Fine Controls UK Ltd Streamline Operations and Enhance Visibility with SuperOffice CRM
Introduction
Fine Controls (UK) Ltd is a long‑established supplier of process instrumentation and control equipment, providing pressure, temperature and flow control solutions from leading brands to industrial customers across the UK and worldwide. Based on Croft Business Park in Bromborough, Wirral, the company combines a large in‑stock range with expert technical support, bespoke system design and global shipping to keep customers’ plants running safely and efficiently. Since the early 1990s, Fine Controls has built a reputation for specialist knowledge and responsive service in demanding process environments, working with manufacturers and engineering firms that depend on accurate, reliable control equipment to meet production and regulatory standards.
As Operations Director, Damon Stride‑Price straddles both the commercial and operational sides of the business, overseeing stores, the workshop, health and safety, audits and quality, while also leading internal change projects such as the selection and implementation of a new CRM platform. His role is to ensure that Fine Controls’ internal systems and processes keep pace with the company’s growth, and that the sales team has the tools and information it needs to deliver a consistent, high‑quality experience to every customer.
The Challenge
Before working with Synergy Technology, Fine Controls’ sales and enquiry management was entirely email-based. Damon explains “Beforehand, everything was done over email, and 99.9% of our enquiries came in that way. We’d receive a customer enquiry, then email them a price or check our system and quote via email. If we needed to get a price from one of our suppliers, we’d email them, get their reply, and then copy-and-paste it onto another email to send to the customer.”
While this approach was quick, it created visibility issues within the business. “It was quick and easy but lacked traceability. No one knew exactly what anyone else was doing, and it was difficult keep track of everything. If a customer phoned up and said they’d spoken to Jake, the only way to find out what Jake was doing would be to access his computer, check sent items and see who he’d contacted. We’d have to search his inbox for replies, and it was messy and inefficient, especially if the customer was on the phone waiting for an answer.”
With multiple shared and personal inboxes in use, collaboration was also difficult, duplicate efforts occasionally occurred, and customer communication lacked consistency. As Damon describes, the team knew they needed a better solution “We wanted something that could centralise everything in one place. If a customer rang up and said, ‘I sent an enquiry, what’s going on?’ we could instantly see where we were up to, instead of searching everyone’s inboxes for answers. Fine Controls were looking for a centralised CRM that could simplify customer communication, improve process visibility, and provide a single source of truth for sales and service activity.
The Solution: SuperOffice CRM Sales & Service
Their journey toward finding the right solution began with a trusted customer recommendation. “Our Sales Director, Mark, went over to Norway to see one of our customers and noticed they were using a CRM system called SuperOffice,” says Damon. “He saw it in action and said it looked a lot slicker than what we were doing, they could keep track of everything and everyone knew what everyone else was doing. So, we decided to have a look into it and consider implementing something like that ourselves.”
Following that visit, Fine Controls began their search. “A Google search led us to Synergy Technology, so we reached out. Matt from Synergy gave us a rundown, and it sounded perfect for us.”
“When we got the quote for SuperOffice and presented it to our Managing Director, because of the cost, we were asked to get a couple more quotes.” Damon explains. “We looked at one that was cheaper than SuperOffice, but we just didn’t like the look or feel. For what we wanted, it felt more like a marketing platform and lacked the service elements SuperOffice offers. The presentation just didn’t appeal, and we felt SuperOffice was a lot more user friendly. Then, once we worked with Trevor (Synergy Systems Architect) to customise SuperOffice, removing tabs and dropdowns we didn’t need, it became even cleaner.”
Damon also preferred the way SuperOffice handled quotes. “One thing I didn’t like about the other platform was quotes were sent as links, instead of PDF attachments. In our industry, if someone sends an email with a link, it often gets treated as spam. I prefer quotes as PDF attachments. So after comparing SuperOffice and some competitors, SuperOffice came out on top, and we went with it.”
Implementation
Fine Controls partnered with Synergy Technology to implement SuperOffice Service and Sales modules, tailoring the system to fit the company’s workflows. Damon recalls the experience as collaborative and supportive. “Trevor’s great, very patient. We’d often ask for changes, and he was responsive, coming up with ideas and suggesting alternative solutions. We put the scope together based on what we thought we wanted. After running it for about three months, we realised there were tweaks needed, so we’ve been back in touch with Trevor for adjustments. You don’t really know what you want until you start using the system, and Synergy were very flexible with that.”
“Trevor and Sam (CRM Support Consultant) have both been helpful, especially on the customer service portal. Trevor was always available for questions and explained options if something wouldn’t work, offering other suggestions. We’re not computer specialists, but he made everything accessible and clear.”
Damon says Synergy have been supportive since go-live too. “There’s always someone at Synergy for support. Matt (Account Manager) has been great as well, following up and assigning work as needed between the team. So overall, the implementation went well, with the only delay being our own, just not getting back quickly because of how busy we are.”
The Results: Improved Visibility & Efficiency
Since introducing SuperOffice, Fine Controls have seen immediate benefits in organisation, transparency, and teamwork. The CRM captures every enquiry, logs responses automatically, and issues unique reference numbers for easy tracking. Damon explains “We use the service and sales modules. It’s really handy; customer enquiries are logged, and the customer automatically receives a generic response with a ticket number, letting them know we’ll review their request and get back to them. As soon as a customer sends something in, they get an intermediate response, a reference number, and anyone in the team can use that number to check where it’s up to.”
The new dashboards have also been effective in improving visibility. “The dashboard is handy as well, we’ve got about nine people in sales, so certain enquiries get assigned to particular people. The dashboard makes it quick to see who’s handling what, provides a shortcut to check new requests, and just makes the process smoother. The quoting process is a bit longer than just copy-and-paste emailing, but it’s much more efficient overall.”
Team efficiency has also improved, with better workload balance and visibility. “We’ve never set individual KPIs, as we don’t work on commission, every enquiry is a Fine Controls enquiry. But it does help with distributing work. You can see which staff have higher workloads and balance it more evenly,” explains Damon.
With SuperOffice in place, the team now benefits from a unified system that makes day-to-day collaboration smoother and more transparent. Each enquiry is clearly logged and tracked, providing full visibility of who is handling what and where each request sits within the workflow. The dashboards allow managers to reassign tasks easily, ensuring no enquiry is left unattended and that customer communication remains consistent across the team.
“It’s mainly helped us organise things better and keep track,” Damon says. “The professional quotes and ability to distribute and track work are big positives. If someone is busy, work can be easily transferred and the process runs much more smoothly.”
The improvements have extended beyond productivity, Fine Controls’ customers have noticed a more polished and professional service. “Reporting enables us to track enquiries by brand, giving us insights for supplier meetings. We can see exactly what’s been quoted for each product line, something we didn’t do before, it helps us present better information to suppliers.”
The Future
Fine Controls continue to evolve their use of SuperOffice in partnership with Synergy Technology. Damon outlines their ambitions. “In the future, we’re looking at fixing a few things, like getting requests transferred to the sales pipeline, more automated emails for follow-ups on quotes and pro forma invoices, and exploring other automations. We haven’t really used AI yet, but some colleagues are interested in what could be developed there as well. There’s plenty of room for expanding use of the system.”
He adds that the team is keen to adopt more of SuperOffice’s ever expanding features and ensure consistent usage across departments. “We’re always looking forward to seeing what new features come out. We’re also exploring more automation and using calendar for follow-ups, as we’ve previously relied on Outlook. There are lots of features yet to discover.”
Through their partnership with Synergy Technology, Fine Controls has transformed its sales operations, moving from manual, inbox based processes to a centralised, efficient CRM solution that supports their goals for growth, team collaboration, and world-class customer service.
Want More Information on SuperOffice CRM?
The Synergy Technology team is proud to be an official partner of SuperOffice CRM and to offer integration with a number of other platforms. Find out more by visiting our add-ons and integrations page, call us today on 0345 456 0050 or visit our contact page to send us an email.
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