About Small Batch Learning
Small Batch Learning is a B2B learning management platform for the hospitality, retail, and beverage industries. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Singapore, the company runs two distinct commercial motions: an enterprise SaaS product sold to large hospitality and retail chains (5,000 to 30,000 staff), and a brand platform sold to alcohol brands like Pernod Ricard that want to train retail staff on their products. Both sides of the business run on annual agreements, with long sales cycles on the SaaS side and high renewal risk on the brand side. After seven years of failed CRM implementations, the Copper to Attio migration was the chance to finally get it right.
The Challenge
Small Batch Learning had been through a new CRM implementation every year for seven years - Copper CRM being the most recent - without ever setting one up properly. Data lived in spreadsheets, Notion databases, and the founders' heads. The sales process existed but wasn't formalized in any system. A lost deal on the brand side the previous year - a budget that slipped because the renewal conversation wasn't started early enough - made the need concrete.
Three problems drove the engagement:
7 years of CRM switching, zero adoption. The pattern was consistent: a new CRM would be purchased, set up at 10% of its functionality, partially used for a few months, and then abandoned in favor of spreadsheets. Getting the implementation right this time required understanding why previous ones had failed - not just configuring the tool.
Two separate commercial motions, one team. The SaaS pipeline (long cycles, multi-stakeholder, enterprise contracts) and the brand pipeline (annual subscriptions, high churn risk, planning-cycle dependent) have fundamentally different stages, timelines, and renewal logic. A single generic pipeline would work for neither.
Renewal tracking non-existent. On the brand side, the same brands re-enter the pipeline each year during budget planning. Without a system to track renewal dates and trigger re-engagement conversations 3-6 months in advance, budgets were being lost to competitors who started the conversation earlier.
Our Approach
Novlini delivered the implementation over 3-4 weeks.
Discovery and Data Model Design
Kickoff session with both co-founders to map the full commercial operation: how both sides of the business work, where data currently lived, what the ideal renewal workflow looked like, and what self-serve checkout would mean for the data model if implemented later. This session determined the object structure before any configuration began.
Key data model decision: two separate deal objects, one per commercial motion, rather than a single pipeline with filters. This allows each motion to have its own stages, attributes, and renewal logic without compromising either.
Copper to Attio Migration
Full export from Copper. Data cleaned before import - contacts deduplicated, company associations rebuilt, incomplete records flagged. Historical deal data migrated with stage mapping to the new Attio pipeline structure. The migration was minimal by design: 7 years of CRM switching meant that most of the valuable data lived outside Copper anyway.
Pipeline Configuration
SaaS enterprise pipeline configured with multi-stakeholder stages (technical validation, HR/people stakeholder, economic buyer), pilot tracking, and renewal date attributes. Attributes added to deals to track SSO/provisioning status, integration requirements, and contract length.
Brand pipeline configured with annual subscription logic: renewal date tracked per deal, with automated tasks created 6 months and 3 months before renewal to trigger the re-engagement conversation. Churn risk flagged when a brand that was active the previous year has not yet been re-engaged by a defined date in the new planning cycle.
Enablement
Live enablement sessions with both co-founders. Documentation covering both pipelines, the renewal workflow, and how to add new contacts, deals, and companies. The goal: no dependency on another CRM implementation the following year.
Technology Stack
Attio - CRM, two-pipeline architecture, renewal tracking, enablement (replaces Copper)
The Results
Small Batch Learning went from a CRM that wasn't being used to a system built for how the business actually operates - with renewal tracking in place before the next planning cycle began.
Budget no longer lost to slow starts - renewal conversations now triggered automatically 6 months in advance, before brand clients enter their planning cycle with competitors
Two motions tracked separately - SaaS enterprise and brand pipelines each reflect their own logic, no compromise between them
Historical data migrated and accessible - 7 years of commercial history available in one place for the first time
Adoption secured - both founders operational in the system, no parallel spreadsheets
Data model future-proofed - self-serve checkout entry point designed into the architecture, ready to implement without rebuilding
"Working with the Novlini team was a pleasure. Maxime and the team know Attio inside-out. Their direct line to Attio's product team means improvement requests don't disappear into a void. The implementation was thorough, well-managed, and delivered exactly as promised."
Duncan Campbell - Small Batch Learning ★★★★★
Why It Matters
For a two-sided marketplace where one side generates recurring revenue on annual contracts, the CRM's job is not to track deals. It is to prevent revenue from slipping by ensuring that the renewal conversation starts before the client's budget is committed elsewhere. That requires a Attio setup that understands the commercial calendar of your clients - not just your own pipeline.
For any B2B SaaS company with a high-churn annual subscription model and a Copper to Attio migration on the roadmap, building the renewal tracking automation before you need it is the single most important thing the CRM can do.