therein lies the need for a good CRM application and strategy to help manage the relationships with all of the people involved in this process.

If organizations that sell to customers are taking a strategic approach to how they manage the relationships, shouldn’t other organizations? A charitable organization is competing with other charitable organizations, and also businesses, for money.  Some even compete for other resources, including a person’s time.

So, one way or another, everyone has customers when it comes to CRM. The theory is the same. There still is a “marketing” element to gain their interest. There still is a “sales” process to get them to make the contribution or make a commitment. There still is a “customer service” element that keeps them committed to the cause. The elements are the same; it is the strategy that is different.