What is a CRM?

What is a CRM?

CRM, or customer relationship management, a software tool that manages, analyzes, and improves interactions with current and potential customers. The main purpose of a CRM is to strengthen business relationships, streamline processes, and boost profitability by organizing all customer information, such as contact details, communication history, sales opportunities, and support issues, in a centralized, easily accessible system. This proves highly useful, especially when there are many people to keep track of.

Modern CRM software can track every interaction a company has with its customers, such as sales calls, emails, customer service requests, and marketing activities. It allows employees from multiple departments (like sales, marketing, and customer service) to collaborate using up-to-date information, often supported by automation and artificial intelligence features for deeper insights. Today, many CRM systems are cloud-based, so employees can access customer data in real time from anywhere.

CRM is widely used across businesses of all sizes and types to help find new customers, win their business, and keep them happy over time. It can also be used by organizations to keep track of candidates, logging events like phone calls, emails, responses, and more. With a CRM, even large organizations won’t be confused when someone last called a candidate or client, whether a lead is warm or cold, and much more.

Our Take on CRMs

At Corporate Navigators, we highly recommend that our clients utilize some kind of candidate management system if they want to keep track of potential hires. Job applications can flood in quickly, and being able to sort through resumes, contact information, and instances in which you contact individuals can save your whole team a world of headaches.

At Corporate Navigators, we also use software to keep track of all our clients and candidates to maximize the impact of each interaction. In this way, no person is neglected or contacted too much, and we can follow up on the interested candidates more effectively when managing a candidate pipeline.

“Using CRM software has been a game-changer for our whole team at Corporate Navigators, allowing us to follow through with each opportunity to identify and recruit qualified candidates for our clients. I highly recommend that each of my clients utilize some kind of CRM if they plan to organize a list of clients or candidates for business purposes.”

-Mitch Golob, President and Founder of Corporate Navigators

CRMs for Candidate Relationship Management

Companies can use a CRM (Customer or Candidate Relationship Management system) to stay in contact with candidates and build long-term, meaningful relationships throughout the hiring process and beyond. Here’s how it works in practice:

Centralized Candidate Profiles

CRMs store detailed information about each candidate, such as their resume, interaction history, notes from interviews, and preferred communication channels. This allows recruiters to have a complete view of their background and previous interactions at a glance. It also saves time by making it easy to see if a candidate is interested, how many times they picked up the phone or responded, and other notable details without extra meetings or emails between recruiting teammates.

Personalized, Automated Communication

Recruiters can set up automated, yet personalized, email or SMS sequences to keep candidates updated on job opportunities, application status, interview schedules, or general company news. Automation makes sure communication is timely and no one is forgotten, while personalization (not just using the candidate’s name but referencing specific interests or past conversations) keeps contact meaningful.

Consistent Nurture for Great Relationships

CRM allows companies to remain in touch even if there’s no immediate job opening. This could include sending curated content relevant to the candidate’s skills, invitations to company events, or updates about new roles, keeping the talent pipeline warm and engaged over time.

Feedback Loops and Engagement

CRMs can streamline candidate feedback collection, allowing companies to ask for and act on input from candidates throughout the recruitment process, strengthening relationships and improving the overall candidate experience.

Activity Tracking and Reminders

The CRM can track when and how candidates were last contacted and set reminders for follow-up at the right intervals, so recruiters don’t lose touch or overwhelm them with communication.

Segmentation and Targeting

Companies can create segments within the CRM based on skills, experience, or interests, and then send out targeted messages or job opportunities that are most relevant to specific groups of candidates.

By using these CRM capabilities, companies can ensure candidates feel remembered, valued, and kept in the loop, even if they’re not actively being considered for a role at that moment. This ongoing engagement not only helps fill positions faster in the future but also enhances employer branding and candidate trust

Are CRMs Easy to Use?

Using a CRM can be easy, but the experience depends on the specific system chosen and the needs of your business. Many modern CRM platforms are designed to be user-friendly, with intuitive interfaces, simple dashboards, and automation features that reduce manual work. These make them accessible even to beginners with little technical experience.

There are products for every user skill level, so it’s important for beginners to shop around to find CRMs that focus on essential functions, like organizing contacts, tracking interactions, and managing tasks. These user friendly CRMs won’t have complex features that can overwhelm users. This makes onboarding and daily use straightforward, especially for small businesses or teams new to CRM software. Most people can pick up the basics quickly, especially if the CRM is designed for beginners. Free trials and demos help users get hands-on experience before fully committing too.

For most software, importing data and setting up automations are usually guided with step-by-step instructions, making it easy to get started. On top of that, many CRMs offer robust help sections, tutorials, and customer support to smooth out the learning curve.

However, some larger or more feature-rich CRM systems can be complex and may require training for effective use, especially if your business has specialized needs or workflows. That’s why it’s important to choose a CRM with a reputation for ease of use. When trying new software, starting with its core features can make the process easy for most users so that you’re not overwhelmed with features. Then, as you become more familiar with the process, you can learn and integrate more shortcuts to make your people management process even easier and more efficient.

CRMs: Your Solution to Stay Organized with People Management

When it comes to keeping track of people, whether it’s for hiring, customer service, or any other reason, a CRM can keep you organized and maximize your outreach efforts. At Corporate Navigators, we stand by using tools that help the process without making it all about technology. Our team continues to use tried and true research techniques that don’t rely on AI, such as phone research and getting to know candidates as real people- not numbers to be checked off a list.

Want to discover candidates who meet your qualifications but free your time to focus on your business? Let us do the research for you. Give us a call today and let’s set up an introductory meeting to discuss all your options.