CRM. What is it? First off, it's an acronym - Customer Relationship Management. But far beyond that it is a methodology and set of business tools and practices to know your customer. It helps answer the important questions. Do they need anything? Are they happy with what is going on with your services or products? Have you reached out to them recently?
Without a CRM process or tool, you are dependent upon people keeping track of things individually which is ok, but it doesn't help the rest of the organization. It also assumes that customer interactions are even being recorded and tracked in the first place. It goes back to the old adage - "nothing in, nothing out." The more information you can provide regarding customer interactions, the better the relationship with the customer will be.
So what can you do if you are not "practicing good CRM?" Head to Google and search on CRM. And go with this in mind - it's not just a tool (like ACT, my CRM of choice) it is an approach to keeping on top of customer interactions. Knowing your customers is key to developing a methodology for managing customer relationships.
Most organizations have some form of sales process and plan. The next step is to ensure you track how successful that sales process has been. Are the customers satisfied with the results? Do they have additional questions? Are there potential additional products or services they need. A CRM process will ensure that this information is gathered and recorded.
An organization's mission is to ensure that their customers are happy and return for more business. You need to have something in your arsenal to make that happen. A good CRM tool and process can make that happen.