Best CRM for small consulting business

As a small consulting business, managing client relationships, tracking project progress, and organizing follow-ups can quickly become overwhelming as your practice grows. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can help you streamline these tasks by keeping client information organized, automating follow-ups, and providing insights into your project timelines—all from one platform. With the right CRM, you can enhance client communication, improve efficiency, and focus more on delivering value to your clients.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the best CRM options for small consulting businesses like yours, highlighting tools that will help you stay organized and scale your business effectively.

Why you need a CRM

A CRM is essential for founders of small consulting businesses to streamline operations, enhance client relationships, and drive growth.

Challenges without a CRM

Without the right CRM in your tech stack, you might face a few common challenges that hinder your growth and operational efficiency.

• Disorganization: Critical client information scattered across various platforms.
• Missed opportunities: Overlooked follow-ups and potential leads due to lack of tracking.
• Inefficient processes: Manual data entry and task management consume valuable time.
• Lack of insight: Difficulty in analyzing client data and business performance.
• Inconsistent communication: Uncoordinated interactions with clients affecting relationship quality.

Benefits of a CRM

Fortunately, a good CRM can help you address these challenges, and provide extra benefits.

• Centralized information: All client data stored in one accessible location.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automated processes save time and reduce errors.
• Improved customer relationships: Personalized interactions based on detailed client history.
• Better decision-making: Data-driven insights facilitate strategic planning.
• Increased sales: Effective lead management and follow-up boost conversion rates.
• Consistent communication: Coordinated efforts ensure seamless client interactions.
  

How to use a CRM to boost your operational efficiency as a small consulting business

Wondering how a CRM can help you? We've mapped out a few use cases of some popular CRM features to give you an idea of how it can be personalized to suit your particular internal process.

1. Map your process

You can use a CRM to organize your contacts according to your internal process. Below are a few examples how you might do so.

• Identify key stages: Break down your consulting workflow into key stages such as lead generation, initial consultation, proposal, and project execution.
• Set milestones: Define specific milestones for each stage to track progress and ensure timely delivery.
• Customize pipelines: Use CRM tools to create custom pipelines that reflect your unique consulting process, making it easier to manage and visualize.
• Automate tasks: Automate repetitive tasks like follow-ups and reminders to save time and reduce manual effort.

2. Lead qualification

You can also use a CRM to qualify leads by using the following features.

• Scoring system: Implement a lead scoring system to prioritize high-value prospects based on criteria such as budget, project scope, and timeline.
• Segmentation: Segment leads into categories like hot, warm, and cold to tailor your approach and focus on the most promising opportunities.
• Qualifying questions: Develop a set of qualifying questions to quickly assess a lead's fit for your consulting services.
• CRM integration: Use CRM features like lead tracking and analytics to monitor lead activity and engagement levels.

3. Outreach and follow-up

Instead of manually following-up with contacts further down the line, you can also automate this process through your CRM.

• Email automation: Set up automated email sequences to nurture leads, send proposals, and follow up on consultations.
• LinkedIn campaigns: Use LinkedIn automation tools to send personalized connection requests and follow-up messages to potential clients.
• Templates: Create templates for common outreach scenarios to ensure consistent and professional communication.
• Schedule reminders: Use your CRM to schedule follow-up reminders and track the response rate to optimize your outreach strategy.

4. Nurture existing client relationships

A CRM can also help you nurture existing business relationships.

• Regular check-ins: Schedule regular check-ins with existing clients to maintain relationships and identify new opportunities.
• Value-added content: Share valuable content like case studies, whitepapers, and industry insights to keep clients engaged and informed.
• Personalized offers: Use CRM data to tailor upselling and cross-selling offers based on client needs and past interactions.
• Feedback loops: Collect feedback from clients to improve your services and identify areas for additional support or new offerings.
  

How to evaluate and choose a CRM

With a lot of CRMs on the market, it can be hard to figure out which one fits your requirements best. To help you with your decision making process, we've put together some of our best tips that you can adapt accordingly.

1. Define your requirements

For a small consulting business, it's crucial to identify the key features you need in a CRM. Look for functionalities such as client management, project tracking, and integration with other tools you use daily. Additionally, consider ease of use and scalability, ensuring the CRM can grow with your business. If you're unsure where to start, start with the following key features we've rounded up for you.

Key features of a CRM for small consulting business

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds Leads, Customers email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks Leads, Customers through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports Leads, Customers from LinkedIn and tracks conversations within the CRM.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment is vital. While it's tempting to go for the cheapest option, ensure that the CRM you choose offers the features you need to improve efficiency and client satisfaction. Remember, a slightly higher initial investment can lead to significant long-term gains.

3. Selection process

Start by researching CRM vendors that specialize in solutions for small consulting businesses. Look for reviews, case studies, and testimonials. Shortlist vendors that align with your business needs and budget. Contact them for demos and ask specific questions about how their CRM can address your unique challenges.

4. Get a demo

Before finalising your decision, try different CRM platforms to get a hands-on experience. Compare their features, usability, and customer support. Pay attention to how well each CRM integrates with your existing workflow. Gather feedback from your team and make an informed decision based on overall performance and alignment with your business goals. Get started with a demo of folk here.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

1. Import Your Data into Your New CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM can be seamless if you import your data correctly. Start by exporting your current data as a CSV file. For example, if you're using HubSpot, you can follow their guide on how to export records. Similarly, if you're using Pipedrive, you can check their instructions on exporting data.

2. Create a First Pipeline

Setting up your first pipeline is a critical step. Tailor it to the specific stages of your consulting projects. For a small consulting business, you might include stages like Initial Contact, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Project Kickoff, and Project Completion. This customization will help you track the progress of each client interaction and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

3. Onboard Your Team

Effective CRM implementation requires team buy-in. Conduct training sessions to familiarize your team with the new system. Highlight key features and demonstrate how the CRM can streamline their daily tasks. Encourage them to explore and use the CRM regularly to maximize its benefits for your consulting business.

The 5 best CRMs for small consulting business

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform for managing contacts, workflows, and relationships, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting.

Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, as well as other social media platforms like Instagram and X to track contacts and leverage your network within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Email integration: Full email sync compatible with Gmail and Outlook, with access to templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• AI-Powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: Folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money.
• Full personalization: Make folk work for you through its custom fields, pipelines, dashboards automations, and workflows.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Cons

• Reporting: Currently lacks reporting features, but there are plans for future implementation.

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14-day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Premium: $40 per user, per month.
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently.

Key features

• Marketing hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools, essential for nurturing leads and converting them into customers.
• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting, crucial for managing client relationships and closing deals efficiently.
• Service Hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases to ensure high client satisfaction and retention.
• Operations hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, streamlining operations and improving productivity.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to improve sales efficiency and focus on high-potential clients.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The intuitive design makes it accessible for users of all skill levels, allowing small consulting businesses to get up and running quickly.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version with essential CRM features, ideal for small businesses and startups on a budget.
• Seamless integration with Marketing Tools: Integrates smoothly with its marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for managing client relationships and campaigns.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing, lead nurturing, and sales workflows, saving time and improving efficiency.
• Extensive learning resources: HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of free courses, certifications, and resources to help users get the most out of the platform.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: Pricing can become expensive as you move to higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small businesses as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, which can restrict flexibility for growing businesses.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, which can be a drawback for businesses with larger lists.
• Limited reporting capabilities in lower tiers: Detailed reporting and analytics features are often locked behind higher-priced plans, limiting insights for businesses on lower tiers.

Price and plans

Prices and plans on the CRM suite for an annual subscription are as follows.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month.
• Professional: $450 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.

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3. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus. It has journey orchestration, sales process management, and workflow automation features. There's also something for marketing teams, including event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Sales automation: Automates sales tasks like lead management, deal tracking, and follow-up actions, helping consulting businesses streamline their sales processes.
• Customizable dashboards and reports: Allows users to create and customize dashboards and reports for in-depth analytics, crucial for tracking client engagement and project progress.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrates with email, phone, social media, and live chat to manage customer interactions, ensuring seamless communication with leads and clients.
• Lead and contact management: Manages customer information, tracks interactions, and segments contacts for targeted campaigns, essential for nurturing client relationships.
• Workflow automation: Automates routine tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort, freeing up time for consultants to focus on client work.

Pros

• Affordability: Zoho CRM offers competitive pricing with various tiers, making it accessible to small consulting businesses.
• Customization: Extensive customization options allow businesses to tailor the CRM to their specific needs, including custom fields, modules, and workflows.
• Integration with Zoho suite: Seamless integration with other Zoho products (like Zoho Books, Zoho Projects, and Zoho Campaigns) creates a comprehensive ecosystem for managing different business functions.
• Multi-channel communication: Zoho CRM supports email, phone, social media, and live chat, enabling businesses to manage all customer interactions from a single platform.
• AI-powered features: Zia, the AI assistant, provides intelligent insights, predictive analytics, and task automation, helping to improve sales and marketing efficiency.

Cons

• Steep learning curve: The extensive customization options can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a significant time investment to master the platform.
• Complex setup: Initial setup and configuration can be complex, particularly for businesses without technical expertise or dedicated IT resources.
• Performance issues: Occasional reports of slow performance, especially with large datasets or complex operations, can hinder productivity.
• Limited third-party integrations: While Zoho integrates well with its own suite of products, integration with third-party applications can be limited or require additional effort.
• Feature limitations in lower tiers: The lower-priced plans may lack advanced features, pushing users to upgrade to more expensive tiers for essential functionality.

Price and plans

Zoho's free plan is limited to three users. After that, more features and seats are available on an annual subscription plan as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Professional: $35 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $50 per user, per month.

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a web-based CRM for small businesses, offering lead management, automation, email integration, and customizable pipelines to optimize sales.

Key features

• Lead and deal management: Centralized tools to manage leads and customers, interactions, and sales pipelines, helping consulting teams act quickly on opportunities.
• Sales automation: Workflow automation to handle repetitive tasks, such as lead routing, follow-ups, and email sequences, allowing consulting teams to focus on client engagements and closing deals.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM, ensuring no client interaction is missed.
• Advanced reporting and analytics: Real-time data analytics and custom reporting tools to track performance, forecast revenue, and gain actionable insights, crucial for small consulting businesses.
• Customization and security: Options to customize pipelines, fields, and user permissions, with robust security measures to protect sensitive client data.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The CRM is known for its intuitive and visually appealing interface, making it easy for consulting teams to navigate and manage their client pipelines.
• Sales pipeline focus: Designed for managing sales pipelines, offering a visual approach that helps consulting teams track deals and activities effectively.
• Customization: Allows for a high degree of customization, enabling users to tailor the platform to their specific consulting processes with custom fields and workflows.
• Affordability: Offers competitive pricing, making it accessible to small consulting businesses without sacrificing essential CRM features.
• Automation features: Includes automation tools that help streamline repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails and moving deals through the pipeline, saving time and boosting productivity.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Lacks some of the more advanced CRM features, such as extensive marketing automation and AI capabilities, which are available in other platforms.
• Basic reporting in lower tiers: The reporting and analytics features in the basic plans are somewhat limited, requiring upgrades to access more in-depth insights.
• No built-in email marketing: Does not include built-in email marketing features, requiring users to integrate with third-party email tools for such functionality.
• Limited customer support hours: Customer support is not available 24/7, which can be inconvenient for businesses operating in different time zones or needing immediate assistance.
• Price increases with add-ons: The cost can increase quickly when additional features or integrations are added, making it less cost-effective for businesses with growing needs.

Price and plans

Pipedrive's annual subscription plan basis is as follows.

• Essential plan: Starts from $24 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $44 per user, per month.
• Power plan: Starts from $79 per user, per month.
• Enterprise plan: Starts from $129 per user, per month.

5. Streak

Streak is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that integrates directly with Gmail, allowing users to manage their sales pipeline and customer interactions from within their email inbox. Designed to simplify CRM tasks, Streak offers features such as email tracking, mail merge, task management, and pipeline visualization, all seamlessly embedded in Gmail’s interface.

Key features

• Advanced CRM: Manage leads and customers efficiently with robust CRM capabilities.
• Shared pipelines: Collaborate with your team by sharing sales and project pipelines.
• Email tracking and snippets: Track email opens and use pre-written snippets for quick responses.
• Contacts: Store and manage all your leads and customer information in one place.
• Google Workspace integrations: Seamlessly integrate with Google Workspace for enhanced productivity.

Pros

• Seamless Gmail integration: Streak is directly integrated into Gmail, allowing users to manage CRM activities without leaving their email inbox. This integration simplifies the user experience, especially for those already familiar with Gmail.
• User-friendly and intuitive: Because it operates within Gmail, Streak is easy to use and requires minimal training. The familiar interface makes it accessible even to those new to CRM software.
• Customizable pipelines: Streak allows users to create and customize pipelines to fit various workflows, such as sales, project management, customer support, and hiring, offering flexibility across different business processes.
• Email tracking and automation: Streak includes useful features like email tracking, mail merge, and automated follow-ups, which help users manage communication more effectively and improve response rates.
• Collaboration features: Streak enables real-time collaboration, allowing team members to share pipelines, emails, and notes, improving teamwork and visibility across sales or project management efforts.

Cons

• Limited advanced CRM features: Compared to standalone CRM platforms, Streak lacks some advanced features like detailed analytics, advanced reporting, and marketing automation, which may not meet the needs of larger or more complex organizations.
• Reliance on Gmail: As Streak is tied to Gmail, it may not be suitable for businesses that use other email platforms. This dependency also means that any changes or issues with Gmail could directly impact Streak’s functionality.
• Integration limitations: Streak has fewer integrations with other software tools compared to more robust CRM systems, potentially limiting its effectiveness for businesses that rely heavily on a variety of third-party applications.
• Potential email clutter: Since Streak operates within Gmail, managing a large volume of CRM data within an email interface can lead to clutter and make it harder to maintain a clear, organized inbox.

Price and plans

Streak's annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Pro: Starts from $49 per user, per month.
• Pro +: Starts from $69 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: Starts from $129 per user, per month.

Conclusion

Choosing the best CRM for your small consulting business is crucial for streamlining operations, enhancing client relationships, and driving growth. Among the top contenders, Folk stands out for its intuitive interface, seamless LinkedIn integration, and AI-powered features. HubSpot offers a comprehensive suite with robust automation capabilities, while Zoho provides extensive customization options at competitive prices. Pipedrive excels in sales pipeline management with a user-friendly design, and Streak integrates seamlessly with Gmail for email-centric workflows. Each of these CRMs caters to different needs and budgets, so evaluate your specific requirements to find the best fit for your business. To experience the benefits firsthand, try folk for free here.

Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do Founder of a small consulting business use as a CRM?

Founders of small consulting businesses often use CRMs like Folk, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive, and Streak to manage client relationships, streamline operations, and enhance productivity. Folk stands out due to its modern features, customizable pipelines, and seamless integrations, making it a top choice for many.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your process. A CRM can significantly improve your business's efficiency by centralizing client information, automating tasks, and providing valuable insights for better decision-making.

How much does a CRM cost?

The cost of a CRM typically ranges from $15 to $150 per user per month, depending on the features and subscription plan. For example, Folk offers plans starting at $20 per user per month, while HubSpot's plans range from $15 to $1,500 per user per month.

Does folk’s CRM respond to small consulting business needs?

Yes, Folk's CRM is well-suited for small consulting businesses. It offers an intuitive interface, customizable pipelines, LinkedIn integration, and AI-driven tools that streamline workflows and enhance productivity. Its ease of use and comprehensive features make it an ideal choice for managing client relationships and improving overall efficiency.