CRM for Coaches and Consultants: Discovery Call to Paid Client

A CRM for coaches and consultants doesn't need to be complicated. You need to know who you've talked to, who's considering a proposal, who's signed, and who owes you money. The trouble is that most solo coaches and small consulting firms keep those answers in four places: a scheduling app, an inbox, a folder of contracts and an accounting tool.

When everything lives in separate tools, follow-up slips. A prospect who loved the discovery call never gets the proposal. A signed client's invoice goes out late. A past client who'd happily come back for another engagement never hears from you.

Here's a straightforward setup that takes someone from first call to active client and keeps the admin light.

The coaching and consulting client journey

Most coaching and consulting businesses follow the same basic path, whether you're a leadership coach, a business consultant or a fractional CFO:

1. Someone finds you through a referral, a talk, LinkedIn or your website.
2. They book a discovery call.
3. You send a proposal or package options.
4. They sign an agreement.
5. You invoice and start the work.
6. The engagement ends, and ideally renews or turns into a referral.

A CRM should make every one of those steps a little faster and nothing should depend on you remembering.

A simple pipeline for coaches and consultants

Keep the stages close to that journey:

Put a value on each card, like the package price or project fee. Then you can glance at your board and see how much is in "proposal sent" this month.

The proposal stage needs a nudge

Prospects rarely say no to a proposal. They just don't reply. A follow-up task due a few days after you send it, and a second one a week later, will recover more business than any marketing campaign. Keep the message short: "Happy to answer any questions, or adjust the scope if that would help."

Booking discovery calls without the back-and-forth

The fastest way to lose a warm lead is a week of "does Tuesday work?" emails. A booking page lets them pick a time right away.

A few things that help:

• Ask two or three questions on the booking page: what they want help with, their role or company, and how they heard about you.
• Add buffer time after each call so you can write notes while it's fresh.
• Send a confirmation email with what to expect and anything to think about beforehand.

When the booking lands, an automation can tag the contact, send your prep email and create a task to review their answers before the call. Our guide to online booking for small businesses has more detail.

Agreements signed electronically

Once someone says yes, send the agreement while they're still excited. A coaching agreement or consulting engagement letter usually covers scope, schedule, fees, payment terms, cancellation and confidentiality.

To make it fast:

1. Keep a template with merge fields for the client's name, company, package, fee and start date.
2. Send it from the client's record so the signed copy stays attached to them.
3. Watch for opens and views, and follow up if it sits unsigned.

In the US, the ESIGN Act and UETA give electronic signatures legal effect for most business documents, including typical service agreements. For larger engagements or unusual terms, have a lawyer review your template. How to get a document signed electronically covers what makes an e-signature hold up.

Invoicing and getting paid

Coaches and consultants often bill in a few common ways: a package paid up front, a monthly retainer, a deposit with a balance due later, or project milestones.

Whatever your model, a few habits keep cash flowing:

• Invoice the day the agreement is signed for anything due up front.
• Use partial payments for deposits and milestones so the balance stays visible.
• Send reminders before and after the due date, in a friendly tone.
• Know when the invoice is viewed. If a client says they never got it, you'll know whether it was opened.

Keeping past clients close

Your best source of new work is usually people who already know you. Past clients renew, refer, and come back when a new challenge comes up.

• Tag every completed client as alumni or past-client.
• Add a check-in task for three and six months after the engagement ends.
• Ask for a referral or testimonial at the end, while the results are fresh. Use what they give you, and only with their permission.
• Note the details they share about what's next for them, so your check-in is personal.

How Everything Portal handles this

Coaching and consulting aren't among the nine ready-made industry setups, so you start from the general setup and rename things: people become clients, deals become engagements, and your stages follow the table above.

Here's how each step fits:

• Booking pages let prospects book discovery calls themselves, on your own web address if you like, and an automation can tag, email and create a prep task when they book.
• The deals pipeline shows every proposal and its value, and you drag cards as things move.
• Documents and e-signature send agreements from templates with merge fields. Signers get a private link, type or draw their signature, and everyone receives the signed copy with a signing certificate.
• Invoices include line items, tax and discounts, partial payments and reminders. You see when the email is opened, when the invoice is viewed and on what device. Online card payments aren't available yet, so clients see your payment instructions; card payments are on the roadmap.
• Goals let you set a monthly revenue or new-client target and see each day whether you're on pace.
• QuickBooks Online isn't built in yet (it's on the roadmap), but we can build a custom connection to QuickBooks for your business if that's where your books live.

Frequently asked questions