A bespoke CRM for the business of media rights.

More than a sales pipeline.

In media distribution, a deal is connected to much more than a company and a contact. It involves programmes, territories, licensing terms, commercial documents, payment schedules and delivery requirements. Each record needs to make sense on its own and remain connected to the wider transaction.

Ampersand CRM is an ongoing bespoke application project built around those relationships. The aim is to make detailed operational workflows manageable while preserving the history behind each deal.

One application across the sale lifecycle.

The application brings together company and contact records, programme catalogues, rights, sales, invoicing and delivery. Company records also connect to client-account provisioning for the website, while programmes can be organised into series and collections.

Rights records cover inbound and outbound licences, territories and terms. Commercial workflows connect deal memos with invoices, credit notes and payment tracking. Delivery requests bring together the materials and shipments needed to fulfil a sale.

Document generation, spreadsheet imports and filtered exports support the work around these records. The focus is on keeping information connected as it moves between different parts of the business.

Business rules belong in the workflow.

A bespoke CRM needs to reflect the decisions people make every day: which rights apply, how a deal is documented, what needs to be invoiced and what must be delivered. The work centres on translating those detailed requirements into usable software, with commercial history kept in context.

Built with Python and Django.

Python and Django provide the foundation for the application. Automated tests support its business rules, while role-based permissions, protected document downloads and controls around email delivery address access to commercial information.

Work in progress.

Development is ongoing. The focus remains on connecting the workflows, refining the business rules and making the application practical for the people using it.

When standard software does not fit.

If your business relies on detailed rules, connected records and handoffs between teams, a bespoke application can be worth exploring. Start with the workflow that is hardest to manage, the information it depends on and the decisions your team needs to make.

Ongoing project. This case study describes the application’s scope and approach, rather than measured business results.