Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

When people hear the term CRM, they often think of "systems" or "tools."
However, having worked for many years providing CRM implementation support, I've come to feel that this is actually closer to "working with the psychology of a company."

This time, we will re-examine CRM from the perspective of "corporate psychology" and explain why this perspective is important.

Please note that the term "corporate psychology" used in this article does not refer to a specialized medical field such as clinical psychology, but rather to a framework for understanding corporate and team behavior patterns using psychological metaphors.

table of contents

1. Why view CRM from the perspective of "corporate psychology"?
2. The origin of the concepts of "CRM Doctor" and "CRM Consultant"
3. The analogy that companies also have an "unconscious" side.
4. Personalization is a "fragmentation of corporate memory."
5. Emotional temperature is a mirror reflecting a company's "emotional intelligence."
6. Resistance to data entry is a "defense mechanism" of companies.
7. CRM 4.0 is a process that deepens a company's "self-understanding."
8. The diagnostic process: a three-stage process of interview, examination, and prescription.
9. The difference between a healthy company and an unhealthy company
10. The psychology of the business owner also influences the way the organization functions.
11. Changes in organizational growth stages and psychological challenges
12. Practicing a Diagnostic Approach in EMOROCO CRM Lite
13. The advantages of this perspective and the limitations to keep in mind.
14. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
15. Summary

1. Why view CRM from the perspective of "corporate psychology"?

Having seen many companies fail to successfully implement CRM, I noticed one common thread.
This means that CRM implementation failures are often rooted not in functional or price issues, but in "organizational psychological habits."

Those who don't enter data aren't being lazy; they're experiencing anxiety about entering the data.
Organizations that are overly reliant on individuals are not acting out of malice, but rather choosing to maintain the status quo out of fear of change.
The reason management doesn't believe in the effectiveness of CRM is not because they are "ignorant," but because they are wary due to "past failures."

These phenomena are very similar to individual psychological patterns.
That's why I've come to believe that implementing CRM should not be viewed simply as a system implementation, but rather as a psychological approach that engages with the company as a "person."

2. The origin of the concepts of "CRM Doctor" and "CRM Consultant"

I myself am sometimes introduced as a "CRM Doctor" or "CRM Consultant."
This terminology is intended to convey the following:

When a doctor examines a patient, they don't just look at the symptoms and prescribe medication; they make a comprehensive diagnosis that includes lifestyle habits and psychological background.
My role in implementing CRM is similar to this.
We will analyze the underlying psychological background of organizations that lies beneath superficial complaints such as "it lacks functionality" or "we don't know how to use it," and propose appropriate solutions (design and operational methods).
—This is the idea behind the term "CRM Doctor."

3. The analogy that companies also have an "unconscious" side.

In individual psychology, it is believed that there are parts of our behavior that we are conscious of and parts that influence our actions unconsciously.
It is likely that companies also have a similar structure.

Even if a company proclaims "We put the customer first," if its actual business processes allocate budget solely to acquiring new customers, this represents a discrepancy between the company's "articulated beliefs" and its "actual behavioral patterns."
・Even though everyone knows that "security is important," in reality, unprotected management using Excel continues—this is another example of the same disconnect.

In the initial stages of CRM implementation, a crucial task is to visualize these "corporate unconscious" patterns—patterns that are not explicitly stated but govern actual behavior.

4. Personalization is a "fragmentation of corporate memory."

In individual psychology, fragmented and unintegrated memories are often considered a source of confusion and anxiety.
The phenomenon of over-reliance on individual expertise within companies has a similar structure.

When the "organizational memory" of customer relationships exists only within specific individuals and is not integrated across the entire organization, this can be seen as a state in which a company is unable to transform its own experiences into organizational wisdom.
BeforeHow to eliminate reliance on individual sales personnelAs explained earlier, the process of resolving and integrating this fragmentation of memory is the essential value of implementing CRM.

5. Emotional temperature is a mirror reflecting a company's "emotional intelligence."

The concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) refers to the ability to recognize and appropriately manage one's own and others' emotions.
The use of emotional temperature in a company can be seen as an attempt to implement this emotional intelligence as an organizational mechanism.

Many companies tend to rely solely on behavioral data, which is "objective fact."
However, there are nuances in customer relationships that cannot be expressed in numbers.
The deliberate recording of a subjective indicator like "emotional temperature" can be seen as an effort by companies to cultivate "emotional intelligence" within their organization.

6. Resistance to data entry is a "defense mechanism" of companies.

Let's re-examine the causes and solutions to the "data not being entered into the CRM" problem, which I previously explained, from a psychological perspective.

When an individual feels psychologically threatened, they may unconsciously activate a defense mechanism to protect themselves.
"Will entering this information negatively impact my evaluation?" "Will I be criticized if I write honestly?"
These anxieties can sometimes manifest as resistance to data entry.

Dismissing this resistance as mere "slacking off" or "lack of motivation" will not lead to a fundamental solution.
Understanding the anxiety that underlies defensive reactions and creating an environment where users can input information with peace of mind is the true solution.

7. CRM 4.0 is a process to deepen a company's "self-understanding."

In personal psychology, deepening one's self-understanding is believed to lead to healthier decision-making and the development of better relationships with others.
The "relationship assetization" that CRM 4.0 aims for has a similar structure.

For companies to visualize their relationships with customers not through intuition but through data is a process that allows them to understand themselves more deeply.
"How well are we valuing our existing customers?" "How much is our organization dependent on individual employees?"
Addressing these questions objectively is an important step in implementing CRM 4.0.

8. The diagnostic process: a three-stage process of interview, examination, and prescription.

By drawing an analogy to the diagnostic process in medicine, the CRM implementation process can be divided into the following three stages:

・InterviewThis stage involves gathering information on current challenges and concerns from both management and frontline staff.
・InspectionThis stage involves reviewing actual data (Excel usage status, number of missed responses, etc.) to gain an objective understanding of the current situation.
・PrescriptionThis is the stage where specific design and operation methods are proposed based on the results of the medical interview and examination.

If you skip these three steps and immediately offer only the solution of "implementing CRM will solve the problem," you will end up with a superficial solution without addressing the root cause.

9. The difference between a healthy company and an unhealthy company

Based on my experience, there are several differences between companies that can easily adopt the CRM 4.0 approach and those that cannot.

・Healthy companies: To frankly acknowledge challenges and positively accept feedback from outside.
・Other companiesThey tend to be afraid to acknowledge their problems and instead focus on superficial fixes.

・Healthy companiesInstead of blaming the person in charge for a failed initiative, we can reframe it as a systemic problem.
・Other companies: Attributing the cause of failure to individuals, without leading to a fundamental review of the system.

These differences have much in common with an individual's psychological well-being.

10. The psychology of the business owner also influences the way the organization functions.

When considering this from the perspective of corporate psychology, it is important not to forget that the psychological attitude of the executives themselves greatly influences the overall state of the organization.

If managers believe that admitting failure is shameful, the entire organization is more likely to develop a culture of hiding problems.
If management emphasizes "data-driven decision-making," employees on the ground are more likely to adopt that approach.
If the management themselves embodies a commitment to valuing relationships with existing customers, that value is more likely to permeate the entire organization.

Whether or not CRM implementation is successful depends not only on the system's performance, but also largely on the attitude that management itself takes towards the organization.

11. Changes in organizational growth stages and psychological challenges

From a corporate psychology perspective, the psychological challenges that organizations are likely to face change depending on their stage of growth.

・Founding periodPersonalization is actually a natural state, where all information is concentrated in the minds of the managers and a small number of members.
・Growth periodAs the number of people increases, the need to share information that was previously tied to individuals within the organization becomes more important. If this transition doesn't go smoothly, confusion can easily arise, with people thinking, "It used to work fine, but now it doesn't."
・MaturityAs organizations grow larger, departmental silos become more pronounced, creating a new challenge: the fragmentation of customer information.

The psychological challenges that companies must address differ at each stage.
The CRM 4.0 concept offers a perspective that applies to companies at any stage of their development: "integrating relationships as organizational assets."

12. Practicing a Diagnostic Approach in EMOROCO CRM Lite

In supporting the implementation of EMOROCO CRM Lite, we put this diagnostic approach into practice by linking it to specific functions.

・The part corresponding to the medical interview: During pre-implementation interviews, identify any discrepancies in the perceived challenges between management and the frontline staff.
・The part that is inspectedVisualize nurturing scores and discrepancies in emotional temperature to objectively understand the organization's "symptoms."
・The part corresponding to the prescription: Flexible design with no coding enables the creation of entity workflows tailored to the specific challenges of each company.

Through this entire process, we aim to foster organizational awareness and change that goes beyond simply introducing tools.

13. The advantages of this perspective and the limitations to keep in mind.

Viewing CRM from the perspective of corporate psychology offers the following advantages:

- We can treat phenomena such as resistance to data entry and insistence on personalization as something to be understood, rather than criticized.
- It becomes easier to notice the organization's true challenges that lie beneath superficial feature requests.
- The implementation process can be positioned not merely as system construction, but as a process for organizational growth.

On the other hand, I must honestly state that this perspective has its limitations as a metaphor.
A company is not a single entity like an individual, but rather a collection of multiple people.
The insights from clinical psychology cannot be directly applied to businesses; rather, it is appropriate to use them as a "framework for thinking to aid understanding."

14. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. Is "corporate psychology" a formal academic field?
The term "corporate psychology" used in this article does not refer to a formal branch of clinical psychology, but rather is used as a metaphorical framework for understanding corporate behavior patterns.

Q. Are CRM Doctor and CRM Consultant qualifications medical qualifications?
No.
This is a term used to clearly describe the role of a specialist in CRM implementation support, and does not refer to a national medical qualification.

Q. How is this perspective being utilized in actual implementation support?
The process involves going through stages such as consultation, examination, and prescription, and carefully understanding not only superficial requests but also the underlying challenges of the organization before proposing a CRM design.

Q. How can we transform an organization that relies too heavily on individual expertise from this perspective?
Instead of blaming the reliance on individuals as a personal problem, I recommend re-evaluating it as a lack of "integration of memories" within the organization and starting by establishing a system for keeping records.

Q. What should I do if someone is resistant to data entry?
BeforeCauses and solutions for the "Data not entered into CRM" problemAs explained earlier, it is important to understand the anxiety behind the resistance and create a safe environment that is separate from evaluation.

15. Summary

Viewing CRM from the perspective of corporate psychology is not merely a metaphorical exercise, but a practical framework for understanding the fundamental reasons why CRM implementations fail.
By reframing personalization as memory fragmentation, emotional temperature as emotional intelligence, and resistance to data input as a defense mechanism, it becomes possible to provide implementation support that addresses the organization's true challenges rather than just superficial solutions.
The relationship assetization that CRM 4.0 aims for can be described as a deepening of organizational self-understanding, which goes beyond this understanding of corporate psychology.

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Related article

・How to eliminate reliance on individual sales personnel
・Causes and solutions for the "Data not entered into CRM" problem
・How to implement emotional temperature input and establish it in the workplace
・The Science of Relationship Assetization