Stress, and locus of control

On the topic of putting yourself (or at least, your organization) in control of your own CRM systems:

Not to get all psycho-babble on you, but there's a concept in human psychology known as locus of control.

I love this kind of thing, but I won't try to make you love it. You can read more about it if you like.

The short point I want to make is this:

Folks with a generally internal locus of control (they believe the direction of their life is determined by their own actions) are often less likely to experience debilitating stress, compared to folks with an external locus of control.

Stress. Friction. Frustration. Yuck.

It makes sense to me.

If I keep my ducks in a row and keep trying, there's a good chance I'll get more of what I want. And the more control I give away — to circumstance, chance, and outside forces — the more likely I am to be frustrated in my efforts.

So...

If your CRM systems are giving you more stress than you'd like, there may be a way to fix that.

And it may just have to do with setting an internal center of control for these systems, somewhere within your organization.

The starting place is to designate a CRM systems coordinator, your "in-house CRM expert."

And then, it's about increasing that person's level of expertise, so that your whole team can benefit.

All the best,
A.