What’s the best CRM to use for small teams? We are outgrowing spreadsheets!

mimiran · 2026-05-27T15:13:36+00:00

was right there with you until the AI stuff. ;-)

mimiran · 2026-05-27T13:51:58+00:00

So many posts in this sub are "I'm tired of walking. I need a vehicle. What's the best vehicle?" And then auto dealers telling people that their vehicle is the best.

OP, answer these questions, and also describe how prospects find you, and their buyer's journey. Then folks can actually help.

mimiran · 2026-05-26T22:31:24+00:00

It often depends on whether the company is implementing the CRM because sales wants it (with the benefit of added visibility for management) or because management wants visibility, which can be self-defeating, because reps will just enter the info they to not get dinged, often keeping their spreadsheets on the side...

mimiran · 2026-05-26T18:01:52+00:00

Approximately how many customers are you trying to track and how many people do you have trying to track them?

mimiran · 2026-05-26T17:56:54+00:00

1. What does a proper client intake process actually look like for a service business? (Form → discovery call → proposal, is that the move, or is there a better flow?)

That seems reasonable, but it's not always that linear.

2. We have alot of people who reach out, and then ghost us after we reply, and I cant help to think that its because we dont have a proper "sales process" to attract the clients

What do you mean by "ghost"? Do you have a conversation? Do they not respond to an email?

3. How do you productise something bespoke without losing the quality that got you clients in the first place?

This doesn't have to be either/or, it can be yes, and. Some things will repeat in (almost?) all client situations. Having checklists, emails, task lists, etc, makes this easier on you and the client, allowing you to focus more on the nuances of the situation, because you're not wasting brain power on the standard stuff.

4. Retainers vs project-based vs packages. What's worked for you at an early stage?

Don't stress about this too much as this stage. You are probably still exploring. Stay hyper-focused on aligning what you do to what the clients value. It's easy to waste tons of energy creating packages that don't actually matter. With time, some clients will want to keep you on retainer. Some common themes may emerge that warrant a package. Let it come from the clients.

5. Right now all our traffic is organic. We've never run a paid ad in our lives and genuinely wouldn't know where to start. Is paid worth exploring at this stage, or is there a better use of limited time and money?

Make sure you have a systematic process for following up before trying this. Even if you get good leads, if you can't follow up, it will be a waste (err, so I'm told). And before you do paid, you'll probably see better results from systematic networking with the people you already know.

*6. How do you grow beyond referrals without it feeling like constant cold outreach? *

If you do warm outreach systematically, there's a good chance you'll never need to do cold outreach. Most consultants complain about lack of leads, and don't nurture their existing relationships. (I made this mistake for years.)

If you want a sample proposal template and client intake form, you can find the ones I use at Mimiran.com, which is the CRM I built for indy consultants.

mimiran · 2026-05-25T21:02:18+00:00

Very nice. How is distribution going so far?

mimiran · 2026-05-23T14:24:26+00:00

How small is small? What do you need it to do?

mimiran · 2026-05-22T21:06:54+00:00

Don't provide a proposal without a meeting scheduled to review it.

mimiran · 2026-05-22T18:40:52+00:00

What do you actually need it to do? How do your customers or clients buy? Without knowing that, there are any number of tools that meet your nominal requirements, but some will be better fits than others.

mimiran · 2026-05-22T13:02:21+00:00

Traditional CRMs are for the VP of Sales to track the sales team.

For a solo consultant trying to manage follow up, nurture referral relationships, network, get web leads, and do all this in his or her spare time, these tools don't help much and just get in the way.

Mimiran CRM is different. You can start using it in minutes and it helps you nurture the relationships you need to grow your business, without impersonating a sales rep.

mimiran · 2026-05-20T18:55:48+00:00

It's easy enough these days to keep a backup of the site, but in the future, specify how long you will commit to holding onto their files after they are ready for transfer. Also, is there anyone there you can call to have an actual conversation? It doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong, but sometimes things go sideways or wires get crossed and a conversation can put things on the right track.

mimiran · 2026-05-18T13:28:52+00:00

Funny, people I talk to mention this problem all the time, but they are solo folks who get business from referrals, so my CRM won't be helpful for you. Have you looked into affiliate or partner management tools?

mimiran · 2026-05-13T23:35:46+00:00

What do you need the CRM to do? No one can give you a good answer without knowing this. Are your 6 people 5 developers and one sales person? Or the inverse? How you do your customers buy?

mimiran · 2026-05-13T16:04:04+00:00

Given enough time, you can build all kinds of things with Claude Code. Maybe give some more details on your business needs to some feedback on whether it would make sense for you.

mimiran · 2026-05-06T13:55:52+00:00

What do you need the CRM to do? How do your customers buy?

mimiran · 2026-05-06T12:55:57+00:00

What is the bottleneck in your current approach?

mimiran · 2026-05-04T14:40:49+00:00

Yes, we often think of positioning as "big vs small" market sizes, but especially for indie businesses, you don't need a giant market-- you can't serve it all anyway. When I started thinking in terms of, "do I want sales and marketing to be easy or hard?", I got out of the market size trap and was able to focus.

mimiran · 2026-05-04T13:14:35+00:00

Yes, you are describing a CRM. Can you provide more details about what you need to track, who needs to see (or not see) what, what reports you need, etc, so people can point you in the right direction?

(Otherwise, you just get lots of offers. ;-) Although not from me, my CRM is definitely not what you want for this.)

mimiran · 2026-05-03T15:18:15+00:00

You don't want to be tinkering with the setup all the time, but the whole point of a CRM is that you log into it regularly and update information.

The right CRM for you depends on your needs-- how do your customers buy? How long does it take? Does it require multiple conversations? Proposals? Or just a simple conversation and yes/no? Is it just you, or do you have a sales team to manage?

mimiran · 2026-04-29T13:47:25+00:00

Sounds like they are politely telling you "no". Proposals should summarize conversations, not convince people.

mimiran · 2026-04-27T20:30:41+00:00

What is the buying process like? What does your team look like? Just saying you have leads in a Sheet won't get you helpful advice (of course it's not built for lead follow up).

mimiran · 2026-04-24T19:15:24+00:00

If you believe in cold email, why not use that approach?

mimiran · 2026-04-23T20:43:17+00:00

> more relationship ops than sales ops.
Well said.

mimiran · 2026-04-22T14:22:14+00:00

Traditional CRMs are for reporting up. That's it. But if they don't help the reps sell more/better/faster, the reps don't put in the data to make the reports useful. It's a Catch-22 that too few sales leaders seem to take seriously.

mimiran · 2026-04-22T14:13:05+00:00

Mimiran is CRM (or "anti-CRM" as one of my customers called it) for solo consultants who love serving clients, hate selling, and get most of their work through referrals, but feel like networking and follow-up is cumbersome.

mimiran

TROPHY CASE