"What’s wrong with this report?"

Here’s a familiar moment.

A meeting is coming up. Someone asks for an “accurate” membership report.
The numbers matter. The confidence matters more.

You pull the report -- and hesitate.
Something feels off. Or at least, you’re not sure you fully trust what you’re seeing.

What's going on?

I mean, it sounds like a reporting problem.

But what if it's really ... a communication problem?

Here's what I mean:

Even the best CRM doesn't really "know what you want." It just stores exactly what was entered, and then answers exactly the questions you ask -- not the one you mean.

When a report feels wrong, that's usually a sign to slow down and ask two important questions:

1. What does the CRM believe is true? (Bob's missing from the report? OK, does the CRM think Bob is a member?)

2. What is the report actually doing? (Bob's missing from the report? Well, is the report really designed to show members like Bob?)

So when I say "communication problem," I mean: entering accurate data into the system; and carefully defining your question (the report) so the CRM answers the question you intend to ask.

BTW, this isn't just a CRM thing.

Even two humans talking it through in person will often need several passes to get aligned. "Show me a list of members from last year" can have many subtly different meanings.

The cool thing is: While those two people can get bogged down over why it seems so hard to communicate, your CRM will happily give you the answers you want -- as long you give it accurate data and understand exactly what you're asking it in reports.

That "slow down and clarify" work is where sanity starts to appear again.

- A.