CRM setup & business systems

Stop running the business from memory.

When customer details live in your head, your inbox, and three spreadsheets, things slip through cracks you cannot even see. A CRM set up properly puts every inquiry, job, and follow-up in one place, and tells somebody what is next.

How it works

CRM setup, in four stages.

Two to three weeks. The first week is watching how work actually moves through your business, which is usually not how anyone thinks it does.

01

Map it

Every place an inquiry can arrive and every step between that and getting paid.

02

Build it

Pipeline stages that mean something, the fewest fields possible, and nothing that exists only for a report.

03

Connect it

Forms, calendar, email, invoicing, and phone all writing to one record automatically.

04

Document it

Written documentation and a walkthrough recording, so the next person can read rather than guess.

Why it matters

A CRM you don't trust is an expensive spreadsheet.

Half-finished setups are worse than none at all, because you stop looking at them and go back to running everything from memory while still paying the subscription.

1 place
every inquiry, job, and follow-up, instead of four
2–3 wks
from first call to a system your team will actually use
30
platforms documented for one client, so nothing depended on one person's memory
0
tools you have to switch away from, in most cases
The usual state of things

Bought it, half set it up, stopped opening it.

Almost everyone who calls us already pays for a CRM. Very few of them trust what is in it, and that is the actual problem.

What we usually find
  • The same customer in there three times with three different spellings
  • Deals sitting in stages that stopped meaning anything a year ago
  • Twelve required fields, so people invent answers to get past them
  • Inquiries arriving by form, phone, and DM into three unconnected places
  • An automation somebody built once that quietly stopped firing months ago
  • One person who knows how it all works, and no written record anywhere
What you get instead
  • Deduplicated contacts with one record per real person
  • Pipeline stages that describe what actually happens next
  • The fewest fields that still answer the questions you ask every week
  • Every channel writing into the same record automatically
  • Alerts when an integration fails, rather than silence
  • Written documentation, so the system outlasts whoever built it
The AI question

AI is only as good as the data underneath it.

Every CRM now sells an AI layer, and some of it genuinely helps. None of it helps if the records it reads are duplicated, half-filled, and two years stale.

What AI genuinely does well

  • Summarizes a long thread into what actually matters
  • Drafts replies and meeting notes in seconds
  • Scores leads once there is real history to score against
  • Flags deals that have gone quiet
  • Answers questions about your data in plain language

What it cannot do on its own

  • Decide what a pipeline stage means for your business
  • Keep records clean as contacts move, merge, and change
  • Notice that a workflow silently stopped firing five weeks ago
  • Reconcile three tools that disagree about the same customer
  • Make anyone want to use a system that is more work than not using it

Automate a broken process and you get a broken process, faster.

Why the mapping week comes before the building week
Do the math

What the manual admin is costing you.

Your numbers. Not a promise of savings, just what the repeatable part of your week is worth if it stopped needing you.

Copying details between tools, chasing updates, re-entering the same thing.
Your own billable rate, or what you pay someone to do it.
Rarely all of it. 50 to 70 is realistic for most businesses.
This decides what we would connect first.
Annual cost of the automatable part
$17,280
About 4.8 hours a week, or 230 hours a year, spent on work that does not need a person.

A full CRM setup is $1,900, once.
hours × automatable % × weeks × hourly value
Want this breakdown in writing?
We will send your figures and the first two things we would automate, whether or not you book a call.
No newsletter, no sequence you didn't ask for. One email with your numbers.

Being honest about this one: saved hours only become money if you fill them with something that earns, and some of what looks automatable turns out to need judgment. Treat it as the size of the opportunity, not a check.

Who it's for

Built for owner-operators.

If growth is starting to break the way you have always done things, that is the signal. Businesses run on memory and good intentions until they cannot be.

We work with small independent businesses across North County San Diego, the Temecula Valley, and Colorado's Front Range.

  • Anyone paying for a CRM they stopped opening
  • Businesses tracking jobs across several spreadsheets
  • Teams where only one person knows how things work
  • Trades and contractors juggling quotes and scheduling
  • Anyone hiring soon who needs the process written down
  • Businesses whose tools do not talk to each other
Proof

Built in tools the client already owned.

For Alchemy Print Co. we connected forms, tagging, email journeys, and analytics across four landing pages, without adding a single new subscription.

The constraints
  • The email platform could not detect a direct reply, so sequences would chase people who had already said yes.
  • Built-in exit conditions required a connected online store, which a print shop does not have.
  • Two automation platforms were candidates, but only one was already paid for.
  • Thirty separate platforms were in use across the business with no written record of who had access to what.
What we built
  • Zapier automations in the client's own paid account, so nothing depended on us.
  • If/else tag gates before every email, checking for a reply rather than trusting the platform to notice.
  • Form submissions tagged automatically and routed to the right one of three journeys.
  • A platform access workbook documenting all thirty tools, logins, and owners.

We wrote down the one step that still has to happen manually rather than hiding it. Every automation has a weak joint, and a client who knows exactly where it is beats a system that looks seamless right up until it embarrasses them.

Pricing

Two ways to work with us.

Unpackaged at an hourly rate for one fix, or a fixed-scope setup. Documentation and training are included in every package.

Hourly

$85
per hour, no minimum

A deduplication pass, one integration, a broken automation, or a report you cannot get out of the system.

Book a call

CRM Setup & Cleanup

$1,900
fixed scope, 2 to 3 weeks

Process mapping, pipeline build, contact deduplication, integrations to your existing tools, written documentation, and a walkthrough recording.

Book a call

Monthly Retainer

$1,200
15 hours a month

Systems work across the whole business, not just the CRM. You choose what the hours go to each month.

Book a call

Migrations between platforms are quoted separately, because the work depends entirely on what is in the old system. Full pricing is on the pricing page.

Questions

The things people actually ask.

What does a CRM actually do?
It keeps every customer, inquiry, and deal in one place with a record of what happened and what is next. The value is not the software, it is that the business stops running out of your head, your inbox, and three spreadsheets that disagree.
Which CRM should I use?
Usually the one you already pay for. HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce, Ontraport, and Pipedrive all work for a small business. Switching is expensive and rarely the real problem. A half-finished setup is the problem, and that is fixable in whatever you own.
My CRM is a mess. Is it worth fixing or should I start over?
Almost always worth fixing. Duplicate contacts, deals stuck in the wrong stage, and fields nobody fills in are all repairable. Starting over means re-importing the same mess with more steps. We audit first and tell you honestly which one you are looking at.
How long does a CRM setup take?
Two to three weeks for most small businesses. Week one is mapping how work actually moves through your business, which is usually different from how anyone thinks it does. Week two is building it, and week three is testing with real deals before handover.
Can you connect my CRM to my other tools?
Yes, that is most of the job. Forms, calendars, email, invoicing, and phone all feeding one record. We build integrations in Zapier or the platform's own connectors, in an account you own, so nothing depends on us continuing to be involved.
Will my team actually use it?
Only if it is less work than not using it. That is a design problem, not a training problem. We cut the required fields to the minimum, automate anything that can be filled in automatically, and remove every step that exists only for reporting.
What is the difference between a CRM and a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet records what happened. A CRM also tells you what is next and reminds somebody to do it. If your spreadsheet is working and nothing is slipping, keep it. Most people find things slip quietly and they only notice at the end of a slow month.
Do you provide training and documentation?
Yes, and it is included. You get a walkthrough recording, written documentation of how the pipeline works, and the reasoning behind the setup. If someone new joins in a year they can read it rather than guess or call us.
Can AI run my CRM for me?
It can help with drafting, summarizing, and scoring. It cannot decide what a stage means for your business, keep your data clean, or notice when a workflow silently stopped firing. Those are setup and maintenance jobs, and they are where CRMs actually fail.
What does CRM setup cost?
A full setup and cleanup is $1,900 for a fixed scope. Ongoing maintenance is $350 a month for four hours, or a 15-hour retainer at $1,200 if you want systems work across the whole business. Single fixes are $85 an hour.

Get it out of your head.

Send us the details and we'll map where your leads currently go, and tell you whether your setup is worth fixing or worth finishing.

Prefer to talk? Call 442-291-9337 or book a free call →