CRM (customer relationship management)

Customer Relationship Management embodies all communication that an organisation has with its customers - including sales and service.
It implies that the communication should be more than reactive - ie. a customer telephoning in with a complaint.

The best CRM programmes keep customers informed and involved with what an organisation is doing, but without bombarding them with information. CRM should be personalised, concise and relevant.

Modern software has greatly helped the CRM process. Anybody speaking to a customer can have the entire history of contact in front of them, while outbound mail can be filtered so it only goes to relevant targets.