Running a production company means managing a lot of moving pieces at once.
There are pitches to send, clients to update, projects to resource, timelines to manage, and approximately 37 tabs open at any given moment. And when your business is built around helping creative teams stay organized, your own internal systems have to keep up, too.
That’s exactly why Timmy.io turned to Copper.
Timmy.io is a production operating system built specifically for studios, production companies, and agencies. Their platform helps creative teams manage everything from bids and budgets to staffing, timelines, and real-time project profitability, and all in one place.
But while Timmy was helping customers streamline production workflows, they realized their CRM needed to deliver that same kind of seamless experience internally.
The solution? A CRM that felt intuitive, flexible, and deeply connected to the tools their team already loved using every day.
Built by people who understand production life
Timmy wasn’t created in a boardroom by people guessing what agencies need. It was built by producers who’ve spent decades working in creative production themselves — the kind of people who understand what it’s like to juggle timelines, budgets, clients, staffing, feedback, and last-minute changes all at once. (Usually while staring at way too many tabs.)
“This is a product that was built for producers by producers,” said Timmy CEO PJ Koll. That hands-on experience shaped the entire platform.
Instead of trying to reinvent the way production teams work, Timmy focused on making existing workflows smoother, faster, and less chaotic behind the scenes. The platform acts as a system of record for production teams, helping agencies keep track of project profitability, resourcing, timelines, and operational workflows all in one place instead of scattered across spreadsheets, inboxes, and disconnected tools.
Because when you’ve actually worked in production, you know the problem usually isn’t the creative work itself.
It’s everything surrounding it.
And honestly, that same mindset became incredibly important when Timmy started searching for a CRM of their own.
Their previous CRM wasn’t built for how they worked
Before Copper, Timmy used a larger enterprise CRM platform. While it had plenty of features, it didn’t quite align with how their team actually operated day to day.
The biggest challenge was that information had to be entered into multiple systems manually. Their team would log details into the CRM, then separately input project information into Timmy itself.
That extra step may sound small, but for a growing company trying to move quickly, even small inefficiencies add up fast.
The previous platform also felt far more complex than the team needed for their workflows. Instead of simplifying processes, it required extra effort to maintain and manage consistently.
And for Timmy, ease of use matters a lot.
“If there’s any kind of friction in that process, we typically are just like, ‘Well, I’ll skip it. I’ll drop it and come back to it later,” adds Koll.
They needed a CRM that felt natural to use, not something the team had to force themselves to keep updated.
That’s what ultimately led them to Copper.
A system that fit how they worked
Timmy first discovered Copper through marketing and referrals, but what really stood out was how naturally it fit into the way their team already worked. Since everyone was already living inside Gmail and Google Workspace all day, Copper didn’t feel like this huge new system they had to learn from scratch. It just kind of clicked into place.
“It worked the way we worked,” Koll said.
And that ease made a difference right away. Instead of spending weeks rebuilding workflows or trying to force their process into a rigid setup, the team could jump in and make Copper work for them.
They customized pipelines around their actual sales process, kept track of conversations in one place, and used LinkedIn integrations to make prospecting feel way less manual and messy.
“It definitely helps us to manage our pipelines,” Koll shared.
“The flexibility of it, our ability to build the stages in that pipeline that make sense to us on the Timmy side.”
Before long, Copper became way more than just a place to track deals. It became the spot where the team keeps relationships moving, shares updates, and stays aligned without constantly asking, “Wait, who talked to this client last?”
Everything the team needed finally lived in one place
At this point, Copper isn’t just something Timmy checks every now and then — it’s fully part of the team’s day-to-day routine.
“It’s daily,” Koll said. “Copper’s at every one of those meetings with us.”
The team uses Copper across sales, partnerships, customer support, and strategic partnerships, with each pipeline customized to fit the way that part of the business actually works. Because creative teams don’t really do “one-size-fits-all” workflows.
And for Timmy, that flexibility matters a lot. Their entire platform is built around helping production teams work more smoothly together, so having a CRM that could adapt to different workflows instead of forcing everyone into the same process was a huge win. (Creative operations are already complicated enough.)
Before long, Copper became the place where everything lives — client conversations, contracts, notes, follow-ups, prospecting efforts, all of it.
“It’s the tip of the spear for us,” Koll said while describing how the team manages outreach and relationships inside the platform.
Instead of bouncing between tabs trying to piece together the latest update, the team can quickly see what’s happening and keep projects and relationships moving forward.
“It really is the central source of truth with regards to clients for Timmy.”
And because it’s connected directly to Google Workspace, everyone stays in the loop without extra effort.
“It’s very open in that way and everybody kind of knows exactly what’s happening,” Koll explained.
The Copper and Timmy integration streamlined everything
One of the coolest parts of the partnership is the direct integration Timmy built with Copper.
“We’ve done an integration with Copper,” adds Koll. “Based on a status within Copper, I can take the data that I’ve collected with regards to that potential client and launch a project inside of Timmy.”
The integration also helps both sales and production teams stay aligned in real time, since everyone can see project updates without needing constant check-ins or status update emails. Timmy even synced client databases between both platforms to keep everything connected and up to date across teams.
And for a growing company moving quickly, those kinds of workflow improvements make a huge difference.
Copper helps Timmy stay fast, organized, and growing
As an independently built company, Timmy is always thinking about efficiency. Because when you’re growing, little things add up fast — extra clicks, scattered notes, duplicate work, all of it.
Copper helped simplify that.
The team uses it to manage pipelines, organize partnerships, keep track of conversations, and support prospecting efforts without everything feeling scattered all over the place. Timmy also uses integrations like Surfe to help with LinkedIn prospecting as they connect with more creative teams and expand into new markets.
“That scraping part of that on LinkedIn is pretty enormous for us,” PJ explained while talking about prospecting workflows.
And honestly, maybe the biggest sign that Copper works well for the team is how naturally it fits into their routine.
Nobody’s forcing people to update it.
Nobody’s chasing teammates for notes.
Nobody’s treating it like “extra admin work.”
“It just happens,” PJ said. “We don’t really even have to think about it.”
(Which is kind of the dream, right?)
The CRM nobody has to think about
Creative production moves fast. One minute you’re pitching a project, the next you’re staffing it, budgeting it, tracking deliverables, and managing client feedback all at once.
That’s why Timmy needed systems that felt connected, flexible, and easy to use — not tools that slowed the team down.
And for them, Copper became exactly that.
“[Using Copper] just happens. We don’t really even have to think about it,” said Koll.
(And, honestly, that might be the best compliment a CRM can get!)
Because the best tools aren’t the ones demanding your attention all day long. They’re the ones helping your team stay organized behind the scenes while you focus on the work you actually care about.
And if you’re looking for a CRM that works the way your team actually works, you can try Copper free for 14 days. While you’re at it, definitely check out Timmy.io, too — especially if your creative team could use a little more operational sanity. (Because, hey, couldn’t we all?)
