A CRM is meant to stop work slipping through the gaps between people. In a manufacturing business, many of those gaps sit outside the sales team: between the estimator and the office, and between the office and accounts. A CRM that only covers the first conversation with a customer leaves those gaps where they are.
Use the questions below in any demo, including ours. Each one has a short note on what a good answer looks like.
1. Does it follow the sale through, or stop at the deal?
General-purpose CRMs are built around leads and deals, and the record usually ends when the deal is marked won. For a manufacturer, that is only half the sale: there is still an order to raise and invoices to send.
A good answer: the enquiry, its quotes, the order and the invoices stay together on the customer's record, so anybody can see where things stand.
2. Can it quote the way you quote?
Manufacturers quote line by line, from a list of products or from an estimate worked up in a spreadsheet. Customers ask for changes, and the quote is revised before anybody signs.
A good answer: quotes are built inside the CRM from your own products, or imported from the spreadsheet your estimator already uses. Every revision is kept, not saved over, and the quote goes to the customer as a PDF on your letterhead. If quoting is an add-on, a separate tool or a higher plan, count that in the price.
3. Where do the drawings go?
Enquiries often arrive with files: drawings, specifications, purchase orders, and the email that changed the quantity.
A good answer: those files are stored on the record they belong to, not in a shared drive somebody has to search. Ask which file types it accepts, the largest file it takes and how much storage your plan includes.
4. What happens when you win?
This is where most retyping happens. The won quote is copied into an order, and somebody checks the two match.
A good answer: marking the quote won creates the order from it, with nothing typed twice.
5. Can you invoice in parts?
Deposits, stage payments and part deliveries are normal in manufacturing. They are also where invoices get duplicated or forgotten.
A good answer: invoices are raised against the order, in as many parts as it needs, with reminders when payment is due. You will still want your accounts package for the ledger. The CRM's job is to make sure the right invoice goes out at the right time.
6. Does it fit what you make?
Every manufacturer has details that matter to it: a material, a size, a finish, a drawing number, a job code. A CRM that cannot hold them pushes them back into spreadsheets.
A good answer: you can add your own fields and tabs without paying for development work, and the CRM's language matches yours: enquiries, quotes, orders and invoices rather than leads and deals.
7. How is it priced?
Many CRMs charge per user, per month. That works for a sales team of five. In a manufacturing business, estimating, the office, accounts and the directors may all need to see the customer, and per-user pricing turns every extra login into a cost decision.
Count everybody who needs to see a customer, not just the people who sell. Then work out the monthly cost on each pricing model you are offered, add any setup fee, and check how annual billing works.
On per-user pricing, the cost is people × price per user. At £40 a user, a team of 12 is £480 a month before any add-ons. Our pricing page has a calculator for the comparison.
8. Where is your data, and who looks after it?
Your CRM will hold personal data: the names, emails and phone numbers of the people you deal with. Under UK GDPR, your company is the controller of that data and the CRM provider acts as your processor, which means you need a written contract with them that covers how they handle it.
A good answer: the provider tells you which country the data is stored in, gives you a data processing agreement, and supports two-step sign-in. Ask how you would get your data out if you ever left. If you are unsure of your obligations, the Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance for small businesses, and a data protection adviser can check the contract.
9. How does your data get in?
Nobody wants to retype years of customers. Ask exactly what can be imported, from which systems and in what format.
A good answer: a clear list of what comes across, and a plan for the rest, agreed before you sign.
10. What does it not do?
A CRM that claims to do everything usually does several things badly. Be clear where your CRM stops and your other systems take over, especially MRP or ERP if you run one.
A good answer: the provider tells you plainly. For example, ManufactIQ covers the sale from first enquiry to invoice. It does not plan production or control stock today, and more modules are in development.
Run the demo on a real enquiry
A demo on made-up data proves very little. Bring a live enquiry and ask to see it taken all the way through: logged, quoted, revised, won and invoiced in two parts. If any step needs a spreadsheet, another tool or "we can build that for you", write it down.
| Question | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Follows the sale | Enquiry, quotes, order and invoices together on one record |
| Quoting | Built in the CRM, revisions kept, PDF on your letterhead |
| Drawings | Files on the record, with clear size and storage limits |
| Winning | The order is created from the quote, nothing retyped |
| Invoicing | In parts, against the order, with reminders |
| Fit | Your own fields and tabs, in your language |
| Pricing | Costed for everybody who needs to see a customer |
| Data | Known location, a data processing agreement, two-step sign-in |
| Import | A clear list of what comes across |
| Boundaries | A plain answer on what it does not do |