SMB Enquiry Communication Tools
Understanding how small & medium businesses manage enquiries and communication workflows
Through research with 20+ SMB owners and sales leads, we identified pain points in capturing, tracking, and following up on enquiries. This case study highlights insights, opportunity areas, and a path toward lightweight, mobile-first tools that fit SMB realities.
Problem
Most SMBs juggle enquiries across WhatsApp, phone calls, and email. Enquiries are lost, follow-ups missed, and customer experiences suffer. Enterprise CRMs are too costly and complex, leaving SMBs with spreadsheets and ad-hoc tools.
Approach
We conducted interviews, shadowing sessions, and tool audits with SMBs across retail, services, and manufacturing. Workshops with PM and engineering partners helped synthesize findings and prioritize opportunity areas: unified inbox, simple lead tracking, team visibility, and affordable mobile-first design.
Outcomes
- Mapped fragmented enquiry journeys → clear UX opportunities.
- Prioritized lightweight mobile-first lead tracking concepts.
- Created unified inbox vision for enquiries across WhatsApp, calls, and email.
- Informed roadmap discussions for SMB-focused communication tools.
Reflection
This project reinforced the need to design for the lived reality of SMB owners: resource-constrained, relationship-driven, and mobile-first. It sharpened my skills in:
- Empathy & Listening — uncovering real pain points beyond tool audits.
- Pragmatic Design — balancing ambition with what SMBs can adopt.
- Collaborative Leadership — aligning PMs, engineers, and researchers across geos.
Ultimately, this case study wasn’t just about insights — it was about building shared conviction to act, and seeding future design sprints on lightweight CRM and enquiry tools.
