linkedin-pixel

Kontakt +49 661 9642-0


What is xRM?
And what do you need it for?


Ulrich Desch, Area Sales Manager, GEDYS IntraWare
Ulrich Desch, Area Sales Manager, GEDYS IntraWare

Author with a passion for xRM:
Ulrich Desch, Area Sales Manager
GEDYS IntraWare GmbH

What is the difference between xRM and CRM?

While with a CRM system you put customers in the focus of your activities, with xRM you put relationships and objects of all kinds in the focus. This means, for example, that you can map relationships with suppliers, partners, personnel, competitors or internal and external employees, simultaneously manage objects such as contracts, machines, plants, vehicles or real estate and also administer the complex relationships between the organizations and objects.

What are the goals of Any Relationship Management?

With xRM technology as a leading system, companies are able to track every interaction with people and objects, automate processes, gain insights from interactions and use them to create targeted actions, campaigns or personalized experiences.

xRM provides comprehensive analysis and reporting capabilities that help you discover potential opportunities or risks and make faster decisions. This could be, for example, decisions about the use of certain materials or which of your employees are best suited for a task, or a decision to replace an entire machine instead of individual parts.

Important goals of xRM include

  1. More transparency in interactions in relationships
  2. Time-saving automations
  3. Through better understanding optimization of experiences at the points of contact
  4. Increase loyalty in relationships by optimizing products, services and services
  5. With analytics, better focus on successful projects to increase resilience
  6. Rationalization of measures and cost reduction
  7. Increasing sales opportunities

What are the benefits of xRM?

All information about a business process is bundled and stored centrally in xRM. The central database makes it possible to track, process and evaluate data across different channels, departments and locations, and to optimize processes, such as the maintenance and servicing processes of machines in the mechanical engineering service.

Important functions are integrated in the xRM for smooth and continuous processes. These include, for example, tools for cross-discipline collaboration (such as e-mail, video call & chat), calendars, appointment & route planning, tools for project management as well as release workflows, ticket management or even the storage option for large documents of any kind.

Checklist: 10 xRM benefits at a glance

  • Central data storage: bundles all data in one place, enables real-time access and thus fast strategic decisions
  • Transparency: Access for all employees at any time, from any location, rights and roles can be defined
  • Performance quality: all employees are always on the same, up-to-date level
  • Communication: improvement both internally and externally
  • Seamless processes: through comprehensive mapping of all actors, processes and documents
  • Time saving: Automations take work off & help in daily business
  • Cost savings: one central software instead of many isolated applications
  • Many analysis options: via networking of the complex relationship networks in the company
  • Service optimization: through faster response times, error minimization, evaluations in ticketing
  • ….

What types of relationships does xRM include?

Any-Relationship Management refers to any type of business relationship that a company may have. The following list of organizations with which relationships can be maintained is not exhaustive and can be continued almost indefinitely:

  • Mechanical and plant engineering
  • Transport & logistics companies
  • Lawyers and law firms
  • Business advisory & consulting companies
  • Architects, structural engineers, construction and trade companies
  • Banks & other financial institutions
  • Associations and clubs
  • Churches, church organizations & community organizations
  • Suppliers & retailers
  • Printing, packaging & finishing companies
  • Pharmacy & chemistry
  • Universities & research institutions

Which integrations make sense for xRM?

Theoretically, any integration with other software and platforms can provide your company with further benefits and better insights into your business performance. The prerequisite is an API (Application Programming Interface) to ensure smooth communication with external solutions and thus a consistent level of information across all systems. Examples of useful integrations or interfaces to other systems can be found here:

  • ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
    This integration makes it possible to combine systems such as financials or inventory management with xRM into a single, unified platform. This facilitates the management of business processes while providing a real-time overview of the company’s performance.
  • Accounting software
    Integration with accounting software ensures that all financial transactions are accurately tracked in both Any Relationship Management and your accounting system to ensure accuracy of business records.
  • E-commerce platforms
    Integration with e-commerce platforms such as Magento or Shopify allow online orders & payments to be managed seamlessly from xRM. This can be especially helpful for companies that have both an online presence and multiple physical locations or offices.
  • Social media
    By connecting to social media platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram or Xing, companies can better analyze and understand the behavior and preferences of their relationships, but also attract new personnel to your company.
  • AI (Artificial Intelligence)
    AI tools can be integrated into any relationship management to automate and streamline processes, such as optimizing customer segmentation or personalizing product recommendations. They also assist with content creation for different groups of recipients.
  • BI (Business Intelligence)
    With BI integration, you can gain valuable insights from their data, such as identifying customer trends or predicting customer behavior. This can help you optimize their strategies and identify growth opportunities.
  • Marketing systems
    By integrating marketing third party systems, companies can generate leads and optimize or extend the performance of their campaigns.

How to implement Any Relationship Management?

You start with CRM software that allows you to clearly map customer relationships and provides necessary options to expand to xRM. With the right CRM partner, the CRM can be expanded according to your requirements into your individual xRM for any industry.

The basis for your considerations can be either the level of the contact, the object or the project.

  • Address base: Starting from the data of a customer, supplier or partner, all related processes, such as correspondence or contracts, can be recorded in the system.
  • Object base: An object, such as a machine or a vehicle, can also be the focus of consideration. All relevant processes can be displayed for this purpose.
  • Project base: Many companies work in a project-oriented manner. A project can also be in focus. For this, you need project documentation that manages relevant activities, information, participants or stakeholders.

Compact summary on the importance, benefits and implementation of
xRM (= Any Relationship Management) with 3 simple examples.

Title for white paper xRM from GEDYS IntraWare
Title for white paper xRM from GEDYS IntraWare