How Simon Hall Will Writing Services keeps its personal touch with every client using Zoho One

Simon Hall Will Writing Services helps families across Devon and the South West put Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and estate plans in place, with appointments at home or online. Its reputation rests on personal service. Having moved off a white-label CRM onto Zoho, its reminders were not working as the team needed: review requests went to the office instead of the client, and staff were sending them by hand.

Axithorn became the firm's ongoing Zoho partner in early 2025 and set up Zoho CRM to remind the team at the moments that matter to clients. The firm still decides who it contacts and how. Zoho makes sure nobody is missed.

"I have found James to have vast experience within a CRM environment and can provide impartial advice."

The firm had used Genie, a white-label CRM, before moving to Zoho. Review requests were going to the office inbox rather than to clients, so staff were sending them manually. The firm's reputation rests on personal service, so any tool had to support that, not replace it.

• Manual follow-up: review requests were sent to the office inbox, so the team was sending them by hand.
• Remembering couples with care: anniversary contact had to reach both people in a couple, with care for bereavement or separation.
• Keeping service consistent as the team grows: each new Will Writer needed templates, signatures and the right dropdowns, so every client gets the same quality of contact.
• Knowing where work comes from: the firm wanted to see which referral sources bring in clients.

Zoho already held the firm's client records, so the question was not whether to change platform but who could make it work properly. The firm was introduced to Axithorn through a contact in December 2024 and tagged Axithorn as its Zoho partner in January 2025. Axithorn offered impartial, hands-on CRM advice and a clear list of fixes, agreed with the office manager, starting with the review requests.

Axithorn focused on the reminders that help the team stay close to clients and keep referrals coming in, all built on the firm's existing Zoho One subscription.

Axithorn started with a fix list agreed with the office manager, then rebuilt the review, anniversary and birthday reminders so they fit how the team talks to its clients. It has stayed on as the firm's Zoho partner, with face-to-face reviews with the team and, in 2026, wider Axithorn team support for ongoing CRM updates.

• January 2025, introduction and fix list: partner tag, and a fix list agreed with the office manager.
• Spring to summer 2025, reminders rebuilt: review request, anniversary and birthday reminders rebuilt; sales funnel, lead statuses, templates and calendar appointments refined; face-to-face reviews with the team.
• Autumn 2025, growing the team: new Will Writers onboarded, referral source reporting, email campaigns and web forms.
• 2026, ongoing support: wider Axithorn team support for ongoing CRM updates, and options explored for linking Zoho with WillSuite and for AI-assisted enquiries.

Two hurdles needed care. Review requests were going to the office inbox, so Axithorn rebuilt the trigger to send the request to the client, with their first name, when a deal is marked as Won, and a follow-up after three weeks if there is no reply. Anniversary contact needed to reach both people in a couple, with care for bereavement or separation, so the reminder covers both partners and can be held back where a record needs special care, leaving the team to decide how to reach out.

"Simon Hall's reputation is built on looking after people personally. We set Zoho up to remind the team at the right moments, so they spend their time with families rather than chasing admin."

Zoho CRM now prompts the team at the moments that matter to clients, and new Will Writers are set up with the same templates and access as the rest of the team. The routine is handled, and the personal contact stays with the people.

"Axithorn are excellent at responding to issues and challenges, and they translate the technical side into terms that I and the team can understand."

• Linking Zoho with the firm's Will-drafting software, WillSuite.
• AI-assisted enquiries.

Published with the approval of Simon Hall Will Writing Services.