IN THIS GUIDE
- 01Understand the work before designing screens
- 02Define the records and relationships
- 03Decide who can see and change records
Understand the work before designing screens
Follow a real enquiry through delivery and ongoing support. Identify who does each job, what information they need and where exceptions create manual work. Use that process to decide which screens the CRM needs.
Define the records and relationships
Customer data is rarely just a contact list. A custom CRM may need to represent sites, assets, subscriptions, projects, households or other industry-specific relationships. Agreeing those connections early makes search, reporting and automation more dependable later.
Decide who can see and change records
Decide which records each person can see and change. Also agree who updates records, approves work and handles exceptions, so staff know which information to rely on.
Map integrations and migration before development
Existing data, email, forms, accounting, telephony and customer portals can all affect the scope. Document the source of truth, field mapping and validation approach before records move. This turns migration and integration into planned work instead of a surprise near launch.
Decide how the system will keep improving
Include training, documentation and support in the project. Agree how later improvements will be chosen. The first release should solve a specific problem; real use will show what to improve next.
Agree how you will test the result
Write down the tasks an authorised user must be able to complete and how you will check the results. That gives the build and testing teams the same target.
Name the product owner on the customer side
A custom system needs timely decisions from someone who understands the operation and can reconcile competing requests. This role helps keep the build coherent and carries ownership into adoption after launch.
USE THIS IN PRACTICE
Inputs for a productive discovery phase
- 01
Representative users and the work they perform.
- 02
Current records, spreadsheets and source systems.
- 03
Examples of normal work and difficult exceptions.
- 04
Roles, permissions and approval responsibilities.
- 05
Required integrations, reports and migration sources.
- 06
A clear owner for decisions and acceptance.
Common questions
How detailed should requirements be before discovery?
Bring the business problem, current process, examples and constraints. Discovery exists to turn that knowledge into a coherent system scope.
Can a custom CRM be delivered in stages?
Yes. A staged release can focus on one connected operational problem first, provided the underlying design accounts for the intended direction.
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