Glossary
CRM
What a CRM is, and when a small business needs a custom one instead of an off-the-shelf product.
Updated
CRM: A CRM, short for customer relationship management, is the system a business uses to keep track of its customers and every conversation with them. At its simplest it is a shared list of people, each with their history and the next step, so no inquiry sits unanswered because it lives in one person's inbox. Off-the-shelf CRMs suit many businesses. A custom CRM is built around one team's own steps and reports, which makes sense when the standard products need too many workarounds to fit how the business runs.
Where it shows up
A CRM usually sits behind the website: the contact form sends each inquiry into it, and the team follows up from there. It often connects to email and to the invoicing tool, so a customer's whole history sits on one record.
For a small team, the test of a CRM is whether anyone can see at a glance who is waiting on a reply.
Start with a written plan
Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.