What is a CRM and what is it for?
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software that centralizes all your customer and sales information in one place: who each customer is, what you've discussed, what you've sold them and what's pending.
What is a CRM actually for?
- Never lose an opportunity: every lead from your website, social media or email gets logged with its follow-up.
- See your sales pipeline: know what stage every negotiation is at and how much money is on the table.
- Full history per customer: calls, emails, notes, files and tasks, accessible to the whole team.
- Automate repetitive work: reminders, lead assignment, follow-up emails.
- Measure: win rate, revenue won, performance per rep.
A practical example
Picture a real estate agency: a lead comes in from a portal, the CRM logs it automatically, assigns it to an agent, creates the call task, and when the viewing is booked it lands on the team calendar. Nobody copied anything by hand. That's a CRM at work.
When does your business need a CRM?
- You forget follow-ups and lose sales "for not calling in time".
- Customer information lives on each rep's phone.
- You don't know how many open opportunities you have or what they're worth.
- You use spreadsheets and they've hit their limit (see our CRM vs spreadsheets comparison).
How much does a CRM cost?
It varies: HubSpot or Salesforce can cost hundreds per month once you need the real features. An SMB-first CRM like MizimaCRM starts at €20/month with automations, lead capture and industry modules included. See how to choose a CRM in 7 steps or jump to our best CRM for small business comparison.