Wizard Systems

Why GDPR Compliance in Your CRM Still Matters for UK Businesses in 2025

Even in 2025, GDPR remains a critical priority for UK organisations. Recent updates, like the “recognised legitimate interests” rule, offer flexibility for certain data uses—such as fraud prevention or customer service improvements—but strict accountability and transparency standards still apply. Here’s why embedding GDPR into your CRM system is essential:

Avoid Costly Penalties
Fines for breaches can still reach £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover. A GDPR-compliant CRM helps prevent errors like unauthorised data access or poor consent management.

Build Customer Trust
Over 80% of consumers value businesses that handle their data responsibly. Clear opt-in processes and easy data access tools in your CRM foster loyalty and brand reputation.

Stay Ahead of Regulations
New laws, including AI-driven data rules, are emerging. Proactive compliance ensures your business adapts smoothly to future changes.

Key GDPR Requirements for Your CRM

1. Legal Basis Tracking: Confirm if data is processed via consent, contracts, or legitimate interests.

2. Data Accuracy: Automatically update records and delete outdated information.

3. Security: Use encryption and role-based access to protect sensitive details.

4. Breach Alerts: Set up instant notifications for suspicious activity.

5. Training: Ensure staff understand GDPR principles through regular updates.

How Workbooks CRM Simplifies Compliance
Workbooks CRM includes built-in tools for GDPR, such as automated data retention schedules, audit logs, and consent tracking. Its 2025 updates streamline “legitimate interest” use cases while ensuring customer rights are respected.

Partner with Wizard Systems
For over 30 years, Wizard Systems has provided complete Workbooks CRM solutions, including setup, training, and support tailored to UK GDPR standards. Let their expertise turn compliance into a competitive edge.

Discover more at www.wizard-systems.com.uk.

GDPR compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines—it’s about earning trust and future-proofing your business. With the right CRM partner, you can achieve both effortlessly.

How a CRM System like Workbooks Supports GDPR Compliance - Event 8/5

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets strict rules around how organisations must handle personal data belonging to individuals in the European Union and the UK. Failure to comply can result in heavy fines, so it's critical for businesses to have robust processes and systems in place for managing data protection and privacy.

A CRM (customer relationship management) system like Workbooks CRM can be an invaluable tool for organisations seeking to meet their GDPR obligations.

Join us on the 8th May, 2pm UK time for our short online event to explain how Workbooks CRM can easily help you with GDPR compliance.  Register Here.

Here's how using a CRM can help with key aspects of compliance:

Data Processing Lawfulness
Under GDPR, there must be a legal basis for processing/handling someone's personal data. Workbooks CRM allows you to record the specific legal basis ("lawful basis for processing" in GDPR terms) for each contact's data. Options include consent, legitimate interests, contractual necessity and others. Having this documented in the CRM system provides an auditable trail.

For example, you might record a new sales prospect in the CRM with the basis of processing set as "Legitimate Interest" - i.e. your organisation's legitimate interest in marketing similar products/services. The CRM reminds you to specify the legitimate interest and provides transparency.

Data Subject Rights
GDPR gives individuals a number of rights over their personal data, such as the right to access, rectify, erase or restrict processing of their information. A CRM system allows you to easily find, access and update a specific individual's data to fulfil data subject access requests and other rights.

Many CRMs also provide workflows around data minimisation - ensuring you only keep personal data for as long as necessary. You can set rules for archiving and deleting records in line with retention periods.

Data Breach Reporting
Under GDPR, organisations must report personal data breaches to the regulator within 72 hours where there are risks to individuals' rights and freedoms. CRM audit trails and reporting can pinpoint the individuals affected and impacted data points to inform the breach notification process.

By acting as a central repository for managing customer and prospect data in line with GDPR principles, a CRM system is an essential tool for compliance. The right processes and configurations within the CRM ensure data handling meets regulatory requirements by design.

Of course, a CRM system is not a complete GDPR solution - data protection impacts the entire organisation from IT systems to business practices. But it provides a strong governance framework and audit trail to mitigate compliance risks when processing personal data.

Sage CRM 2018 R2 Product Release

We're delighted to announce the release of the latest version of Sage CRM - 2018 R2. Incorporating multiple enhancements and bug fixes, helping you to demonstrate your readiness for key global and local legislation surrounding people data, including GDPR.

What's new?

Full details of the fixes and enhancements can be found in the release notes available from the Help Center, but they include: GDPR - Record consent that you may send marketing materials to a customer, mass deletion of communication and documents associated with a person or leads, checking if a person or companies personal information has been sent to Mailchimp or Swiftpage as part of your e-marketing integration. Calendar - Configurable date formats, filters are now available (and retained) across all calendar views. Tabs & Menus - Main menu has been optimised for long names and narrow screens through the inclusion of an optional three-line drop-down menu. E-marketing - A new marketing tab has been added to company and person records to view results from your Mailchimp campaign. For more information on how to get your Sage CRM upgrades, please contact Wizard Systems.

Workbooks CRM News April 2018

Here's a round up of news around Workbooks CRM for this month:

Compliance Record are now available

We are pleased to announce that Compliance Records are now available for all Workbooks Customers as a part of your standard Workbooks Licence. These Records have been designed to as a way for you to store your GDPR Compliance information within Workbooks. Full details on the setup and usage of these can be found on the Workbooks Knowledge Base.

There is also a Workbooks Forum Post documenting how to build some example Reports that will help you manage your Compliance Records as well as providing you with examples of how they can be used.

 

Our Most Popular GDPR Resources to help you drive compliance

The clock is ticking for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25th. With so many things to consider it’s not easy to decipher where to focus, so we have gathered our most popular GDPR resources to help you. Access them here.

Don't forget to create your new Accounting Periods

It's that time of year again where you will need to create the accounting periods for next year if your year end is 31st March 2018. Without them you cannot successfully create any new Transaction Documents, and many pipeline reports will become incorrect. For more information about Accounting Periods and how to set them up, see the Workbooks Knowledge Base.

How to create Marketing Campaigns with different Member Statuses

If you are creating the same types of Marketing Campaigns frequently, you may find that you are having to add the same Member Statuses to each of the Campaigns frequently. However, it is possible to create a new Marketing Campaign from an existing template with the Member Statuses already configured, saving you time to set up and run the Campaign. Full details for this can be found on the Workbooks Forum.

 

Sage CRM 2018 R2 scheduled for April, ready for GDPR

Sage CRM 2018 R2 is scheduled for release in April ready for GDPR. It’s added functionality will help customers on their GDPR journey. No software can ensure compliance but the new features have been included to support customers in their own compliance efforts.

Tracking Consent: The system can send out consent emails to an individual or a group of contacts with unique links embedded. The contacts can then consent or decline to receive marketing communications from the company. Sage CRM will store consent records should the company ever need to present them.

Anonymizing Data: This is the recommended approach to the “right to be forgotten” that customers will be entitled to. This will allow users to anonymise personal data fields, but keep the records in the system so that metrics, such as the number of opportunities generated are not affected.

Communications/Library: Administrators in the system will be able to mass delete documents that may contain personal data.

Emarketing: Sage CRM will have fields to show where data has been shared with a third-party software like Mailchimp.

We will keep you informed when we know a final release date for Sage CRM 2018 R2.

Workbooks CRM and GDPR Workshops announced for February and March

Attention Workbooks CRM Users!  How ready are you for the GDPR data regulations coming into force this May?  What state is your Workbooks system in to prepare you and support you to comply with GDPR?

 

GDPR is one of the most significant bits of legislation that will affect us all this year, but we need to be thinking and planning now about how it will impact our business and how we hold data in our Workbooks systems.  Over the last few months, Wizard Systems have carried out significant research on GDPR and how we can make a Workbooks and CRM system compliant.  We would like to share these findings and recommendations in an informal one day 'workshop' with the Workbooks Community.  This workshop is aimed at Workbooks Administrators, Marketing Personnel and Business Owners.

 

We are running this one day Workshop on two dates - 21st of February and 15th March, and we will cover:

Overview and Discussion
- GDPR Overview

- Finding Information
- Your responsibility
- 6 Grounds for Processing Data

Data Security
- Checking Users and Security
- Backup/Copy Database

Evidence Compliance
- Using the New Evidence Record (Will be in Workbooks)
- Manage Breaches and reporting with Cases

Looking after Opt In and Preferences
- Mailing Lists and Opt Ins

Updating and Cleaning your Database
- Filtered Searches and Views
- Merging Duplicate Records
- Bulk Action vs Exporting and Importing Data

Reports and Dashboards
- An Overview of Reporting Options
- Exception Reports
- Report Fields
- Creating a Simple Dashboard
- Overview of Creating Leads automatically from your Web Site

 

Please note that this workshop is only relevant if you use Workbooks CRM.  Please contact us about our GoldMine and Sage CRM relevant GDPR workshops.