A service CRM is built to keep track of existing customers, their sites and installations, appointments, tasks and history, while a sales CRM is typically built to find and win new customers with leads, a pipeline and sales forecasts. Service companies often need both, but the center of gravity is in what happens after the deal: who does what, where and when, and what was done. Microbizz is a Danish field service management platform for task and project management, where CRM is part of the same platform as tasks, time and invoicing.
Both gather information about customers, but they are built for different questions. The table shows the typical differences.
| Sales CRM | Service CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | Who should we sell to, and where are we in the sales process? | What do we need to do for the customer, where and when, and what has been done? |
| Central objects | Leads, contacts and sales opportunities | Customers, locations, installations, equipment and tasks |
| History | Sales activities and communication | Cases, visits, documentation, time and invoices |
| After the deal | The sale is closed | The work is planned, carried out, documented and invoiced |
A service company often works not just for a customer, but on a particular building, installation or location. In Microbizz, objects can have an address, owner, area and installations, tasks are linked to the object, and special access requirements and noted problems are shown. Equipment can be linked to the object.
In a service CRM, history is not just who called when. It is earlier cases, emails and deliveries, and the customer view shows the linked tasks, quotes, invoices and time registrations.
After the sale, something has to be carried out. Appointments can be converted to tasks in a few clicks, and an accepted quote can become tasks or a project, with prices, deadlines and materials. That is why the customer, the quote and task management belong together.
Through the extranet, the customer can see status, reports, checklists and scheduled visits. That is rarely part of a pure sales CRM.
In reporting you can see lifetime value, order frequency, trends, pipeline, hit rate and customer engagement, so both sales and service figures are in the same place.
The customer and the object are created in the CRM. A quote is sent, and when the customer accepts, the task or project is created. Employees register time and materials on the task, and they are collected into the invoicing basis. The customer can follow status through the extranet. That is the chain a service CRM needs to carry.
If you have many salespeople, a long sales process or a need for advanced lead handling and marketing, a dedicated sales CRM can be the right choice. Microbizz's CRM page mentions leads, quotes, pipeline and hit rate, but does not describe lead scoring or marketing automation. If you want both, Microbizz can be connected to other systems through API, plugins and standard integrations. Ask about your specific system.
For contractors and tradespeople, it is about the sales process from quote to project. Service companies work with leads, meetings and appointments that become tasks. In utilities, it is an overview of customers, contracts and service agreements, with documentation and history. In facility management, it is contacts, contracts and tasks across many customers and locations. A team leader at Cobblestone says on the CRM page that the system can be adapted by changing many parameters, without extensive IT skills.
A sales CRM is typically built to win new customers with leads and a pipeline. A service CRM is built to handle existing customers, their sites and installations, appointments, tasks and history, so the work can be planned, carried out and invoiced.
To a degree, yes. Microbizz's CRM mentions leads, quotes, pipeline and hit rate alongside tasks and history. The page does not describe lead scoring or marketing automation, so if you need that, ask how it would fit.
Yes, for service companies it is a big advantage. When the customer view shows tasks, quotes, invoices and time registrations, and invoicing receives data from the CRM, you avoid typing the same information in several places.
Yes. Through the extranet, the customer can see status, reports, checklists and scheduled visits.
Yes. Microbizz's CRM is web-based and can be used through the browser on mobile and tablet, without installation. You can book a demo and see what the customer view looks like with your own customers.