A custom CRM system, built around how you work
A CRM keeps every customer, every conversation and every job on one screen, set up around the way your business already works. It replaces the spreadsheet, the notes app and the messages spread across three phones. The repetitive follow-ups are sent automatically, and nothing waits on somebody remembering.
Have you built one before?
Yes, and it runs a live sales operation every day. The figures below are from the system itself rather than from a case study written afterwards.
What makes a custom one worth it
A custom CRM system is smaller than the one you abandoned, because it only holds the things your business actually does. Here is what that means in practice.
Your stages, your words
The pipeline uses the names you already use for the stages you already have, so the team reads it in their own language from day one.
It joins what you already run
The CRM talks to the tools already in the business rather than replacing them, so the calendar, the inbox and the payments stay where they are.
Automation only where it removes typing
Confirmations, reminders and follow-ups go out on their own.
Anything needing judgement stays with a person, which is the right way round.
The data is yours
Every customer, conversation and record is yours, and the customer list belongs to you in full.
It grows with the business
A new service, a second location or another person on the team is a change to make rather than a migration to survive.
What the current system is costing you
Most small businesses run on a spreadsheet, a phone and somebody's memory.
That works until you get busy, which is exactly when a missed follow-up costs you the most.
Things fall through
Somebody promised to ring back on Tuesday and nobody wrote it down. The customer bought from whoever did ring.
Only one person knows
If the person who knows what was promised is off, everyone else is guessing. The work slows down until they are back.
Off-the-shelf makes it worse
You pay per seat for software built for somebody else's process, then bend your process to fit it, then stop using half of it.
What it looks like when it fits
You open one screen and the day is laid out: who is waiting, what was promised and what happens next.
Anyone in the business can see where a customer is up to without asking. The routine messages send themselves, so the only ones left are the ones that need a person.
Anyone can see where a customer is up to.
The follow-up happens whether you remember or not.
What you get
The pipeline runs on your stages, named in your words, and every customer, conversation and job sits on one record instead of across three places.
Follow-ups, confirmations and reminders go out on their own, a shared inbox means nothing sits unanswered, and tasks with follow-up dates surface on the day they matter rather than when somebody remembers. Reporting answers the questions you actually ask, the tools you already rely on are connected rather than replaced, and every record in it is yours.
Know what you need already? Tell us in a couple of lines and we respond within two working days.
One we built
Tommie Courier Services
Courier training, WhatsApp CRMA training business ran its selling on WhatsApp and was drowning in it. Messaging everybody by hand took hours and was inconsistent, so we built the CRM around the way the funnel already worked.
What we did
- Every webinar registrant pulled in automatically and tagged by what they did
- Automated, personalised follow-ups on the official WhatsApp Business API
- A unified inbox, so every conversation sits on one screen
- A pipeline board with tags, notes, follow-up dates and reminders
More than 17,000 leads brought into one system, tagged and staged automatically.
See the Tommie Courier Services case studyEvery business I have built a CRM for had already tried one and given up on it. They were not disorganised. They had just been asked to work the software's way instead of their own.
Ben Criddle, owner of Fixr Systems
Seen enough? Tell us what you do and where you work, and we respond within two working days.
Getting started with a custom CRM
First we watch how the work actually moves through your business today, including the bits that live on paper and in people's heads. Then we agree the stages and what has to happen at each one, and build against that rather than against a template. Your existing data comes across before you switch, and we sit with you while your team uses it for the first week, because that is when the small wrong things show up.
Most projects take 2 to 4 weeks. Some are quicker, some take longer, and the scope decides which.
The Information Commissioner sets out what a business must do with customer data it holds, which is the part most CRM shopping ignores. ICO guidance for organisations
What a custom CRM costs
A custom CRM starts from £2,000, scoped around how your business actually works, with the exact price for your project fixed in a written quote before anything starts.
You get a fixed quote before anything starts, and the price you agree is the price you pay. Pay up front, a deposit, or 50/50 depending on the project, and Klarna is available on most. Smaller and larger projects are priced appropriately.
What if we stop using it, like last time?
- Your data is yours, and the system keeps being looked after and improved by the person who built it.
- We keep what already works. If the calendar, inbox or payment tool is fine, we connect it rather than replace it.
- If your process changes, the system changes with it. That is the whole reason for building rather than buying.
Questions about a custom CRM
What does a custom CRM system cost?
A custom CRM starts from £2,000. It is scoped per build, because a two-person team tracking enquiries and a business automating thousands of messages are not the same job, and you get the exact number and what it covers in a written quote before you commit.
Do you do custom CRM development?
Yes. Custom CRM development means the CRM is built around the stages and the words your business already uses. A bespoke CRM from Fixr Systems starts from £2,000.
How long does it take?
Most take 2 to 4 weeks. Something with a lot of moving data or several integrations takes longer, and you are told which one yours is before you commit rather than after.
Do we have to stop using the tools we already have?
No. In most builds the calendar, the inbox and the payment tool stay exactly where they are and the CRM talks to them. Replacing something that already works buys you nothing.
Who owns the data?
You do. Your data is yours, and if you ever stop the plan, it is exported to you along with the code.
What if we outgrow it?
It was built to be changed, so a new service, another location or more people is an adjustment rather than a migration. That is the difference between something built for you and something you rented.
How do we get our existing customers into it?
Your existing records come across as part of the build. A spreadsheet, an export from whatever you use now, or a mix of both is enough to work from, and it gets cleaned and checked with you before it goes live so you are not starting on data you do not trust. Nothing is deleted at the old end until you are happy with the new one.
Ready when you are.
Written and kept up to date by Ben Criddle, owner of Fixr Systems.