CEM vs CRM: Key differences and how they work together

In the world of customer experience (CX), both customer experience management (CEM) and customer relationship management (CRM) play pivotal roles in shaping interactions and driving satisfaction. While they are often used interchangeably, CEM and CRM serve distinct yet complementary purposes within a successful CX strategy. Understanding the differences and how they work together can significantly enhance your ability to optimize customer interactions and achieve an increase in repeat business and referrals. 

In a nutshell, CEM focuses on overseeing and improving the overall customer journey. It’s about ensuring that every point of contact contributes positively to the customer’s perception of your brand. On the other hand, CRM centers on managing individual customer interactions and data to foster long-term relationships with your customers.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Read on to discover the deeper meanings of CEM and CRM, the key differences, overlaps and how these systems can work synergistically. 

What is customer experience management (CEM)?

Customer experience management looks at the entire customer experience, from the moment a customer discovers a brand right through to their purchase and afterwards. CEM is the process of strategically designing and managing the customer experience with the ultimate goal of increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. 

A holistic approach to CEM is crucial, as it covers all customer touchpoints across various channels, including interactions on your website, mobile app, social media, email, customer support, and in-store experiences. Each of these touchpoints contributes to the overall perception of your brand, making it essential to address and optimize them consistently.

Research shows that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience, highlighting how investing in CEM can drive not only customer satisfaction but also financial performance.

To understand the potential return on investment for your CX initiatives, calculate the ROI of your customer experience using our ROI on CX calculator. This tool helps you quantify the value of enhancing your customer experience strategy and demonstrates the tangible benefits of a well-executed CEM approach.

What is customer relationship management (CRM)?

Customer relationship management is a strategy and technology used to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The primary goal of CRM is to improve customer service relationships and drive sales growth by organizing, automating, and synchronizing sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support efforts. 

CRM systems focus on consolidating customer information from various touch points into a unified platform. This allows businesses to streamline processes, enhance communication, and ensure that every customer interaction is informed and effective. CRM tools enable teams to track interactions, analyze customer behavior, and tailor their approaches based on detailed insights.

CRM systems help sales teams manage leads and track opportunities, marketing teams automate campaigns and segment audiences, and customer service teams provide timely support and resolve issues efficiently. The ROI of a CRM software system, when properly implemented, can exceed 245%, according to IBM. This showcases the significant benefits of investing in these technologies.

Over time, CRM has evolved from basic contact management solutions to sophisticated platforms that integrate seamlessly with other business systems, such as marketing automation, analytics, and customer service tools. Modern CRM systems offer advanced features like AI-driven insights, customer journey mapping, and personalized engagement.

CEM vs CRM: Differences and overlap

Both CEM and CRM are essential for building strong customer relationships and improving business outcomes. However, they address different aspects of customer engagement. While CEM aims to create a cohesive and positive experience across all customer interactions, CRM focuses on managing and analyzing data to improve service and drive sales.

Here’s a high-level overview of the differences and overlaps between CRM and CEM:

• CEM: Enhances the overall customer journey, focuses on touchpoints, and aims to exceed customer expectations.
  

• CRM: Manages customer data, automates processes, and supports sales, marketing, and service functions.

• Overlap: Both strategies aim to improve customer loyalty and business performance by leveraging customer insights to drive better interactions and outcomes.

This diagram illustrates how CRM and CEM intersect in their shared goal of enhancing customer loyalty but differ in their approaches and focus areas. 

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Key differences between CEM and CRM

To clearly differentiate between customer experience management and customer relationship management, here is a comparative table that highlights the key features and aspects of each:

How CEM and CRM work together

Integrating customer experience management and customer relationship management systems can provide a comprehensive view of customer interactions, enhancing both relationship management and overall customer experience. By combining the strengths of CEM and CRM, you can create a more cohesive strategy that not only manages customer relationships effectively but also ensures that every touchpoint in the customer journey is optimized.

Integrating CEM and CRM for a comprehensive view

When CEM and CRM systems are integrated, CRM data can be used to inform and enhance CEM strategies. This integration provides a unified view of customer interactions across all touchpoints, from initial engagement through to post-purchase follow-up. By analyzing data from both systems, businesses can better understand customer needs and preferences, leading to more personalized and impactful experiences.

Imagine a credit union company that integrates its CRM system with its CEM platform. The CRM system captures detailed customer data, such as previous customer support calls, packages and preferences. The CEM platform uses this data to tailor the banking experience, offering personalized recommendations and targeted promotions based on past behaviors. This approach not only improves the relevance of interactions but also increases customer satisfaction and loyalty as the experience becomes more personalized.

Challenges and best practices for integration

Integrating CEM and CRM systems can present several challenges, including ensuring data consistency, managing system compatibility, and leveraging insights effectively. To overcome these challenges and make the most of the integration, consider the following best practices:

1. Ensure data consistency: Implement robust data management practices to maintain accuracy and consistency across both systems. Regularly clean and update data to prevent discrepancies and ensure reliable insights.
   
   
2. Choose compatible systems: Select CEM and CRM platforms that offer seamless integration capabilities. Many modern systems provide built-in connectors or APIs that facilitate smooth data exchange between platforms.
   
   
3. Leverage insights for actionable strategies: Use the combined insights from CEM and CRM to drive actionable strategies. For example, analyze customer feedback from the CEM system alongside CRM data to identify common pain points and develop targeted improvement plans.
   
   
4. Foster collaboration: Encourage collaboration between teams responsible for CEM and CRM. Aligning goals and strategies across departments helps ensure that both systems are used effectively to enhance the overall customer experience.

Overview of CEM platforms

Customer experience management platforms are designed to help businesses enhance and manage the overall customer experience. Here’s a closer look at the primary functions of CEM platforms and the importance of omnichannel support:

Primary functions of CEM platforms

1. Journey mapping: CEM platforms allow businesses to visualize and analyze the entire customer journey, from initial contact to post-purchase follow-up. Journey mapping helps identify key touchpoints, understand customer behavior, and pinpoint areas for improvement. By mapping out these journeys, businesses can design more effective and engaging customer experiences.
   
   
2. Feedback management: Collecting and managing customer feedback is a core function of CEM platforms. These tools facilitate not only the gathering of feedback through customer surveys, but also the mechanisms to analyze and act on this feedback, enabling businesses to address customer concerns, measure satisfaction, and identify trends.
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3. Sentiment analysis: CEM platforms often include sentiment analysis features that evaluate customer emotions and attitudes toward the brand. By analyzing feedback, social media comments, and other data sources, businesses can gain insights into customer sentiments and adjust their strategies accordingly to improve satisfaction and loyalty.

Importance of omnichannel support

Omnichannel support is a critical component of CEM platforms, it ensures a seamless and consistent experience across all points of contact with a customer. This approach involves integrating various communication channels—such as websites, mobile apps, social media, email, and in-store interactions—into a unified platform.

Why omnichannel support matters:

• Consistency: Omnichannel support ensures that customers receive a consistent experience regardless of the channel they use. This consistency builds trust and reinforces the brand’s reliability.
  
  
• Unified data: By consolidating data from multiple channels, CEM platforms provide a comprehensive view of customer interactions. This unified data helps businesses understand customer behavior more thoroughly and tailor their approaches accordingly.
  
  
• Enhanced engagement: With omnichannel support, businesses can engage customers through their preferred channels and provide timely, relevant responses. This improves the overall customer experience and increases the likelihood of positive interactions.

CEM platforms - Key features

Here’s a brief overview of the key features found in customer experience management platforms and how they contribute to enhancing customer interactions:

• Journey mapping tools: Visualize and analyze the complete customer journey, identify key touchpoints and areas for improvement to optimize overall experiences.
  
  
• Real-time feedback management: Collect and address customer feedback in real time, allowing businesses to respond promptly to concerns and capitalize on positive input.
  
  
• Sentiment analysis: Assess customer emotions and sentiments from feedback and social media, providing insights into customer attitudes and guiding strategic adjustments.
  
  
• Omnichannel support: Integrate and manage interactions across multiple channels (web, mobile, social media, etc.), ensuring a consistent and seamless customer experience.
  
  
• AI-driven insights: Utilize artificial intelligence to analyze data and generate actionable insights, helping businesses make data-driven decisions and predict customer needs.
  
  
• Personalization capabilities: Tailor customer interactions and experiences based on individual preferences and behaviors, enhancing relevance and engagement.
  
  
• Customer segmentation: Divide customers into distinct groups based on characteristics and behaviors to deliver targeted marketing and support strategies.
  
  
• Feedback response systems: Automate and manage responses to customer feedback, ensuring timely and appropriate engagement to address issues and reinforce positive experiences.
  
  
• Employee engagement and training tools: Provide resources and support for training frontline employees and enhancing their engagement, which contributes to better customer service and experience.
  
  
• Workflow management: Streamline and manage internal processes and tasks related to customer interactions, improving efficiency and ensuring that customer needs are met effectively.
  
  
• Collaboration tools for internal teams: Facilitate communication and coordination among team members to ensure a unified approach to managing and improving customer experiences.

CRM platforms - key features

Let’s now take a look at the key features found in customer relationship management platforms.

• Contact management: Centralizes and organizes customer information, including contact details and communication history, to streamline relationship management and enhance personalization.
  
  
• Sales automation: Automates sales processes such as lead tracking, opportunity management, and forecasting, improving efficiency and helping sales teams focus on closing deals.
  
  
• Lead management: Tracks and manages potential leads through various stages of the sales funnel, ensuring timely follow-ups and effective lead nurturing.
  
  
• Customer service and support: Provides tools for managing customer service requests, support tickets, and issue resolution, ensuring timely and effective support.
  
  
• Marketing automation: Integrates with marketing tools to automate and manage campaigns, track effectiveness, and nurture leads through personalized marketing strategies.
  
  
• Reporting and analytics: Offers insights into sales performance, customer behavior, and campaign effectiveness through detailed reports and analytics, aiding in data-driven decision-making.
  
  
• Email integration: Syncs with email systems to manage and track communications, streamline email marketing efforts, and enhance customer interactions.
  
  
• Workflow automation: Automates routine tasks and processes, improving efficiency and ensuring consistent execution of business operations.
  
  
• Mobile accessibility: Provides access to CRM features and customer data via mobile devices, allowing users to manage relationships and tasks on the go.
  
  
• Social media integration: Connects with social media platforms to monitor interactions, engage with customers, and gather insights from social channels.
  
  
• Customizable dashboards: Offers personalized dashboards that display relevant metrics and data, allowing users to track performance and make informed decisions.
  
  
• Third-party application integration: Connects with other business applications and tools to streamline workflows, synchronize data, and enhance overall functionality.

Learn more about AskNicely

Looking for a powerful customer experience management platform? AskNicely is an easy-to-use solution trusted by leading organizations across various industries, and it seamlessly integrates with powerful CRM systems. To see how others are benefiting from AskNicely, check out our customer stories.

Here’s a quick look at some of AskNicely’s key features:

• Collect: Send customizable email, web, or SMS surveys to measure NPS, 5-Star, CSAT, or Customer Effort scores, gathering essential feedback from your customers.
  
  
• Assess: Use our mission control to measure and enhance satisfaction and loyalty, compare locations and branches for trend spotting, and benefit from our new AI theme analysis feature for deeper insights.
  
  
• Respond: Utilize built-in response, escalation, and workflow management tools to effectively address and act on customer feedback.
  
  
• Transform: Gamify customer service and support for frontline teams, providing real-time insights into their NPS/CSAT scores and actionable areas for improvement.

Ready to explore how AskNicely can enhance your CEM strategy? Book a demo today to see it in action.