What we know
Tools we've used properly, not just watched a demo of.
Anyone can list logos. Here's the same list with an honest opinion attached to each one, because knowing when not to use something is the useful part.
CRM
Close
Close is built for people who ring people. Calling, texting and email sit in one place, and the whole thing is designed around not slowing a rep down.
What it's good at
- Built-in calling and SMS without stitching three tools together
- Fast keyboard-driven workflow for high-activity teams
- Call recording and follow-up sitting on the same record
- Getting outbound activity visible without endless admin
Where it gets awkward
- Not the right home for marketing or long nurture programmes
- Reporting is decent but not deep
- Smaller ecosystem, so integrations often mean the API
- Less useful if your team barely picks up the phone
Our experience with it
We treat Close as the sales engine and connect everything else around it, so enquiries arrive ready to call and outcomes flow back out into whatever the wider business reports on.
Things we've built or connected
Enquiries routed into Close with context, not just a name and number
Call outcomes syncing back to reporting and marketing
Reminder and reactivation flows handled outside the CRM
Usually in the same conversation