Customer Relationship Management Systems are used by most manufacturing, and distribution, companies. They maintain a centralized sales and marketing database, and is typically used by the company's "front office" functions: sales, marketing, and customer service.

For a list of applications that are typically available with many CRM Systems, see Typical CRM Applications.

CRM Systems can operate either in a standalone mode, or they can be integrated with the company's ERP System.

Other helpful documents include Introduction to CRM Licensing.