The study assessed CRM and small and medium businesses’ performance: evidence from Rusizi district, Rwanda. The specific objectives were analyzing the CRM practices used in small and medium businesses of Rusizi District, Rwanda; and correlating CRM and business performance of small and medium businesses of Rusizi District, Rwanda. The study employed the target population of selected 11,359 registered small businesses in Rusizi District with their representatives. The purposive sampling technique used to select a sample size of 99 respondents. Data collection techniques of the study such as questionnaires; and documentation research techniques. SPSS IBM 22.0 version software was used to analyze the data obtained in this research. The descriptive Statistical method was used to describe the frequency, percentages of data collected from respondents. The coefficient of determination including correlation coefficient, and linear regression analysis model were applied to test the relationship between variables. The results showed that From the correlation coefficient matrix in Table no1, results showed that there is a significant, positive and strong correlation between customer identification in CRM and performance of SMEs in Rusizi District as a Pearson correlation is 0.758** with the p-value of 0.000, which is less than the standard significance level of 0.01. The results showed that there is a significant and positive strong correlation between customer attraction in CRM and business performance of SMEs as a Pearson correlation is 0.707** with the p-value is 0.000, which is less than the standard significance level of 0.01.The results showed a significant positive and strong correlation between Customer Retention and business performance of SMEs as Pearson correlation was 0.669** with the p-value of 0.000 less than the standard significance level of 0.01. The results showed that there is a significant and positive strong correlation between customer development and business performance of SMEs in Rwanda as the Pearson correlation is 0.710** with the p-value is 0.000, which is less than the standard significance level of 0.01. However, the research hypotheses were verified where null hypothesis (H0) stated that “There is no significant and positive relationship between CRM and small businesses performance in Rwanda” was rejected, because the findings indicated a significant and positive relationship between variables, and for that reason, the study has retained the alternative hypothesis (H1) stated that the independent variable affecting significantly and positively business performance of SMEs in Rwanda.

Key Words: CRM, small businesses, performance