Spec S3 / Your own CRM
A CRM built around your business.
Your own CRM, made for how you actually work: your words, your stages, your brand. Contacts, sales, enquiries and social in one place, on your own web address, with no per-seat licence fees.
01 / What it is
Your business isn't a template. Your CRM shouldn't be either.
Most small businesses don't need a giant sales platform. They need one place where every contact lives, every enquiry lands and nobody forgets to follow up. So we build you your own CRM, set up round your business, not the other way round. Trades, clubs, studios, firms: it speaks your language, not a software company's.
We build it in our Staffordshire studio, on the platform we made for our own products. It's what Guestfolk, our software for clubs and groups, runs on, and it's the back office we run Guestfolk's own sales and social from. We use it every day, so we know what it does well.
The same thinking runs The Do Club, a Midlands business members' community: its bookings, members and staff dashboard all live in a system we built round how the club works.
What it does: your contacts in one list. A sales pipeline with your own stage names, deal values and follow-ups due. Website enquiries that turn up as new leads by themselves. A social calendar that drafts posts for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and only posts once someone has approved each one. Your Google Analytics and Search Console numbers on the dashboard. And an AI assistant connection, so ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant can read and draft for you, but never send, delete or spend.
The honest bit: it isn't a call centre system or a giant marketing automation suite. If that's what you need, HubSpot may well be the right call, and we still set it up and look after it for businesses that need it.
- AContactsEveryone you deal with, in one list you can search and export.
- BSales pipelineYour own stage names, deal values and follow-ups due.
- CWebsite enquiriesForms on your site arrive as new leads, by themselves.
- DSocial calendarDrafts for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Nothing posts until someone approves it.
- EWebsite analyticsGoogle Analytics and Search Console numbers on your dashboard.
- FAI assistant connectionChatGPT, Claude or others can read and draft. Never send, delete or spend.
- GEmailSend to your contacts through Mailchimp, or another email tool we connect.
- Ref.
Nightly backups, an activity log, your own web address (like hq.yourdomain.co.uk), and your data is yours to export any time.
02 / Process
How the job runs.
Map how you work
A working session on where enquiries come from, who follows them up, what your stages are called and what counts as won.
Set it up in your words
Your stages, your fields, your brand and your web address, so it feels like your system from the first login.
Connect everything
Website forms, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Search Console and your social accounts, plus your existing contacts brought in clean.
Train and hand over
Short sessions for your team on the jobs they'll do every day, with notes to keep.
Look after it
Hosting, nightly backups, updates and support every month, so it keeps working and you keep a person to call.
| Part | Item | What it does | Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3/01 | Pipeline and stages | Your own stage names, deal values and follow-up dates, matched to how you sell. | |
| S3/02 | Contacts and fields | Your existing contacts brought in clean, with the fields that matter to you. | |
| S3/03 | Website forms connected | Every enquiry from your site arrives as a new lead, with a follow-up set. | |
| S3/04 | Social calendar | Drafts for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram that only post once someone approves them. | |
| S3/05 | Analytics dashboard | Google Analytics and Search Console numbers where you already look every day. | |
| S3/06 | AI assistant connection | Ask ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant to read and draft. It can never send, delete or spend. | |
| S3/07 | Your brand and web address | Your logo and colours, on your own address, such as hq.yourdomain.co.uk. | |
| S3/08 | Team training | Hands-on sessions and short written notes for each person who uses it. |
04 / Questions
Fair questions.
Q1Why not just use HubSpot?
For some businesses it's the right answer: bigger sales teams, heavy marketing automation, or a business already running on it. For a small team it's often more than you need, and the costs climb with every seat and every tier, so you end up paying for features you never open. We've built plenty on HubSpot, so we'll tell you straight which suits you.
Q2Who owns the data?
You do. Your contacts, deals and notes are yours, backed up every night, and you can export them whenever you like. We look after the system; we never own what is in it.
Q3What if Graft disappears?
You're not stuck. You own the code and the data, you can export everything at any time, and it runs on standard hosting, so another developer can pick it up and carry on.
Q4Can it connect to my email and website?
Yes. Forms on your website send enquiries straight in as new leads, and email to your contacts goes through Mailchimp. If you use another email tool, we connect that as needed.
Q5We're already on HubSpot. Can you help?
Yes. We still set up and look after HubSpot for businesses where it fits, and HubSpot set-up starts from £1,250. If you're paying for more than you use, we'll also tell you honestly whether your own CRM would do the job for less.
05 / Related work
Where it's working.
Next step
Got something to make?
No pitch deck, no sales team. Just Gav or Monika, a cup of tea and an honest answer. Or email newbiz@graftmarketing.co.uk.