How do you set up a CRM system? (Start with these 6 steps)

What is a CRM System?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. A CRM system allows you to track your customers’ contact information, background details, their stage in the customer journey (optional), interactions, deals made, and the products they’re interested in.

• Tip: If you’re just starting out, keep it simple. Begin by tracking basic contact information and expand as your needs grow.

The danger of fragmented data

How many leads do you think you’re missing? Nine out of ten? It turns out that 90% of leads are not being captured at many companies. This often happens because marketing, customer service, and sales aren’t well aligned—a common issue in medium to large organizations.

For instance, customer information might not be shared between marketing and customer service—or vice versa. Why? Because they use different systems. One for CRM, one for sales, and another for customer service. The result: fragmented data and missed opportunities.

The solution? A fully integrated CRM system

Unless… you use a CRM tool that connects marketing, sales, customer service, project management, and task management. This integration offers several key benefits:

• Leads are automatically routed to the sales team.
• Customer service can view all previous communications with a single click.
• Teams have access to the same, up-to-date customer information.

Sounds perfect, right? With FlowQi Software, this can be your reality. Want to test it? Sign up now for our Beta Program and discover how our powerful business software can transform your operations.

Setting up a CRM system in 6 steps (for SMEs and freelancers)

1. Choose the right tool for your CRM system

First things first—your CRM tool. Are you a freelancer or running a small to medium-sized business? FlowQi CRM is designed with your needs in mind.

Our CRM system comes with standard integrations for task management and project management and can easily be expanded with other essential business tools, such as a sales tool, invoicing tool, or email marketing system.

What makes our tools special?

• Flexible: You only pay for what you use—no unnecessary costs, just features that are valuable to you.
• User-friendly: No technical expertise required. Anyone on your team can use it with ease.
• Affordable: A solution that helps grow your business without straining your budget.

2. Map your customer journey

What is the process someone goes through from first contact with your brand to the moment they become a customer? This is known as the customer journey. Why is it important to understand? Because by knowing the phase your customer or prospect is in, you can tailor your communication accordingly.

There are four phases in the customer journey:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Purchase
• Aftercare

In your CRM system, you can set up automatic follow-ups after an introduction (awareness phase) or reminders for the sales process (consideration phase). This ensures you don’t lose track of any leads.

3. Define your goals

What do you want to achieve with your CRM system? Yes, generating more sales is the obvious goal, but let’s dig a little deeper—every entrepreneur has unique needs. A freelancer, for instance, may have less complex goals than a medium-sized business.

For example, a copywriter can use a CRM tool to track clients who frequently place new orders, enabling them to prioritize these clients. A marketing agency, on the other hand, can use a CRM system to organize leads at different stages of the sales process and identify deals that are close to closing.

To define your goals, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you want to improve in your customer relationships?
• Where in the sales or marketing process are you losing customers or leads?
• What processes do you want to automate?
• What information do you need to make better decisions?
• Which teams or employees need to collaborate more effectively?

These questions will give you a clear picture of your main challenges. Once you identify your goals for the CRM system, they will become more tangible, such as:

• Improving customer satisfaction through personalized communication.
• Increasing the number of leads that are successfully followed up on.
• Reducing wasted time through automation.

4. Keep it organized

It can be tempting to input everything at once, but we recommend keeping it as clear and concise as possible. Start by adding the most important information, such as:

• Contact information: Name, email, phone number

• Interactions: Emails, phone calls, appointments

• Status: Are they a (warm) lead, customer, former customer, or ambassador?

• Tasks: What actions should you take? Call back, send an offer, schedule a follow-up?

• Tip: Use labels or categories such as “potential customer,” “regular customer,” or “ambassador.” This makes filtering and prioritizing much easier.

5. Automate where possible

A CRM system truly becomes valuable when used for automation. Consider automating the following:

• Automatic follow-up reminders: You’ll receive a notification if you haven’t had contact with a customer in a while.
• Automatic follow-up reminders: You’ll receive a notification if you haven’t had contact with a customer in a while.
• Automated emails: Send a thank-you email after a purchase, or offer a discount code on a customer’s birthday.

You can also set automatic reminders to reach out to a customer three months after completing a project.

6. Add all relevant contacts to your CRM system

Ensure all relevant contacts are added to your CRM system, including current customers, newsletter subscribers, people you’ve previously interacted with who haven’t made a purchase yet, and former customers.

Look through your WhatsApp and email to gather any past contacts. Even if you haven’t communicated in a while, you can always re-engage. Don’t forget that you can also gain new contacts through your existing network. For example, as a freelancer, you can ask for referrals.

Conclusion

A CRM system helps you manage your contacts, improve communication, and ultimately increase sales. It’s an essential tool for sole traders, SMEs, and enterprises. Start with the basics and keep your CRM system simple and organized.

Sign up for our BETA Program to benefit from our fully integrated CRM tool.