operations
Automations
ASE
I have a theory. Every company has a Michelle.
She might be Marcus. She might be Linda. She may even be the founder. But every company has one person carrying the business around in their head.
Who the customer is.
What went wrong.
Who promised the callback.
What workaround actually works.
Michelle has job security because Michelle is the CRM.
And that’s a problem.
We’ve all been that customer.
You call support because something broke.
The person helping you says, “Let me look into this and give you a call back.”
Cool.
A day goes by.
Nothing.
Two days.
Still nothing.
So you call again.
A different advisor answers.
You explain everything from the beginning.
Again.
They put you on hold.
Come back.
“I don’t see any notes.”
Now you’re irritated.
Not because your issue isn’t fixed.
Because nobody seems to own it.
The first person never documented what they found.
The second person didn’t realize the case had been dropped.
The customer is sitting there waiting for a callback that isn’t coming.
That’s not a Customer Success problem.
That’s not a customer support problem.
That’s an ownership problem.
After spending years in technical support, I realized the hardest issues usually weren’t technical.
The hardest part was figuring out who owned the next step.
Everybody assumed somebody else had it.
Support thought Engineering was working on it.
Engineering thought they were waiting on Support.
Sales had already moved on.
The customer?
The customer was just waiting.
This is exactly why I think the role of a CRM is changing.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, but today it’s much more than a digital address book.
It’s becoming the operating system for Customer Success, RevOps, customer support, and customer retention.
A good CRM should answer one question immediately.
Who owns this customer right now?
Not yesterday.
Not after vacation.
Not after the weekly meeting.
Right now.
That’s why I’m paying attention to the direction HubSpot is moving.
Not because it’s HubSpot.
Because the conversation is finally shifting from features to workflows.
The companies winning at Customer Success aren’t relying on one superstar employee with an incredible memory.
They’re building systems where ownership survives lunch breaks, PTO, promotions, and resignations.
The customer doesn’t have to tell their story three times.
The next teammate doesn’t have to play detective.
The callback actually happens.
That’s operational excellence.
Customer Success isn’t becoming more human.
It’s becoming more operational.
Relationships will always matter.
Empathy will always matter.
But relationships shouldn’t depend on Michelle remembering what happened last Thursday.
They should depend on a CRM that tells the truth.
If your best employee quit tomorrow and your customer experience fell apart with them…
Michelle wasn’t your secret weapon.
She was your undocumented process.
And no process belongs in someone’s head.
It belongs in the workflow.
What do you think?
Have you ever worked somewhere that had a “Michelle?” Or have you been Michelle?
I’d love to hear your stories in the comments.
