Brief, approvals and scope
The account manager records the agreed deliverable and related assets. A change to the brief creates a new version with a budget and deadline decision before the production team begins work.
Custom Development
CRM for Marketing Agencies
Agencies need to tie what they sell to the work they deliver and the versions clients approve. We’ll build a CRM for handing briefs to teams, getting assets approved and tracking the budget for each agreement.
Where changes to the brief create unplanned work
- Leads come from referrals, social media and conferences, with no consistent process for following them up.
- Projects go over scope as briefs change, clients add requests and extra work goes unpaid.
- Reporting requires manually reconciling campaign data with completed work and client approvals.
- Teams lack visibility into the time spent on each project and its profitability.
- Clients leave after the first contract because nobody proposes what to work on next.
From proposal to approved assets
These modules can be included in the project. We’ll agree on the scope and workflow rules after reviewing your processes.
Content version approvals
The creative team uploads a version and records feedback. Before publication, the account manager checks that the client approved the latest version.
Budget and contracted work
The manager compares completed work with the agreed package and additional tasks. Reports can draw on confirmed amounts and results from agreed sources.
Additional Features
- Team and contractor costs
- The project lead can compare the agreed budget with verified team time and contractor work. Unverified costs are flagged separately. Finance agrees on the margin calculation so media spend doesn’t distort the agency’s performance.
- Client reports with verified data
- The account manager prepares a report for the agreed period with links to the metric sources and approved assets. Missing data is visible before the report goes out. After the meeting, client decisions become tasks with assigned owners.
- Retainer renewal
- Before the period ends, the manager sees completed work, outstanding revisions and needs the client raised. A new service can be proposed separately with a budget and success criteria. The production team schedules it once it’s approved.
CRM Workflow Examples
How teams can divide responsibilities and handle exceptions after rollout.
The client adds a format after approving the brief
The manager reviews the change with the production team and sends the client the revised scope and delivery date. Tasks enter the schedule once confirmed.
Monthly retainer report
The project lead compares agreed and completed work, separates the client’s placement spend and records tasks carrying over to the next period.
What to Include in the First Release
We’ll start with one client project where the account manager gathers the brief, the production team creates assets and an authorized client representative approves versions. We’ll document which revisions are included and how additional work gets approved.
Once we agree on the requirements, we design the screens, build a pilot, and try it against the agreed use cases. We plan the rollout and follow-on modules with your team.
Discuss the First PhaseDevelopment FAQ
Can we separate advertising spend from service fees?
Project records can have separate categories for planned and actual expenses. Reports show agency fees, production costs and media spend separately.
How is the final creative version stored?
Each iteration can be linked to feedback and its approval date. Production uses the specific version with confirmed approval.
How do we migrate active campaigns and approval history?
We’ll start with the register of clients, campaigns and current asset versions. We’ll match file links to the approver and approval date. Files without confirmation will remain unapproved for publication. In the pilot, the account manager will review outstanding revisions and their owners.
How do we scope the first phase of a marketing agency CRM?
We’ll pick one type of work, such as a monthly content service with asset approvals. We’ll establish who approves work, how revisions are tracked, where costs come from and how to format reports. We’ll estimate the client portal and ad platform integrations once the required data and access are agreed.
Let’s Discuss Your CRM
Tell us your industry, describe one process you want to automate, and let us know which tools your team already uses.