CASE STUDY · DEVELOPMENT · BUSINESS PRODUCT
Building a CRM around the business, not the other way round
A property developer, also active in rental management and wealth advisory, already had the tools needed to run the business. The challenge was not to start again from scratch, but to turn a clear business vision into a product able to evolve alongside the company.
- SECTOR
- Property development · Rental management · Wealth advisory
- OUR INVOLVEMENT
- Scoping · UX · Architecture · Development
- PROJECT
- V1 in testing
An existing tool, but a different ambition
The client works across property development, rental management and wealth advisory. An off-the-shelf business solution covers a large part of its current needs, supplemented by a number of internal tools, including Excel.
The solution represents a significant cost, but the limitations go beyond budget: a user experience that does not fully match the way the business wants to work, data structures and usage that need to evolve, more advanced reporting requirements and insufficient freedom to develop the product further.
The client wants to take control of its own product, develop its use of data and analytics, and evolve the platform alongside the business. Improving team efficiency and progressively generating value from that investment are longer-term objectives.
The objective was not to develop something cheaper. It was to invest in a tool genuinely suited to the business and capable of evolving with it.
The business expertise was already there
The client knew the business extremely well and had a clear vision of what was needed. PLATEFORMS brought a software product perspective: formalising requirements, simplifying user journeys, bringing related functions together and structuring requests so the product could move forward without simply accumulating features.
- The data to centralise
- Individuals and households: family situation, income, taxation, assets, property, loans, financial objectives and the other information required for wealth assessments.
- The intended users
- Management, sales teams, managers and support or cross-functional roles. The CRM is intended to progressively support the full client relationship lifecycle.
- Future possibilities
- A client-facing view is planned to share information and follow certain cases. Partner access and use cases are also being considered. These functions have not yet been delivered.
The business expertise was already there. Our role was to give it a software structure.
From business need to product, with the teams
Completed
Understand and formalise
Understanding the need and writing the specifications established a shared framework. The aim was to turn an already clear business vision into something that could be designed and built.
Completed
Put user journeys first
Significant work on UX and user journeys took place before creating the mock-up / proof of concept (POC). The screens made the intended usage tangible and provided a basis for discussing how the business processes should translate into software.
POC presented and iterated
Bring users into the design process
The POC was presented to future users. Sales teams helped evolve certain screens and journeys to reflect the reality of client relationships. Managers clarified requirements around validation and delegation.
The purpose of the POC was not to validate the business expertise. It was to validate how that expertise translated into software.
Acceptance testing / beta in preparation
Test the product against real data
The project is now moving into acceptance testing / beta with real data. This phase is intended to strengthen the business rules, test the user journeys against real usage and verify that the product behaves as expected. The V1 is in testing; it is not yet in production.
Replace what needs replacing. Keep what already works.
The new CRM will not immediately replace the entire existing market solution. The V1 is part of a gradual transition, guided by the value delivered by each change.
- Build where custom development matters
- Focus investment on the workflows, user journeys and use of data that require a solution specific to the client.
- Keep what works during V1
- Continue using the parts of the current solution that work well. They can be integrated progressively when doing so genuinely adds value.
Building custom software does not mean rebuilding everything. It also means knowing where the investment is genuinely worthwhile.
A product built over time
The project is moving forward through a relationship of trust: a shared objective, a reference budget and trade-offs made together as the product takes shape.
A reference budget has been defined for the V1. The scope is being shaped jointly with the client as discussions and iterations progressively refine the product.
- The PLATEFORMS team
- 2 developers · Leadership & architecture · Infrastructure as required
What the POC has already helped validate
- Turning the business need into a tangible, demonstrable product.
- Testing the user journeys with the teams and evolving the UX.
- Refining validation and delegation mechanisms.
- Making it possible to move into acceptance testing with real data.
Under the hood
The technical choices support the product. They were not the starting point of the project.
- Next.js
- Application and interfaces
- Tailwind CSS
- Design system and interfaces
- MariaDB
- Business data