CRM (customer relationship management)
A CRM (customer relationship management system) is the software a company uses to keep one shared record of its customers and prospects: who they are, every conversation with them and every deal, so the whole team works from the same history.
What a CRM holds
- Contacts and companies. Names, roles, work emails and phone numbers, and which person works where.
- Activity. Emails, calls, meetings and notes, each tied to the person and the company, with tasks for whoever owns the next step.
- Deals. Each opportunity with its value and its stage in the sales pipeline.
- Reports. Pipeline, forecast and activity by rep, team or period.
Kinds of CRM
CRM software is usually described in three ways, and one product often does all three:
- Operational: runs the daily work of sales, marketing and support, such as logging calls and moving deals.
- Analytical: turns the records into reports, forecasts and segments.
- Collaborative: shares each customer's history across teams, so support can see what sales promised.
A CRM and your outreach tools
The CRM is the system of record. Outreach tools do the sending: sequences on email and LinkedIn, the replies and the follow-ups. The two have to agree, or a rep calls a lead who opted out yesterday. Decide which system owns which field, match people by work email and companies by domain, and send the events that matter into the CRM: a reply, a meeting booked, an opt-out.
In GetSales, an API call step sends the person to any tool with an API, and a webhook, set up through the API or the MCP server, can tell your own URL about each new reply.
Personal data in a CRM
Names and work emails that identify a person are personal data, so a CRM falls under data protection law. Two duties come up often. Someone can ask for a copy of what you hold about them, and under the UK GDPR you must answer without undue delay and within one month, a deadline you can extend by up to two more months for a complex request. In most cases you cannot charge a fee.1
When someone objects to direct marketing you must stop using their data for it. The ICO says it is usually better to suppress the record, keeping just enough to remember the preference, so it still holds when the same person turns up in a later list.2
Related
- Integrations: what each GetSales integration reads, writes and costs.
- Sales engagement platform: LinkedIn and email steps in one flow.
- Unibox: every reply from every sender profile in one inbox.
- How to choose a CRM system for sales teams.
Sources
- Information Commissioner's Office, A guide to subject access, last updated 16 July 2026. Read 28 October 2026.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Right to object, no date stated, marked as under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act. Read 28 October 2026.
Last updated: October 2026