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Research background: Globalization is characterized by the interconnection of national economies, which may be more vulnerable in this way. Economic and social shocks caused by the global nature of the socio-economic environment have now shown, especially in connection with covid19, the need for a deeper focus of companies on customers. Purpose of the article: The need for communication, the search for new market opportunities, and the resumption of production in the post-crisis period could be significantly affected by the use of digital technologies aimed at clients and customers. The ongoing research “Application of systems for customer relationship management in the environment of small and medium-sized enterprises” has shown that customer orientation can be significantly supported and streamlined by using Customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The paper compares the use of CRM in EU countries and identifies critical points. Methods: Using methods of system analysis, especially mathematical prediction, statistical methods, and multicriteria analysis, the use of CRM in EU countries is compared in relation to selected factors of the digital economy. Findings & Value added: Years with major declines and disproportions have been identified. The declines in developed economies (Germany, France, Austria etc.) in 2019 are specific, related mainly to the use of new forms of customer service. It turns out that although companies are streamlining their marketing efforts through CRM and focusing on maximizing potential through customers, CRM is only an integral part of ICT and can be replaced in the global environment by other tools of the digital economy.