How to connect your website, CRM and booking system so leads don't slip through

Many small businesses use three separate tools: a website with an enquiry form, a booking system and a CRM (customer relationship management system, where you keep customer details). When they do not talk to each other, someone has to copy details across by hand.

Copying by hand is where things go wrong. An enquiry sits in an inbox and never reaches the CRM. A customer books online but nobody notices they were already a warm lead. A follow-up email goes to someone who booked yesterday.

Connecting the systems removes the copying. Each enquiry and booking then flows into one record automatically, and the right person is told. You spend less time on admin and can see at a glance who needs a reply.

• Enquiries that never get added to the CRM.
• The same customer saved two or three times with different details.
• Follow-up emails sent to people who have already booked.
• No one alerted when a high-value enquiry arrives.
• No clear picture of which enquiries turned into bookings.

You will hear a few technical terms when you look into connecting systems. You do not need to be technical, but knowing these helps you ask the right questions.

Start with the journey your customer takes, not the software. Write down each thing that happens and what should happen next. Then decide which system holds the main record for each type of information.

Having one main record for each thing stops systems fighting over the same data. If the booking system and the CRM can both change an appointment, you will soon have two different versions.

There are three main ways to connect systems. Try them in this order, because each one is more flexible but needs more work to set up and look after.

Built-in integrations come with your software and are usually the most reliable. Connector tools, such as Zapier or Make, link apps that do not have a ready-made integration. Custom integrations use each system's API directly, which suits unusual needs or high volumes.

Before you choose a booking system or CRM, check which other tools it already connects to and whether it has an API. A system that cannot share its data will cause problems later, however good it looks.

A little planning on paper saves a lot of fixing later. Work through these steps before anyone touches the settings.

1. 1 List every place enquiries and bookings come from: forms, phone, email, chat and online booking.
2. 2 Choose the main record for customers, appointments and payments.
3. 3 Decide how you will match the same person across systems, usually by email address, with phone number as a backup.
4. 4 Write down each trigger and action, for example: new booking, then update the CRM contact.
5. 5 Check which systems have built-in integrations, which work with connector tools and which have an API.
6. 6 Decide who gets alerted when something new arrives, and who gets told when a connection fails.
7. 7 Test with dummy enquiries and bookings before going live.
8. 8 Clean up existing duplicate records before you switch the connection on.

Each system needs a way to tell whether a new enquiry is a new person or someone it already knows. Most use the email address. HubSpot, for example, needs an email address on a form by default before it creates a contact.

Without an email address, matching gets less reliable. HubSpot has a setting that lets forms without email create contacts, using browser cookies to match visitors. It warns that two people sharing a device may end up linked to the same contact.

The simple fix is to ask for an email address on every form and booking. Keep the field names the same across systems. For example, use separate first name and last name boxes everywhere, rather than one full name box in one place and two boxes in another.

Connections fail more often than people expect. A password changes, a plan expires, or a software update renames a field. The worst part is that it often happens silently, and enquiries simply stop arriving.

How the connection works affects how quickly problems show. A webhook sends information the moment something happens. Polling checks every few minutes, so there can be a delay.

Some systems also limit how often others can ask for data. Cliniko's API, for example, allows 200 requests a minute per user. A good integration is built to stay within limits like these.

• Turn on error emails in your connector tool or integration settings.
• Send a test enquiry and a test booking every month.
• Check the CRM weekly for enquiries with missing details.
• Keep a short written note of what is connected, how and who set it up.

Every connection is another way into your customer data, so protect it. The NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) small business guide covers backing up your data, protecting your devices and accounts, and spotting scams.

Give each connection only the access it needs. Use a separate login or API key for each one where you can, so you can switch one off without breaking the others. Remove connections you no longer use. If you hold personal data, check your obligations using the ICO's advice for small organisations.

We build custom software and integrations that connect websites, CRMs, booking systems and supplier APIs. We also build websites around a client's existing booking system, and direct booking websites. We have worked with booking-led businesses such as Hadrian's Walking Holidays and Five Four Sports Breaks.

This is the Capture stage of our ACCC Framework: never lose an enquiry. Tell us about your project, and we will look at the systems you use now and suggest the simplest way to connect them.