CRM and operating model rebuild for a UK multi-channel consumer brand.

A UK consumer brand running ecommerce on one platform, finance on a separate ERP, email on a third tool and live chat and WhatsApp on a fourth, with no single system holding a unified view of the customer, the product or the supplier. Manual effort was required to answer basic commercial questions: who are the most valuable customers, which products drive repeat, which suppliers are contributing growth. The brief was a 6-week fixed-scope engagement to define the operating model first, then design the system architecture and recommend the tooling.

What we worked on

• Phase 1: Operating model and requirements. Built the customer, product and supplier framework for both consumer and trade. Defined segmentation logic, lifecycle stages and channel attribution. Critical principle: define how the business should operate before naming any vendor.
• Phase 2: System architecture. CRM at the centre holding customer, product and vendor data. Ecommerce platform feeding transactions in. Finance system kept finance-only. Email, SMS, WhatsApp and customer support as execution layers feeding back into the CRM.
• Phase 3: Vendor evaluation. CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, bespoke options) and the supporting tool stack assessed properly against the operating model. Existing tools not assumed right or wrong.
• Phase 4: Recommendation and implementation plan. Preferred solution with rationale, integration phasing, resource requirement.

Outcomes

• Defined CRM model covering customers, products and vendors
• Full system architecture mapped end-to-end
• Clear retain, replace or consolidate decision per tool
• Vendor evaluation and preferred recommendation
• Phased implementation plan with resource requirement