We all know what CRM stands for… Customer Relationship Management. These days Customer experience is more and more important and there are several namings out for the new systems.

At the end of the day all system are storing customer data. It doesn’t matter how we name it. We can find 10 or more namings for such system. CDP (Customer Data Platform) is one buzzword used for these systems of record.

It doesn’t matter how we name it. There is just one fundamental difference to a CRM system. A CRM system is static in nature, you need to update the system most of the time manually. Other systems of record (CDP, DMP, CEM, CXM,…) are acting real- or near-time because they have a different purpose.

We need to understand the customer and his interests, needs and / or pains at the moment of time…. and in the best case with a 360 degree. 360 degree is very difficult to do because we need to tear down the companies silos (sales, marketing, services, etc.)

At the end of the day…

• CRM is coming from B2B to support sales
• CXM has it’s origin in B2C marketing but is still relevant in B2B and all corporate departments

Within marketing we use a static CRM system for loyalty management. With a non-static system of record we are able to listen and understand. This opens different possibilities in omni- and cross-channel communication. It gives us much more possibilities than just broadcasting general messages to target groups we identified through marketing environments. this we did in Brand Marketing. Now we live in a time of Customer Marketing where we need to tear down data and department silos and build a system that’s right for the customer. Using old (static) information is wrong.

Let’s name it “a modern system of record” to not use buzzwords. Such a system needs to be much more than a system. First of all it needs to be made for the customer. To do so, it needs to be used within the different corporate silos (departments) which we have, so it needs to have a benefit for each silo until we have changed the corporate structures.
With this, such a system is also a change enabler if every silo is recognizing it as their system instead of a system they have to use.