I don't open QuickBooks to find out where we stand. The numbers show up every morning, already pulled together, and my only job is to read them and decide what to do. I still pay close attention to the business. What changed is that getting the information no longer depends on me remembering to go look.

One person at a business I'm working with told me their team relies on the CRM for everything. In another conversation, someone else on the team mentioned that phone messages still get written on sticky notes.

Both are true. The CRM holds whatever gets entered into it, and a call on a sticky note hasn't been entered yet. Until somebody copies it over, the person who needs to call that customer back may not know they're waiting.

That's the situation behind the reminder most owners end up sending. Please update the CRM. Please log your calls. When that reminder keeps coming up, I'd look at what the update actually involves. Is someone recording information for the first time, or copying something they've already written down? Those are different problems, and another reminder won't necessarily solve the second one.

For that business, the goal is simple. A call summary lands on the right customer's record and the callback shows up on the right person's task list, without anyone writing it twice. The team still has the conversation, reviews anything unclear, and returns the call. Sometimes that takes AI to capture what was said, and sometimes it only takes connecting tools they already own. Either way, taking the message and getting it to the right person shouldn't be two separate jobs.

Try this

Think of one recent request that had to pass from one person to another. Where was it written down? Who needed it next? What did someone have to do to get it to them?

Then finish this sentence:

"When _____ happens, _____ should reach _____, without someone having to _____."

For example: "When a customer asks for a callback, the request should reach the assigned person's task list, without someone entering it in two places."

Keep it that specific. You're looking for one step you could remove, not a plan to automate the whole business.

One ask

Bring that sentence to a twenty minute conversation with me. We'll talk through the tools you already have, what could happen automatically, and what still needs a person.

Book twenty minutes with Shawn: https://hummingagent.ai/bookshawn

Until next time,

Shawn

P.S. Know an owner who would find this useful? Forward them this one.