Ready-made CRM
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Tools like HubSpot, Zoho or Pipedrive work well when your process is fairly standard. You adapt to the software, and costs grow per user.
Systems & automation · CRM
What is a CRM?
Do you need it?
A CRM, short for customer relationship management, is one system that keeps every customer, enquiry, conversation and follow-up in one place. It replaces scattered spreadsheets, WhatsApp chats and email threads, so nothing slips and everyone sees the same information. A small business needs one when leads start getting lost or nobody knows who followed up.
By Malta Digital · Published · Updated · 5 min read
The meaning
What a CRM
actually does.
At its simplest, a CRM is a shared list of the people your business deals with, plus a record of everything that happens with each of them.
Contacts and companies
Names, phone numbers, emails, notes and history, in one record per customer.
Enquiries and deals
Each lead from your website, ads, phone or WhatsApp, with its stage: new, quoted, won or lost.
Tasks and reminders
Who needs to call whom, and when, so follow-ups do not depend on memory.
Messages
Emails, WhatsApp messages and calls linked to the customer, where the tools allow it.
Reports
How many enquiries came in, from where, and how many became customers.
Signs
Signs your business
needs a CRM.
- Enquiries arrive by phone, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and forms, and live in different places.
- You have lost a lead because nobody followed up.
- Only one person knows the status of each customer.
- Quotes are sent but nobody chases them.
- You cannot say which marketing brings customers, only which brings enquiries.
- Staff keep their own spreadsheets.
If two or more of these sound familiar, a CRM will probably pay for itself in follow-ups alone.
Day to day
What a CRM looks like
day to day.
Here is how one enquiry might move through a simple CRM.
01
Enquiry arrives
A form on your website or an Instagram lead ad creates a new contact, tagged with where it came from.
02
Someone is assigned
The CRM gives it to the right person and sets a reminder to call within the hour.
03
Quote sent
The quote is logged, and a follow-up task is set for three days later.
04
Won or lost
The deal is marked won or lost, with a reason. Reports update on their own.
Nothing here is complicated. The value is that it happens every time, for every enquiry, without relying on anyone’s memory.
Types
Ready-made
or custom?
Custom CRM
Built around how you work.
Fits your exact process, connects to your existing systems and has no per-user fees. Takes longer to build and costs more upfront.
Many small businesses should start ready-made. A custom CRM makes sense when your process is unusual, when you need it tied closely to bookings, quotes or operations, or when per-user fees add up across a larger team.
Connections
What to connect
to a CRM.
Website forms
Every enquiry lands in the CRM automatically, with where it came from.
Facebook and Instagram lead ads
Leads from ads go straight in, so they can be called while they are still interested.
Conversations linked to the customer record, with the WhatsApp Business Platform where needed.
Email and calendar
Messages and meetings logged against the customer.
Invoicing or bookings
So you can see what each customer has bought.
Choosing
How to choose
the right CRM.
01
Map your process
Write down how an enquiry becomes a customer today, step by step, and who does what.
02
List the must-haves
The connections, reports and permissions you need. Ignore features you will never use.
03
Try it with real data
Test with a few weeks of real enquiries before rolling it out to everyone.
04
Plan the switch
Import existing contacts, train the team, and stop the old spreadsheets on a set date.
The best CRM is the one your team actually uses. Simple and used beats powerful and ignored.
GDPR in Malta
Customer data and
GDPR in Malta.
A CRM holds personal data, so EU data protection rules apply. Malta’s regulator is the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC).
- Keep only the data you need, and delete it when you no longer need it.
- Control who can see and export customer data.
- Record where marketing consent came from before sending marketing emails or messages.
- Check where the CRM provider stores data, and that it has the right agreements in place.
Questions to ask
Questions to ask
a CRM supplier.
- Can it connect to our website forms, lead ads and WhatsApp?
- How do we get our data out if we leave?
- What does it cost as the team grows?
- Where is the data stored, and who can access it?
- Who sets it up, trains the team and helps when something breaks?
- Can it be changed when our process changes?
For a custom CRM, also ask who owns the code and the data, and what support costs after launch.
Common mistakes
Mistakes when
starting a CRM.
- Buying a powerful system and using a tenth of it.
- Importing years of messy contacts without cleaning them first.
- Letting staff keep their old spreadsheets alongside the CRM.
- Adding so many required fields that nobody wants to log anything.
- Not connecting the website and ads, so enquiries are still typed in by hand.
- No one person responsible for keeping it tidy.
Start with the basics: contacts, enquiries, stages and reminders. Add more once the team uses it every day.
Cost
What a CRM costs.
Ready-made CRMs charge a monthly fee per user, plus time for setup and connections. A custom CRM is a project cost. Our custom CRM projects start from €7,500, excluding VAT, depending on the process and connections.
Larger digital projects may qualify for the Digitalise your SME grant. Check the rules before you start, because work must not begin before the grant agreement is signed.
A few straight answers
What you might be wondering.
What does CRM stand for?
Customer relationship management. In practice, it means one system for customers, enquiries, conversations and follow-ups.
Does a small business need a CRM?
When enquiries come from several places, leads get lost or only one person knows each customer’s status, a CRM usually pays for itself.
What is the best CRM for a small business?
The one your team will use and that fits your process. Ready-made tools suit standard processes. A custom CRM suits unusual processes or closer links to your operations.
Can a CRM connect to WhatsApp?
Yes, many can, usually through the WhatsApp Business Platform. A custom CRM can be built around WhatsApp from the start.
How much does a custom CRM cost in Malta?
Our custom CRM projects start from €7,500, excluding VAT. The final cost depends on the process, users and connections.
Keep reading
Related guides.
How to automate WhatsApp messages
The free app, the WhatsApp Business Platform, templates, opt-in and connecting to your CRM.
Custom software vs off-the-shelf
How to compare cost, fit, risk and ownership, and when a mix of both makes most sense.
AI automation examples for small businesses
Twelve practical examples, where AI helps and where it does not, and the rules to follow.
Tired of lost leads?
Put every enquiry
in one place.
Tell us how enquiries reach you and how you follow up. We’ll suggest whether a ready-made or custom CRM makes sense.