What is the difference between CCM, CXM and CRM?

Olivier Lebleu
Sep 23
2 min read

In the field of customer relations, acronyms abound: CCM , CXM and CRM . All refer to key but very distinct concepts, and it is essential to understand their differences to build a coherent communication and customer experience strategy.

CRM: Customer Relationship Management

CRM is the go-to tool for managing customer and prospect data. It centralizes information (contact details, interaction history, sales opportunities, customer support, etc.) and helps teams better track long-term relationships.

Objective: to store, organize and use customer data.
Example: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot.
Benefit: better 360° view of the customer and precise monitoring of the sales cycle.

CXM: Customer Experience Management

CXM (or customer experience management) focuses on the customer's overall perception of the brand throughout their journey. Whereas CRM centralizes data, CXM ensures that each interaction is seamless, personalized, and positive.

Objective: to design and manage a consistent and engaging customer experience.
Example: Adobe Experience Manager, Qualtrics.
Benefit: Build loyalty and differentiate the brand through a superior customer experience.

CCM: Customer Communication Management

CCM (customer communication management) focuses on the production and distribution of operational communications: quotes, contracts, statements, invoices, letters, emails, SMS, etc. These documents are critical because they embody the company's commitment to its customers and must be personalized, compliant and consistent.

Objective: to automate and secure the creation of documents and communications.
Example: NAELAN KSL Suite, OpenText, Quadient.
Benefit: gain efficiency, ensure compliance and improve the impact of communications.

How CRM, CXM and CCM complement each other

CRM provides the data.
CXM defines the overall experience to be delivered.
The CCM executes the concrete communications that materialize this relationship.

In other words, CRM says “who the customer is” , CXM says “how they should feel” , and CCM says “what we send them and how” . Together, these three pillars strengthen the customer relationship, from acquisition to loyalty.

KSL for Salesforce: When CRM and CCM Become One

With KSL for Salesforce , Naelan goes even further by directly integrating CCM into the CRM environment. Batch, interactive and transactional documents are generated and managed within Salesforce itself , without any disruption to workflow.

This means your sales, legal or customer service teams can:

• Create and customize quotes, contracts or statements directly from Salesforce.

• Automatically manage the production of documents in bulk or on demand.

• Benefit from total consistency between CRM data and customer communications.

This integration brings together the best of both worlds: the richness of customer data from CRM and the documentary power of CCM.

In summary

CRM : data management and relationship monitoring.
CXM : Customer Experience Management.
CCM : Customer Communications Management.

At NAELAN , we help companies leverage CCM to transform their documents into real levers for performance and customer experience, whether directly from their CRM or not.