Client Overview
Charterfields is a privately owned valuation and surveying practice, specialising in insurance cost assessments, asset valuations, and property and asset advisory services. With offices in Manchester and London, the firm supports insurers, brokers, risk managers and asset owners by helping them understand and manage assets with accuracy, transparency, and expert insight.
Charterfields’ work spans reinstatement cost assessments, financial valuations, and bespoke advisory across complex property portfolios and high-value plant and equipment - both in the UK and internationally.
The Challenge
When Charterfields began evaluating CRM options, the business was operating with highly manual client and project processes. Relationship management depended heavily on individuals’ inboxes, and key operational information was dispersed across the organisation.
As Charterfields grew, these issues became a barrier to scale:
- Customer and project information was dispersed across Outlook, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents
- There were 19 separate documents being maintained to track relationships, projects, invoicing and activity
- There was limited company-wide visibility of case progress, team workload, and pipeline
- Management insight relied heavily on “gut feel” or incomplete information rather than comprehensive operational data
- The business needed a platform that could evolve from CRM into a broader project delivery and operational management system
- Charterfields required a solution that delivered rapid benefit - but also created a foundation for long-term growth and structured project delivery.
“When I joined Charterfields, we had a successful but very manual process in terms of client relationships and client management. It was basically managed through Outlook… and we had 19 different documents floating around - Excel sheets, Word documents - trying to track cases, relationships and business.”
Andrew Slevin, Director, Charterfields
Our Approach
Advantage worked closely with Charterfields to deliver a phased programme of improvements, starting with a Dynamics 365 Quick Start implementation designed to deliver value quickly.
Key principles of our approach included:
- Understanding Charterfields’ project-driven operating model
- Designing a solution that could scale without rework
- Delivering enhancements in clear phases to ensure adoption and minimise disruption
- Ensuring the system supported the business - rather than forcing the business to adapt to technology
The Solution
Phase 1: Dynamics 365 Quick Start CRM
We implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM to create a single source of truth for customer information and commercial activity. This gave Charterfields a structured platform for:
- Centralised customer and contact management
- Consistent tracking of opportunities and engagement
- Improved visibility across teams and offices
Charterfields selected Advantage based on the clarity of our communication and a fixed package approach that reduced risk and supported faster decision-making.
“I’d had experience with Dynamics in my previous role… so we looked for partners who could help. Advantage really stood out - the communications were clear and the fixed package approach made the process straightforward.”
Andrew Slevin, Director, Charterfields
Phase 2: Project management, automation, insights & reporting
As system use matured, Charterfields needed functionality beyond CRM. Advantage expanded the platform to support the core delivery model of the business, enabling projects to be created, tracked and managed from initiation through to completion.
Enhancements included:
- Project / case management using Dynamics 365 case management principles
- Role-based dashboards giving real-time visibility of workload and status
- Enhanced reporting and pipeline insight for operational leadership
- Workflow automation integrated with Microsoft 365
A key improvement was automating project setup via Power Automate - creating standardised supporting structures and removing manual steps:
- Auto-creation of a SharePoint folder structure when a new case or opportunity is created
- Notifications sent automatically to relevant team members
- Improved governance and consistency in file management
Phase 3: Customer portal (in progress)
Advantage is now delivering the next phase of Charterfields’ platform: a customer portal using Power Pages and SharePoint. This will enable clients to digitally engage with Charterfields, access relevant project information, and collaborate more efficiently.
This phase aims to:
- Reduce manual admin and email back-and-forth
- Improve client experience and responsiveness
- Strengthen service differentiation through digital engagement
Ongoing IT Support: One partner for systems and IT
In December, Charterfields expanded the relationship further by transitioning their IT support services to Advantage, thus creating a single accountable partner for business systems and IT. This decision was driven by the increasing overlap between IT and business applications, and the importance of having a holistic view of how Microsoft technologies fit together.
“The simple reality was that longer-term it didn’t make sense… everything’s blurred now: Microsoft 365, Power Apps, Power Pages… it all taps into Dynamics. Having two separate entities managing that didn’t make sense.”
Andrew Slevin, Director, Charterfields
The Results
The platform has delivered measurable improvements in efficiency, control and insight - enabling Charterfields to operate with greater structure and clarity as they grow.
Key outcomes include:
- A scalable Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform that has grown alongside the business
- A move away from fragmented manual tracking (19 disparate documents)
- Improved operational visibility through role-based dashboards and reporting
- Increased efficiency - freeing time from manual administration and duplicate effort
- Better insight into profitability, timelines, pipeline value and delivery performance
- Reduced reliance on “gut feel” - enabling data-driven decision making
“We had probably two support staff full-time trying to manage those documents. One of those people has now shifted full-time into client support doing different work- so that saved us that person’s salary because they’re now working on something else.”
Andrew Slevin, Director, Charterfields
What Advantage Says
“From the outset, this was about more than just delivering a CRM. We built a strong working relationship with Charterfields, taking the time to understand how they manage projects and what they needed both now and in the future. That trust has allowed the solution to grow organically and deliver real, long-term value.”
Gary Griffin, Senior Account Executive, Advantage Business Systems
A Shared Manchester Connection
With Charterfields’s leadership team based in Manchester, this engagement represents Advantage’s ongoing commitment to supporting organisations across the North with enterprise-grade Microsoft solutions - delivered locally and backed by a long-term partnership model.
As Advantage continues to invest in its Manchester presence, partnerships like this demonstrate how regional businesses can modernise confidently with the right Microsoft partner.
Looking Ahead
With the customer portal now underway and further plans in development, Charterfields and Advantage continue to build a modern digital ecosystem to support ongoing growth.
Future opportunities include deeper Power Platform enablement, enhanced project profitability insight, and further automation across service delivery and customer engagement - ensuring Charterfields remains efficient, responsive and scalable as demand grows.
Next Steps
If your business is still relying on spreadsheets, inboxes and disconnected systems to manage clients and projects, now is the time to modernise. Advantage helps organisations implement and extend Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform to improve visibility, automate processes and build scalable digital foundations for growth. Get in touch with Advantage to discuss your requirements and see how a tailored Dynamics 365 solution could transform the way you work.
