The end of CRM, the end of the well-maintained dialog – a plea for quality instead of quantity. Our communication culture is changing – unfortunately not always for the better. Is customer relationship management just lip service, a fig leaf?
The death of the cultivated dialog is evident in many ways:
- More and more people are ordering online, thus personal interaction in retail is disappearing.
- is increasingly asynchronous, whether by email or voicemail, often without personal exchange.
- has become rarer, unnecessary emotions and misunderstandings dominate many conversations – especially politically motivated discussions.
- Communication is often misused; it no longer serves the exchange, but rather self-promotion, one’s own topic (not the original one) or quick completion (checking off in the sense of: good that we talked about it).
- The time for a real, appreciative dialogue is dwindling, conversations are reduced to the bare minimum.
- People prefer to quickly write an e-mail. But how time-consuming can a “quick email” be? Extremely time-consuming, in fact.
- Because then you have to ask “What did you mean?” or disagreements arise from misunderstandings or lack of understanding that are difficult to resolve.
The end of CRM, the cultivated dialog is dead. There are many reasons for this. For example:
- The convenience and efficiency of e-commerce, which makes personal encounters unnecessary.
- Working from home (I am an advocate of working from home, but it requires different communication than in the office). But many people working from home become lonely because their company or supervisor does not respond appropriately to the changed conditions.
- Voice messages, SMS and chats are fast but impersonal – and sometimes incomprehensible.
- Economic pressure: Telephone and field services are cut because they are costly.
- The greed for quantity instead of quality: more visits, more sales, more contacts, more customers, more likes – the real dialog falls by the wayside.
- CRM and marketing automation software: A lot of emphasis is placed on the selection of software. However, little value is placed on the use and support of value-adding dialog through the software.
- Digitization and digital transformation lead to anonymization; more self-service through apps or portals.
But good conversations? They do exist, but unfortunately often not.
Okay, I’m mixing private and business now. But can they be separated at all in this context? No. At the core, the same problem exists.
A perceived sense of closeness in the crowd is no substitute for a good conversation.
You go to events to experience closeness. It’s like at a crowded Christmas market: you’re surrounded by people, but real conversations hardly ever happen. Or you go to a trade fair or a concert. Yes, you feel like you’re among people, but really intense conversations or dialogues hardly ever take place.
In the canteen or in the hallway: a fleeting “Hello, how are you?”
doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
Communication has never been easy.
Here is a selection of articles from the RND
The end of CRM, the cultivated dialog is dead – Management and annual reviews are coming up again soon – the solution?
Not even now that management and annual reviews (with customers, suppliers and employees) are back on the agenda.
But why aren’t management reviews conducted much more often?
Just once a year is no dialog, no basis for a relationship of trust. It is much more of an urgent opportunity to reflect on one’s own claim, on one’s own leadership quality.
My wish: the renaissance of personal dialog.
Especially now at Christmas – but my wish is always – for the future too. I call for a renaissance of personal dialog – on the phone, in person, face to face.
Especially in the run-up to Christmas, conversations are often rejected with the explanation: I don’t have time before Christmas, you know, the usual – the Christmas rush. But next year for sure.
What kind of appreciation is that?
Better fewer contacts but good, meaningful relationships.
CRM is dead, the well-maintained dialog is dead – so more quality instead of quantity.
As the philosopher Epictetus said:
“We have two ears and only one mouth in order to listen more than to talk.”
This raises the question: Who still knows the term “active listening”?
Let’s go back to real communication, where people listen to each other and really understand.
Time pressure, e.g. through an average processing time or pressure from the number of visits per day, leads to nothing but faster processing.
It is no wonder that fewer and fewer NPS questionnaires are being completed. The number of responses is falling. But so is the quality of the responses. Neither Kunuu nor other rating portals help here.
In my opinion, relationship management looks different.
Of course, every prospective or existing customer (and this also applies to friends or acquaintances) is different, and everyone has a different value.
That’s why it makes sense to say
- high value: a lot of time, a lot of affection, quick response or completion
- not quite as high a value: a little less time, affection, a slightly slower response
- very high value: all the time in the world, even having a 2-hour conversation, a radiant smile, …
You know what I mean.
Be it at the kitchen table or in the hallway or wherever.
Take your time, a drink and please don’t give the impression that you don’t have time. Your counterpart will notice. Then unfortunately you won’t find out everything either.
Happy 1st week of Advent and ahoy from the island to the world of dialog!