Skip to content
GullySales
GullySales
Tell us what you need

Business consultants · CRM

Keep every referrer, owner and open proposal in one place that is not your phone.

A CRM for a consulting practice is a shared record of referrers, owners, meetings, proposals and past clients, so no relationship depends on one partner's memory. GullySales sets up a pipeline that fits how engagements are actually sold, and writes down the rules for keeping it current.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of business consultants at work in India

What CRM means

A CRM is the record where every enquiry, call and quote is kept against a customer, replacing separate notebooks, spreadsheets and memory. GullySales sets up or cleans an existing CRM and reports from it by enquiry outcome rather than by activity logged.

Also for business consultants

Sales and marketing for business consultants, the overview.

Last updated 5 Oct 2026.

For business consultants

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “The pipeline lives in the founder's head and phone”

    Names sit in WhatsApp chats, visiting cards and a notebook. When the founder is on a client site, nobody else knows which proposal is waiting or which owner asked to be called after the board meeting.

  • “A consulting deal has stages a sales tool does not know”

    A diagnostic, a proposal, a family discussion, a signed scope and a follow-on phase are the real stages. A generic lead-new-lead-won list hides which engagements are stuck and where owners drop away.

  • “The referrer is as important as the owner”

    When a CA or banker sends work, the practice owes them an update and thanks. A record that notes the source for each enquiry shows which referrers are active, which went quiet and who deserves a visit.

  • “Past clients are the cheapest pipeline and the most neglected”

    An engagement closes, the report is delivered and the contact disappears from view. A record of end dates, what was handed over and what remained unfinished shows when to call about implementation or a retainer.

What we do

What we deliver for business consultants.

The work available for this need. We agree the deliverables and responsibilities for your engagement in writing.

  1. Pipeline built around engagement stages

    Stages named in your own words, from first conversation through diagnostic, proposal, family discussion, signed scope and follow-on, with the exit reasons for lost deals.

    Result: Every open conversation sits in a stage anyone in the practice can read.

  2. Referrer register

    A list of each CA, banker, lawyer and association contact, linked to the enquiries they sent and the updates owed back.

    Result: You can see which referrers send work and which have gone silent.

  3. Client and contact records

    One page per organisation with the promoter, the CFO, the decision-maker, past engagements, documents shared and the confidentiality terms.

    Result: A second consultant can pick up a conversation without asking the founder.

  4. Rules for data entry

    A one-page guide on what gets logged after a meeting, who logs it and what a call note must contain, so the record stays honest.

    Result: The team enters notes the same way every time.

  5. Past-client follow-on view

    A list of finished engagements with end dates, open recommendations and the next sensible conversation.

    Result: Each past client has a named next step.

  6. Tool selection and setup

    A recommendation among common tools used in India, matched to the size of your practice, with fields, stages and views configured.

    Result: The tool fits how your team works and not the other way round.

How the result is measured

  • Enquiries logged in the CRM
  • Data completeness
  • Reports generated from CRM data

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full CRM implementation and customisation page

Fields worth keeping

The fields a consulting practice needs on every owner, referrer and proposal.

Referrer who sent the enquiry
Filled by whoever takes the first call. Lets the partner see which CAs and bankers are sending work and which have gone quiet.
Trigger that started the search
Recorded in the owner's words after the scoping call, such as a bank notice or a retiring founder. Shows which problems bring the best engagements.
Decision makers and their roles
The partner lists the promoter, the family members and the adviser who must agree. Stops a proposal from being sent to someone who cannot sign.
Proposal sent on and decision date given
Entered the day the proposal goes out. Gives the follow-up owner a date to work from instead of relying on memory.
Engagement stage
Set from diagnostic, proposal, family discussion, signed scope or follow-on phase. Shows where owners drop away and which stage is crowded.
Handover date and what remains open
Added when the report is delivered. Tells you when to call about implementation or a retainer with something specific to say.

Who it is for

This is written for these business consultants.

  • Independent management consultants
  • Boutique strategy and operations consulting firms
  • Family business and succession consultants
  • Business growth and turnaround consultants for SMEs
  • Lean, Six Sigma and process improvement consultants
  • ISO, ZED and quality certification consultants
  • Startup, fundraising and business plan advisers
  • HR and organisation design consultants
  • Export, import and market entry advisers

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • You handle two or three engagements a year and every contact is already in the partner's memory without trouble.
  • Partners refuse to record even a line after meetings, and no one has been given the job of keeping the record.

Before you decide

Agree the work. Know how to judge it.

CRM for business consultants: use these checks to prepare, choose the scope, and review what changes.

Bring the right evidence

List the records your team uses and show how an enquiry becomes an order today. Bring examples of duplicate entries, missing owners, and reports that require manual correction.

Make the scope clear

Agree the stages, required fields, access roles, and integrations before configuring the system. Separate software subscriptions from setup, data work, and training.

Check the work in use

Ask the people who will use the CRM to complete a real handover and find the next action without help. Check that the management report can be traced back to individual records.

Know when to change course

If the process is unclear, buying a more complex CRM adds more places for confusion. Start with the minimum fields and rules the team can use consistently.

These are discussion points, not a fixed package. GullySales confirms the deliverables, responsibilities, fee, and term in writing after reading your brief and speaking with you.

How it works

How the CRM work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Sales journey agreement

    Your sales lead explains how an enquiry becomes an order, using open deals as examples. We agree which steps belong in the CRM and identify decisions needing your approval.

  2. 2

    Configuration approval

    You approve stage definitions, required fields, ownership rules, and access. Unresolved choices are settled before configuration starts.

  3. 3

    Test environment decision

    We confirm whether your plan provides a trial copy or separate pipeline. Where neither is available, changes to the live system need an agreed approach before work proceeds.

  4. 4

    Connection and rule checks

    Enquiry connections are checked before automations are activated separately. Your nominated owner verifies where records arrive and which person receives each task.

  5. 5

    Sales team acceptance

    The people handling enquiries test open deals from entry through closure. Required corrections are resolved before you approve the switch.

  6. 6

    Switch and ownership handover

    The agreed configuration goes into use, and your CRM owner receives the final record. Any post-switch corrections included in the scope are documented before handover closes.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales management. A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3 · you are here

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Is a CRM too heavy for a practice of three or four consultants?
Not if it stays small. A pipeline, a contact list and a referrer register are enough. The aim is a shared record, not a system that needs an administrator.
What about confidential client information?
Keep the record to contacts, stages and notes that carry no sensitive data. Set who can see what, and store client documents where your engagement terms already say they belong.
Our partners will not update anything. What then?
Reduce what is asked. A short note after each meeting, recorded in a fixed place, is realistic. GullySales agrees the rule with the partners first and then sets the tool up around it.
Can the CRM show which referrer sends the best work?
Yes, if every enquiry carries the referrer's name and the outcome is recorded. A referrer who sends a lot of enquiries that never sign differs from one who sends fewer that do, and the record shows that difference where memory does not.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

From the blog

Further reading for business consultants.

All articles

More for business consultants

Related work to consider.

Closest to this: leads and follow-up

Also for business consultants

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for business consultants.

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you need