Winch: CRM Ownership & Control
Empowering Ownership Through Partnership
How Winch Design Took Control of Their
Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) with Digital Wisdom
Winch Design is a multi-award-winning studio specialising in the bespoke design of superyachts, residential and commercial properties and private jets for a global clientele. Their craft blends creativity, and precision, and they needed a technology partner who not only shared that same ethos but could be trusted to help manage, secure, and optimise sensitive data across the business.
Following a period of reactive support from a supplier that lacked continuity and proactivity, Winch Design wanted to regain control, restore confidence, and create a dynamic way of managing their Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) - the platform that helps them manage client relationships, track opportunities and projects, and maintain visibility across their business development pipeline.
Partnering with Digital Wisdom, they embarked on a journey built on collaboration, structure, and empowerment. Through a detailed Health Check, a proactive Microsoft Wave Management service, and a partnership model focused on Self-Sufficiency and Personalised Support, Winch Design transformed their CRM into a stable, transparent, and future-ready platform. One that supports their business with the same excellence they deliver to their clients.
“Since working with Digital Wisdom, we now feel fully in control of our CRM system. It’s stable, up to date, and proactively managed. The support we receive from Digital Wisdom is genuinely personal, and they’ve taught the Winch team a great deal about system processes and how to maximise the platform’s value for the business. We feel heard and supported, and it’s clear they care for our system as if it were their own.” said Lucy Bodenham, Associate, Winch Design
About Winch Design
Winch Design is a multi-award-winning studio specialising in the bespoke design of superyachts, residential and commercial properties and private jets for a global clientele. Founded in London in 1986, Winch Design is known for combining creativity, precision, and craftsmanship to deliver highly personalised environments for an international clientele. With a collaborative, employee-owned culture and a holistic approach to design, Winch Design creates timeless spaces that reflect each client’s vision, lifestyle, and values.
The Challenge: Moving from Dependence to Empowerment
Over time, Winch Design’s CRM partnership with their external provider had become increasingly transactional. Frequent personnel changes and limited continuity meant valuable knowledge was often lost, and communication felt reactive rather than proactive.
The system itself had grown complex and difficult to maintain, with little clarity around legacy processes or how improvements were prioritised. With no clear roadmap, updates were largely reactive, leaving Winch unsure how to get the most from their CRM and how to manage complex development requirements.
Recognizing this, Winch’s leadership set a new direction, supported by the structured approach of the Digital Wisdom® Framework, to achieve:
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A deeper understanding and ownership of their CRM system.
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Stronger governance, visibility, and confidence.
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A collaborative partnership built on trust, continuity, personal support, and proactive improvement.
“Digital Wisdom stood out for their clarity, care, and the trust they inspired. They understood what we were trying to achieve and showed us a way to get there with confidence.,” said Lucy Bodenham, Associate, Winch Design.
The Approach: Partnership Through Empowerment
Winch Design’s journey unfolded across three connected stages - each designed to strengthen foundations, build confidence, and ensure long-term control.
Stage 1. Health Check — Building a Strong Foundation
First was a comprehensive Health Check providing a structured assessment of Winch Design’s system, across Technology, Process, Data, People and Project, revealing both strengths and areas for improvement.
Together, the teams agreed key priorities and actionable steps to stabilize the environment and transfer ownership back into Winch’s hands.
Key outcomes included:
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Cleaned and optimized code for improved performance and maintainability.
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New governance processes for system changes and updates.
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Comprehensive system documentation and admin manuals, giving Winch full oversight of their configuration and decisions.
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Simplified security roles aligned with current business structures, strengthening control and protection around high-profile client information.
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Restructured development, UAT, and production environments for reliability and transparency.
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A dedicated service account owned and managed by Winch Design, ensuring autonomy and access control.
By focusing on the fundamentals, Winch Design not only resolved existing pain points but also created a strong foundation for sustainable improvement.
Stage 2. Wave Management — Staying Proactive and Prepared
With a strong foundation in place, the focus turned to future readiness.
Microsoft’s biannual updates can introduce valuable new features, but also potential disruption. By planning and testing ahead of each release, Winch Design now ensures every update is a controlled and predictable process.
This involves:
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Conducting impact assessments to identify and mitigate potential risks before they reach production.
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Testing and validation to safeguard key processes and integrations.
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Assessing new functionality for potential business benefit.
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Communicating changes clearly so users feel prepared, not disrupted.
What was once a source of uncertainty has become a source of opportunity - keeping Winch’s CRM stable, modern, and aligned with their business growth.
Stage 3. Partnership and Self-Sufficiency — A Model of Collaborative Empowerment
Throughout the journey, Winch Design and Digital Wisdom worked as one team, not in a supplier-client dynamic, but in genuine collaboration.
Together, they refined how responsibilities were shared, ensuring Winch retained ownership while continuing to receive personalized support and expert guidance whenever needed.
As a result, day-to-day management now sits confidently with the Winch team. They have a single point of contact at Digital Wisdom who understands their environment and business, while still retaining full ownership and visibility.
The relationship is collaborative, transparent, and built on trust - proof that the best partnerships make clients stronger, not dependent.
The Outcome: Confidence, Clarity, and Control
Winch Design now operates with clarity and confidence in their CRM. Their system is stable, structured, and aligned with how they work, giving teams the freedom to focus on their clients, not their technology. Governance and documentation provide full visibility and ownership, while personalised support ensures they always have guidance when it matters most.
For any business, these foundations - structure, stability, visibility, and control - pave the way for better reporting, stronger oversight, and data-driven decision-making that fosters clarity, growth, and long-term success.
The result is a lighter, faster, more intuitive platform that supports, rather than distracts from, their creative excellence. Most importantly, Winch Design feels empowered, listened to, and fully in control of the technology that underpins their business relationships, supported by a partnership built on care and trust.
Conclusion: Empowerment Through Partnership
Winch Design’s success shows how collaboration, structure, and trust can turn technology from a dependency into a source of strength.
Through the shared principles of the Digital Wisdom® Framework - clarity, proactivity, self-sufficiency and personalized support - Winch Design have created a CRM environment that grows with them: stable, transparent, and future-ready.
Together, Winch Design and Digital Wisdom built more than a solution, they built confidence. A partnership that enables independence, fosters trust, and proves that empowerment is the most sustainable outcome of all.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved with Winch Design. We see it as a true privilege to be trusted to support something so important to them. For us, partnership means showing up in genuine service - caring for a client’s system as if it were our own, and making sure they always feel valued, empowered, and in control.” said Richard White, CEO at Digital Wisdom