CRM – The Secret Language

A golden rule of writing is that you are never supposed to write about your family members. Well, I’m going to break that rule, ever so subtly, to make a very important point about the width and depth of communication that CRM software can provide a business organization.

I remember something extraordinary about my relationship with my husband, from the very onset of it. I remember that we didn’t have to talk a lot because we simply understood each other so well. It was sort of secret language in many ways. We could be listening to a friend at a party and make eye contact and convey an emotion, position or sometimes what seemed like an entire conversation through a facial expression or body language that no one else could have even picked up on. Over the years, as our relationship has grown, that secret language (greater understanding with few words) has only strengthened. I think secret languages are pretty common among people that are close. Parents and children have a secret language. Many siblings have a secret language. Best friends of many years sometimes have a secret language. As you read this, you probably have someone that comes to mind that you share a secret language with.

So, how do we emulate that level of understanding and communication outside of a one-on-one relationship? How do we make that natural depth of communication applicable in our business lives? How do we magnify the depth of communication that usually exists between two people (a sales manager and a buyer, as a business example) into a company-wide relationship that is between two companies? How do we create a level of understanding that goes beyond words and goes to anticipating and fulfilling the needs of the other party without being told?

That secret language is really an awareness of needs. When a true connection is made either socially or professionally it is because both parties feel the other one understands them. Suppose you communicated with your customers with the same awareness as someone near and dear, and were able to capture their needs in a way that would differentiate you from your competition? Suppose you could revisit this captured information and used it to anticipate and fulfill the needs of the customer? Suppose not only you could access that information, but your customer service department, or other support staff had access to that same information and were also anticipating the customers needs and working to fulfill them without being told? Suppose the next steps of fulfilling those needs were automated and happened without any more of your time or energy?

That’s a lot to imagine, but in reality it’s much more tangible than a secret language. All of these things are possible through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. If you had these abilities would it change the dynamic of your relationship with your customers? Would it change the way your customer views you and your company? Would it change the way you view them and what you could do to help them?

CRM software provides you the tool to capture highly complicated customer information in a single location to create a complete picture of the relationship for everyone in the organization to access as needed. Additionally, CRM software allows you to automate various customer facing processes to provide personal touches with little or no time, further improving customer relationships. People look forward to being with people who understand them. Use CRM to create a secret language in your company to share with your customers that uniquely separates you from your competition.