BLOG: Why integrations are becoming a key part of the property CRM buying decision

I know a few things about spectrums – I’m on plenty of them – but the spectrum I’m interested in here is integrations, specifically with a property CRM.

Every year since we started Kerfuffle, we’ve asked agents about their biggest frustrations with suppliers and integrations consistently sits in the top three. In fact, 39% of agents have identified it as a major issue.

And increasingly, it is becoming one of the key questions when an agency is replacing its CRM.

It makes sense. Your valuations tool, inventory app, compliance system, accounting software, Facebook Lead Ads, Xero connection and the feeds to Rightmove and Zoopla all need to work. Some you probably don’t even think about until they stop working.

So when you are looking at a new CRM, the question isn’t simply: “Does it integrate with X?” It should be: “How well does it integrate with X?”

Not all integrations are created equal

This is where it gets interesting. Ask a supplier if they integrate with a particular product and, more often than not, you’ll see a nice tick next to it. Great. Job done.

Except it might not be.

At one end of the spectrum, you have a proper, deep, two-way integration that is built natively into the CRM and allows systems to talk to each other seamlessly.

At the other, you might have something as simple as an email being fired from one system to another.

Technically, both might be described as an integration.

For an agent trying to decide whether their entire tech stack will survive a CRM change, they are obviously not the same thing.

And that is the problem we’ve been trying to solve.

The directory

We’ve launched the Kerfuffle integrations directory alongside our 2026 CRM Guide. There are currently 309 integration partners listed, and you can look at it in two ways.

You can start with a particular tool – Fixflo, for example – and see which CRMs it connects with. Or you can start with your CRM and see which partners connect to it.

We’ve also added a Rate Your Integrations feature because, frankly, supplier claims only tell you so much.

We want agents to tell us what actually happens when they use these integrations.”

We want agents to tell us what actually happens when they use these integrations. Does it work? Is it genuinely two-way? Does it save time? Or does it look much better on a sales presentation than it does in real life?

That feedback is what will make the directory genuinely useful.

The shortcut

The directory is great, but going through it all yourself could still take half a day. So we’ve built a free CRM Matcher.

You tell us your current CRM, which existing tools you absolutely cannot lose and which integrations are must-haves rather than nice-to-haves.

The matcher then works through the main CRMs in the directory and gives you a shortlist of three to five options based on how much of your existing tech stack they can support.

You get the shortlist, a quick explanation of why each CRM made it, and a link through to the relevant chapter in the 2026 Kerfuffle CRM Guide.

It’s basically doing the homework before you start booking 47 demos. And that matters.

Because changing your CRM is a big enough decision without discovering halfway through the process that the shiny new system doesn’t actually play nicely with the other 15 bits of technology your agency relies on.

We need your help

The directory will only be useful if it reflects what happens in the real world.

So if you’re an agent, tell us how the integrations you actually use perform. Rate them. Tell us what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t.

And if you’re a supplier, check what we’ve listed. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us. If you’re missing altogether, tell us that too.

We’re going to keep expanding the platform beyond CRM integrations, because the bigger question is becoming increasingly important:

Which bits actually work?

For agents replacing a CRM, that could be one of the most important questions they ask this year.

And perhaps we should stop treating “integrates with” as a tick-box exercise and start asking what that integration actually means.