Twenty-five years of watching CRM decisions go right, and wrong
I founded and lead zedConsulting, an independent UK firm of CRM experts. Every engagement starts by narrowing the field before anyone sees a demonstration.
whichCRM is that first pass, published openly: it will not name your platform, but it will show which handful are worth your time.
Company names and logos are the trade marks of their owners and are shown to describe my professional background. They do not imply any endorsement or current affiliation.
Amassed helping organisations across every market - commercial, public sector and non-profit - implement powerful, flexible and scalable solutions that support growth and keep pace with evolving needs.
Not just the shortlist everyone knows. Keeping the whole field under review is what makes it possible to say a smaller vendor is the better answer, and to say it with evidence rather than a hunch.
I am deliberately vendor agnostic. Every recommendation is unbiased and focused solely on what I judge to be the best fit for your particular needs, not on a platform I happen to be certified in.
A little background
I have been doing this for twenty-five years, from every side of it. I have advised organisations on which platform to choose, implemented the choices, and spent time inside a vendor watching how these systems are packaged, priced and sold. That last vantage point is the one buyers never get, and it is where most of the money is lost.
What I have learnt is that CRM selection is rarely a technology problem. Almost every failure I have been called in to repair began the same way: a reasonable platform, bought at the wrong tier, for a process nobody had written down. The demonstrations all looked good. That is what demonstrations are for.
The expensive mistakes are predictable, and they are made early. Buying capability you will not use for three years. Sizing seats on optimism. Treating the licence as the cost, when it is usually the smaller half. Signing without a cap on renewal uplift. Choosing the platform your peers chose, on the assumption that their business resembles yours.
None of that requires deep technical knowledge to avoid. It requires someone who has seen how each of these decisions plays out eighteen months later, and who has no stake in which platform you pick.
That is what I do, and it is the whole reason this site exists.
David and the team are extremely knowledgeable and experts in their area of work. They helped us build and move CRM systems which has saved our team time massively in their day to day tasks. Cannot recommend enough!
Abby Cahill
Finance and Operations Director, Cahill Renewables
David has shown great honesty and value for money from Day 1, it really has been a great experience working with him and his team to identify and implement our CRM system. They have been professional, methodical and shown great patience as we navigated this journey. We look forward to continuing to work with him on future projects.
Emma Lester-Devitt
Chief Operations Officer, Tribe Connect
David and his team have been a great partner in our CRM development. Their in-depth knowledge of products and solutions-based approach helped us build the best possible system to meet our needs. They have been consistently responsive, taking the time to explain complex concepts in a way that is easy for non-technical team members to understand. Overall, they have been incredibly supportive throughout the entire process.
Jayne Chappell
Memberships Manager, Social Enterprise Scotland
Vendor agnostic, and structured about it
Being independent is a claim anyone can make, so here is what it means in practice. Any advice or recommendation I give is unbiased and focused entirely on the best fit for your particular needs. Some vendor links on this site are affiliate links and are disclosed as such; they play no part in what gets recommended, and my consulting work is paid for by you, which is the only way that independence holds.
I do not resell licences or take implementation revenue from the platform I recommend. Where vendor links earn a small commission, it has no bearing on what I cover or rate.
Your weighted requirements come before any vendor is contacted, and you sign them off.
Every score comes with its justification, so you can challenge the judgement rather than accept it.
If the comparison on this site is enough for your situation, I will tell you so on the first call.
Let's avoid the expensive mistake
Thirty minutes with me, no charge and no pitch. Describe the situation and I will tell you where the risk sits, which platforms are genuinely worth your time, and how to fast track to the right choice for your business.