One console for every client workspace: agency mode in practice

If you run CRMs for several clients as an agency or consultancy, you know the pain: five logins, five browser windows, five half-maintained systems. Agency mode in Advanzo solves this with a simple principle: every client gets their own workspace, and you manage them all from one central agency console – with unlimited client workspaces per account.

This article shows how agency mode works in practice: from creating your first client workspace, through day-to-day work across several mandates, to handing the system over to the client. Everything described here is available in Advanzo today – no roadmap promises.

What is agency mode in Advanzo?

Agency mode lets you run any number of separate client workspaces under a single Advanzo account. The agency console lists every workspace you own or that has been shared with you, and you switch between them with one click – no logging out, no second browser.

Each workspace is a complete CRM in its own right: its own pipeline, its own contacts, its own email connections and its own roles. What happens in client A's workspace stays with client A. For agencies selling CRM set-ups as a service, this is the technical foundation of the business model – you'll find the commercial side on our partner page.

Why one workspace per client?

Because a shared CRM with "one tag per client" sooner or later becomes a liability: confidential data from different mandates sits side by side, reports blur together, and at handover time there is nothing you can cleanly extract. One workspace per client separates data structurally from day one.

There is a practical upside too: each client workspace can have its own pipeline logic, its own stages and its own email accounts. A fiduciary sells differently from a software startup – in a dedicated workspace you model that without compromise. Why structural separation also matters legally is covered in our post on data separation in multi-client CRMs.

How does the agency console keep you organised?

The console is your command centre: one list of all owned and shared workspaces, from which you switch, create new workspaces or transfer a workspace to its client. At a glance you see which mandates you own and where you have been invited as a collaborator.

Three things happen directly from the console:

• Switch: jump into a client's workspace with one click – pipeline, contacts and email load instantly in context.
• Create: spin up a fresh, empty workspace for a new client in minutes.
• Transfer: hand a finished workspace over to the client – ownership changes, and your access can continue if wanted.

You'll find an overview of the console on the agency console page.

How do you set up a new client workspace?

Straight from the agency console: create workspace, name it after the client, done – the new workspace is ready immediately and completely empty. From there, build the set-up in a sensible order before the client's team joins.

This sequence has proven itself in practice:

1. Define the pipeline: name the stages the way the client actually sells – not by the textbook.
2. Import master data: bring contacts and companies in from Excel or the old system, cleaning duplicates as you go.
3. Connect email: hook up the client team's mailboxes (Gmail, Outlook or IMAP) so correspondence lands on the deal automatically.
4. Invite the team: add the client's people as members and walk the first deals through the pipeline together.

Because every workspace starts small and empty, a clean base set-up takes days rather than weeks – and you can repeat it identically for every new client.

What does "shared workspaces" mean in the console?

The console distinguishes between workspaces you own and workspaces shared with you. Shared means the workspace belongs to someone else – for instance a client after handover – but you are invited as a collaborator and keep working in it.

For agencies this becomes the normal picture after a few months: owned workspaces for build projects in progress, shared workspaces for handed-over mandates in ongoing care. Both stay visible in one list, nothing gets mixed and nothing gets lost.

What does daily work across several client workspaces look like?

It becomes predictable, because every client is a clearly bounded working space: you open the console in the morning, review your active mandates and work focused inside each workspace – instead of constantly filtering a shared CRM to figure out whose deal is whose.

Three simple habits pay off:

• Naming convention: name workspaces consistently, for example "Client – project phase", so the console stays readable even with twenty mandates.
• Fixed time slots: block dedicated time per client rather than hopping between workspaces. Switching is one click – your head still needs focus.
• A standard playbook: define your default set-up (stages, required fields, first workflows) and rebuild it by hand in every new client workspace. Every set-up comes out consistent.

And when a mandate ends? You transfer the workspace or let it wind down – with zero impact on your other clients. That is a quiet advantage of the model: every mandate has a clear beginning and a clear end, technically and commercially.

How does the client eventually get their CRM?

Through workspace handover: you transfer ownership of the workspace to the client, and if wanted you stay on board as a collaborator with continued access. The client owns their CRM with all its data – you keep supporting them without standing in between.

Exactly this set-up-and-handover model is what makes CRM projects attractive for agencies: the build as a project, the care as a retainer. Our step-by-step guide to a clean handover is here: handing a CRM over to the client.

Which roles and permissions exist per workspace?

Advanzo distinguishes between admin and member roles per workspace. During the project, you as the agency are admin in the client's workspace while the client's team works as members. After handover the picture flips: the client is admin of their own system, and you remain invited as a collaborator – if that's what both sides want.

Importantly, roles always apply per workspace. Being admin at client A gives you no rights whatsoever at client B. That, too, is part of the structural separation between mandates.

For the project itself this means you can configure everything the set-up needs inside the client workspace – pipeline, fields, email accounts, workflows – while the client's team works in the same system from day one and learns with real deals. There is no throwaway "test system" that later has to be migrated to production.

What does the set-up cost for agencies?

Every workspace starts free with up to 25 deals – ideal for building and demonstrating a client set-up before any costs arise. Beyond that, Advanzo costs CHF 25 per user/month (Plus) or a flat CHF 350 per month for unlimited users (Pro Unlimited); details on the pricing page. The AI add-on can be switched on per workspace for CHF 9 per user/month.

Agencies that set up client CRMs regularly can also join the partner programme with its own terms – see Advanzo for agencies for the overview.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

How many client workspaces can an agency create?

As many as you need – there is no limit. Agency mode is built for exactly this: every client gets their own workspace, and the agency console lists all owned and shared workspaces in one clear view.

Can my clients see other clients' data?

No. Every workspace is strictly separate: its own contacts, its own deals, its own users. Roles and permissions only apply within a workspace; access across workspace boundaries does not exist.

Can I transfer a workspace to the client later?

Yes. Handover transfers ownership to the client, and you can keep collaborator access if wanted. The agency-built set-up becomes the client's own CRM – with no data export and no rebuild.

Does the AI work in every client workspace?

Yes, the AI features including Autopilot are activated per workspace – via the AI add-on (CHF 9 per user/month) or with your own API key. Activation is deliberately opt-in: each client decides for themselves whether AI is used.

Where is the data of client workspaces hosted?

In Switzerland. Advanzo hosts the data of all workspaces in Switzerland and meets the requirements of the Swiss DPA (DSG) and the GDPR – an argument that regularly tips the scales with Swiss end clients.

Want to try agency mode yourself? Start Advanzo for free, create your first client workspace and build the set-up – you only pay once the mandate grows.