How to set up a CRM from scratch in one week

Protocolo de resolución

1. 01

   Day 1 — define your pipeline stages

   Write 4–7 stages tied to buyer actions, not rep activities. Example: New Lead → Qualified → Demo Booked → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Closed Won/Lost. Each stage needs one exit criterion — what must a buyer DO before the deal moves forward.

2. 02

   Day 2–3 — configure properties and connect email

   Add custom properties your team actually tracks (industry, deal size, lead source). Connect your Gmail or Outlook so every sent email logs automatically. This eliminates 80% of manual data entry.

3. 03

   Day 4–5 — import contacts (clean data only)

   Export your spreadsheet. Remove duplicates, fix formatting, fill required fields. Import max 1,000 records first to QA. Then import the rest. Never import junk — it pollutes every report forever.

4. 04

   Day 6–7 — set up three automations

   Automation 1: new contact → assign to rep. Automation 2: no activity in 7 days → create follow-up task. Automation 3: deal closed won → move to customer segment. These three cover 90% of the follow-up failures in most small teams.