One customer file that holds up | worth more than a new CRM
Most companies buy a CRM and then keep three other places anyway. What actually works: agreeing what belongs in the file, and abolishing the rest.
Derk Gähler
A CRM solves nothing while half the information lives somewhere else. The problem is rarely the software. It is that nobody agreed what exactly belongs in the file.
Why a second place always wins
The moment information can live in two places, everyone picks whichever is fastest right now. Usually the mailbox. Within a month the CRM is a list of names without context, and the real work sits in someone's sent items.
That isn't a discipline problem. It's a design problem: you allowed two places to exist where there should have been one.
What has to be in it, minimum
Keep it small enough to sustain. Four things are enough: who the relationship is, every touchpoint, every document that records an agreement, and the next step with a date.
Everything else is nice but not necessary. Start with four fields that are always right instead of twenty that are half filled.
Two places for the same information is not a discipline problem. It is a design problem.
Email is part of the file, not a separate archive
The biggest jump comes when email and documents land on the relationship automatically. Not forwarded, not copied, but linked by sender and subject.
From then on nobody has to ask 'do you remember what we agreed'. That saves time, but mostly it saves mistakes in what you promise a customer.
Test it with the holiday check
The honest test: could a colleague who wasn't there take over the conversation using the file alone? If not, something is still living in someone's head.
Run that check once a quarter on a random customer. It's confronting and it takes ten minutes.
In short
- Two places for the same information means the fastest one always wins.
- Four fields that are always right beat twenty half-filled ones.
- Let email and documents attach to the file automatically.
- The holiday check shows immediately what's still missing.
Written by
Derk Gähler
Co-founder & Digital Expert
Connects positioning, web development and online marketing into one clear digital product that is beautiful, functional and easy to use.
Ask a questionRelated services
