How to choose a CRM consultant for your small business: six questions to ask first

I've worked with more than one founder who was sold into a CRM (usually GoHighLevel) and found it too overwhelming. The advice to use it came from coaches, from CRM specialists and from community groups. Nobody was being malicious, but the business was expected to fit around the tool.

This post is about how to tell the difference between an adviser who starts with your business and one who starts with their favourite tool. I'm not affiliated with any platform, so I have nothing to gain from which one you pick.

Why advisers have favourites

Most advisers aren't trying to mislead you. There are usually two reasons a favourite tool turns up.

The first is money. Some platforms pay the people who recommend them. That doesn't mean the tool won't work for you. It does mean you should know about it before you take their advice.

The second is skill. Some people choose to specialise in one platform so they know it inside out. There's nothing wrong with that. However, I find they can get stuck on how processes "should" work in that tool, instead of how the work is already getting done in your business. Their advice then starts with the tool and ends with your team, when it should be the other way round.

Either way, the answer is the same. Ask good questions before you hire anyone, including me.

Six questions to ask any CRM consultant

You don't need to know anything technical to ask these. The answers will tell you a lot.

Do you earn anything if I choose a particular tool? A good adviser will answer this. If you get a vague reply, that tells you something too.

Which tools have you set up? Someone who can only say good things about one tool may not have looked closely at the others.

Will you start with learning our processes, before you open any tool? This is the one I'd care about most. The right CRM follows your real process. If the first conversation is a demo, the tool has come first.

Will you show me two or three options and say why you'd rule out the others? One recommendation with no alternatives is a sales pitch. Two or three, with reasons, lets you make the decision.

Who trains my team, and what do we get to keep afterwards? A CRM nobody uses is a waste of money. Ask for training and written or recorded guides, so the knowledge doesn't leave with the adviser.

What happens when something needs to change? Your business will change. You should know whether you can adjust the system yourself, or whether you'll need to call them every time.

How I work

I'll answer my own questions, so you can see what a tool-neutral process looks like.

No, I'm not affiliated with any platform.

I've worked with HubSpot, Zoho CRM, OnePageCRM, Dubsado, GoHighLevel, Booqable and Notion, among others. I love learning new tools. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I start by learning how your business runs: the processes, the workflows, how your team talks to each other, and the tools you already use and want to keep. Only then do I research the options against your situation. I come back with two or three choices and one clear recommendation, and I explain why, and what each option doesn't do. You choose. Nothing moves forward until you're confident.

I do the training. I build the system around your processes, document it as I go, and run a live session with your team. They also get a recorded walkthrough to come back to.

Your team has access to everything, so they can make updates themselves. For clients who'd like extra support, I offer an optional retainer. Some past clients have also brought me back to train new starters on the systems I built for them.

When you may not need an adviser at all

Not everyone does. If you know exactly which part of your client work is causing the trouble, and you have the time to set a tool up properly, you can often do it yourself.

My post on choosing a CRM for a small service business in the UK goes through four options and the questions that narrow them down.

Help is worth it when you don't have the time or headspace, when you've tried a tool before and it didn't stick, or when you can't tell which advice to trust.

If you'd like a second opinion

If you're a small service business with a team and you're ready to leave spreadsheets behind, my CRM setup services are built for that. I choose the right CRM with you, build it around your processes and train your team. Most projects take 12 weeks, and some take longer. It starts from £3,000, with a fixed price agreed before we begin.

If you'd like to talk it through first, you can contact me here. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.