A Lightweight CRM Setup for Consultants
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
Consultants lose work in the gaps: the proposal sent three weeks ago that nobody chased, the contract that quietly ran out, the former client who would have said yes if asked. A CRM for a solo or small consultancy exists to close those gaps, and nothing else. This guide describes the smallest setup that does that, which tools stay small, and the weekly habit that makes the tool worth having.
What a consultant actually needs
The mechanism is memory. When you are delivering, you are not selling, and the leads you spoke to during the quiet month go cold during the busy one. A CRM is a memory that does not depend on your calendar. What it needs to remember is small: who you talked to, what you proposed, when to follow up, and when existing work ends. Everything beyond that is administration that a one-person firm will stop doing within a month.
A simple pipeline
A pipeline is a list of deals sorted by how close they are to money. Five stages are enough, and the definition of each stage matters more than the count: a deal moves only when something observable happened, so the pipeline tells the truth.
| Stage | Enters when | Next action | Leave after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversation | A real person has agreed to talk about a real need | Book the call | Two weeks with no reply |
| Scoped | You understand the problem well enough to price it | Write the proposal | Proposal sent |
| Proposal sent | The proposal is in their inbox with a date | Follow up on the date | Three follow-ups with no answer |
| Verbal yes | They said yes in words | Send the agreement | Signed, or two weeks of silence |
| Signed | Signed agreement and start date | Create the project and the renewal date | Moves to delivery |
Proposals and follow-ups
Most consulting proposals are lost to silence, not to a competitor. The buyer got busy, the proposal sat, and by the time they returned the moment had passed. Follow-up is where a lightweight CRM pays for itself, and the setup is one rule: no proposal leaves without a follow-up date in the system.
- Send the proposal with a stated validity and a suggested decision date, then set the follow-up for two working days after that date.
- Follow-ups are short and add something: a relevant example, an answer to a question raised on the call, a scheduling option.
- After the third unanswered follow-up, close the deal as lost with a reason, and set a re-contact date six months out.
- Log the outcome of every proposal, so after a year you can see your close rate by client type and adjust who you pursue.
Renewals and repeat work
For an established consultancy, most revenue comes from existing clients, and most of that is lost through inattention rather than dissatisfaction. Every engagement should have an end date in the CRM and a task ninety days before it: propose the next phase, a retainer or a check-in. Past clients are the warmest list you have, and they only stay warm if someone writes to them.
Renewal date on every engagement
When a contract is signed, create the renewal task at the same time. Later is when you forget.
A past-client rhythm
Every former client gets a short, personal note twice a year with something useful, not a newsletter. Log it as an activity so you know who has not heard from you.
Referral asks
At the end of a good engagement, ask who else has the same problem. Record the names as contacts with the source, so the introduction is followed up.
Tools that stay small
The right tool is one you will open every Monday. The free tiers of HubSpot and Pipedrive both cover the four objects and one pipeline; Notion or a well-built spreadsheet can do the same for a solo consultant who prefers it. What matters is that the tool captures email automatically or with one click, reminds you of follow-up dates, and does not require a project to configure.
- Connect your mailbox so conversations attach to contacts without copying and pasting.
- Turn off every module you do not use: marketing, tickets, quotes, forecasting. They are where the tool grows.
- Add exactly one custom field at a time, only when you have wanted it three weeks running.
- Export your data once a quarter. If the export is clean, you can leave the tool whenever you like, and that keeps the licence honest.
When you do not need help: a solo consultant can do all of this in an afternoon on a free tier, and should. Help is worth paying for when there are several people selling, when leads come from a website and need to land in the pipeline automatically, or when the CRM must exchange data with Fortnox or a time-reporting tool; then a structured CRM implementation saves the months of half-adoption that most teams go through. It is priced on the pricing page, and if you want a second opinion on whether your setup is already enough, book a call.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet enough for a solo consultant?
Often, yes, if it has one row per deal, a stage, a next-action date and you sort by that date every Monday. The moment you want email captured automatically or reminders sent, a free CRM tier does it with less friction.
Should I track hours and invoices in the CRM too?
No. Time reporting belongs in a time tool and invoices in Fortnox or Visma. The CRM stores the deal value and the dates; connecting the tools comes later, if ever, and only when the double entry starts to hurt.
How do I handle GDPR for contacts I add?
Business contacts you have a legitimate reason to talk to can be stored under legitimate interest, but keep the data minimal, note the source, delete contacts you have not touched in a couple of years, and never import purchased lists.
What if I get busy and stop updating it?
That is the normal failure, and the fix is the weekly review, not more discipline. Thirty minutes every Monday to move deals, set dates and clear the list is enough; if that does not survive, the setup is too heavy and should be cut back.
Want a pipeline you will actually open on Mondays?
Fifteen minutes: describe how work reaches you today, and we will tell you whether a free-tier setup is enough or where an integration would pay for itself.
Book a free 15-minute call