TLDR (Summary)
The best CRM software for consultants is Plutio ($19/month).
Plutio connects client contact information to engagement scopes, the work, strategic recommendations, setup progress, and the complete consulting relationship. Discovery notes attach to the client before proposal creation, accepted proposals create projects with scope items as deliverable tasks, and client portals provide setup status visibility without constant email requests. Consultants stop searching across email, documents, and project tools to reconstruct client context.
According to research, 36%, with client context reconstruction across disconnected tools consuming a substantial portion. Consulting-connected CRM eliminates that search time.
For additional strategies, read our client onboarding guide.
What is CRM software for consultants?
CRM software for consultants is software that tracks client engagement scopes, strategic recommendations, the work, and setup status with complete relationship visibility.
The distinction matters: generic contact databases store names, companies, and email addresses. Sales CRM tracks pipeline stages and deal values. Consulting-focused CRM connects to engagement history, recommendation documentation, deliverable completion, and follow-up actions.
What consultant CRM actually does
Core functions include storing client contact information with engagement context attached, tracking engagement scopes from proposal through completion, documenting strategic recommendations and setup decisions, and maintaining relationship history across multiple projects. When a client calls six months after an engagement, the CRM shows what was recommended, what was implemented, and what follow-up actions were agreed.
Contact database vs engagement CRM
Contact databases answer "who is this client and how do I reach them?" Engagement CRM answers "what did we recommend, what did they implement, and what are the next strategic priorities?" For consultants, the difference determines whether you show up to calls prepared or spend the first 10 minutes reconstructing context from fragmented notes.
Sales CRM improves for closing deals. Consulting CRM improves for relationship depth across engagements. A sales pipeline tracks lead source, demo status, and contract value. Consulting engagement tracking records strategic priorities, recommendations delivered, setup barriers, and follow-up actions.
What makes consultant CRM different
Consultants manage relationships that span years with multiple engagements. A strategy consultant works with a client on market expansion in Q1, operational efficiency in Q3, and strategic planning the following year. Each engagement builds on previous work, references prior recommendations, and assumes context from earlier conversations. Without CRM that connects engagements to strategic history, every new project starts from zero instead of building on established foundation.
When CRM connects to engagement scopes, the work, strategic documents, and setup tracking, client conversations reference complete history instead of relying on memory or email archaeology.
Why you need CRM software
Consultants who grow beyond 8-10 active clients face a compounding problem: client context lives in email threads, proposal documents, project notes, and memory, with no single source showing engagement history, recommendations delivered, or setup status.
A client emails asking about the recommendation from your last engagement six months ago. The question seems simple, but the answer requires opening the proposal document to find the scope, checking project notes to see what was delivered, reviewing email threads to find setup decisions, and remembering verbal follow-up conversations. The 2-minute answer takes 15 minutes of context reconstruction. Across 20 such requests per month, 5 hours disappear into searching for information that should be immediately accessible.
The context reconstruction problem
According to research, 36%. For consultants specifically, that means time spent finding engagement scopes in proposal documents, tracking down deliverable files in project folders, reconstructing recommendations from email threads, and remembering setup decisions from verbal conversations.
Without consulting-specific CRM, every client interaction requires reconstructing context from disconnected sources. The strategic priority list lives in the proposal document. setup decisions live in email threads. Deliverable files live in project folders. Follow-up actions live in meeting notes or memory. When a client asks "what was our timeline for Phase 2?" the answer requires checking multiple places.
The fragmentation problem
You stack 4-6 disconnected tools: contact databases for client information, email for correspondence, document tools for proposals and recommendations, project management for deliverable tracking, time tracking for billable hours, and invoicing for payments. Each tool handles one function, but none share data automatically.
The client's strategic priorities live in the proposal. Their setup progress lives in the project tool. Their engagement history lives in email. Answering "where are we with the market expansion strategy?" requires cross-referencing all three sources.
The missed follow-up problem
Consulting relationships thrive on timely follow-up. A client implements your operational efficiency recommendation and sees 15% cost reduction. That's the moment to discuss the next strategic initiative. But if the CRM doesn't connect to setup tracking, that moment passes unnoticed. Six months later, you reach out cold instead of building on demonstrated success.
Without setup status visibility, consultants miss expansion opportunities because they don't know when clients achieve results that warrant next-phase discussions.
The scaling tipping point
You hit a threshold around 10-12 active clients where manual context management breaks down. Below that threshold, you remember most engagement details. Above it, clients start asking questions you should know the answer to but don't, because the information lives somewhere in disconnected tools and memory.
Connected CRM software absorbs the context management work that would otherwise scale linearly with each new client relationship. At 5 clients, you remember everything. At 15 clients, the CRM remembers for you.
CRM features consultants need
The essential CRM features for consultants connect client contact information with engagement scopes, strategic recommendations, deliverable tracking, and setup status while handling the relationship patterns that consulting work requires.
Core CRM features
- Client profiles with engagement context: Contact information lives alongside engagement history, strategic priorities, and relationship notes. Opening a client profile shows not just email and phone, but current engagement status, recommendations delivered, and next actions.
- Engagement scope documentation: Proposals attach to client records so accepted scopes become engagement reference. When a client asks "what did we agree to for Phase 2?" the answer lives in their profile, not buried in proposal documents.
- Recommendation tracking: Strategic recommendations documented with delivery dates and setup decisions. Six months later, you see what was recommended, what was implemented, and what was deferred.
- Deliverable organization: Engagement outputs stored with client profiles. Assessment reports, strategy documents, setup plans organized by engagement and accessible.
- Communication history: Messages with clients threaded and searchable. No hunting through email to find what was discussed three months ago about setup timelines.
Consultant-specific features
- Multi-engagement relationship tracking: Clients work with consultants across multiple projects over years. CRM must show relationship chronology: market research engagement in Q1 2025, strategy development in Q3 2025, setup support in Q1 2026. Industry standard for consulting relationships is 3-5 years.
- setup status visibility: Recommendations are worthless if not implemented. CRM that tracks setup progress shows which recommendations were adopted, which faced barriers, and which are pending. The context shapes next-engagement discussions.
- Strategic priority documentation: Client business priorities evolve. CRM that documents priorities by engagement date shows how goals shift over time and keeps new recommendations align with current strategic direction.
Platform features that multiply value
- White-label branding: Custom domain, logo, colors. All client-facing communications show your consulting brand, not third-party software.
- Unified inbox: All client messages arrive in one place. Proposal questions, deliverable feedback, setup updates, payment confirmations combined instead of scattered across email, project comments, and portal messages.
- Permissions: Control who sees what at granular levels. Associate consultants see only their assigned clients. Administrative staff see invoicing but not strategic documents. Clients see only their own engagement materials.
- Automations: Create rules that trigger actions without manual intervention. Proposal acceptance triggers project creation with scope items as deliverable tasks. Engagement completion triggers follow-up scheduling for setup review.
The deciding factor for consultants is integration depth. CRM software that connects with proposals, projects, the work, and invoicing eliminates duplicate data entry and keeps engagement context synchronized across the consulting relationship lifecycle.
CRM software pricing for consultants
CRM software for consultants typically costs $20-75 per user per month, with consulting-specific platforms providing engagement tracking and deliverable management functionality.
What consultants typically pay for CRM tools
- HubSpot: $45-90/user/month for Professional tier with workflow automation
- Salesforce: $75-150/user/month for Sales Cloud with customization
- Pipedrive: $15-50/user/month for sales pipeline management
- Zoho CRM: $14-45/user/month for contact management with some customization
Sales-focused CRM platforms require extensive customization to support consulting workflows. Custom fields for engagement scopes, deliverable tracking, and setup status must be built manually. You report spending 10-15 hours configuring sales CRM for consulting use cases.
Plutio pricing (January 2026)
- Core: $19/month: Unlimited CRM contacts plus proposals, contracts, projects, time tracking, invoicing, scheduling, and client portals.
- Pro: $49/month: Unlimited clients, 30 contributors, advanced permissions, and workflow automations.
- Max: $199/month: Unlimited team, white-label with custom domain, single sign-on, and priority support.
The ROI calculation for consultants
- Time saved on context reconstruction: 5 hours per month searching for engagement scopes, recommendations, and setup status across disconnected tools. At $200/hour consulting rates, that's $1,000/month in billable time recovered.
- Faster proposal creation: Client engagement history accessible in one profile enables proposal creation that references previous work and builds on established relationship. Proposals written in 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes.
- Improved follow-up timing: setup status visibility enables outreach when clients achieve results that warrant next-phase discussions. Higher conversion on expansion engagements.
CRM software ROI comes through billable time recovered from admin reduction. Plutio pays for itself with 15 minutes of billable time saved per week. You report 3-5 hours weekly time savings from combined client context.
Why Plutio is the best CRM for consultants
Plutio handles CRM as part of a complete consulting platform where engagement scopes, deliverables, recommendations, and client relationships work together rather than as separate tools that need manual connection.
Client profiles with engagement context
Generic CRM stores contact information. Plutio stores consulting relationships. Open a client profile and see contact details, active engagements with scope summaries, deliverables organized by project, strategic recommendations documented by date, setup notes from client conversations, and complete message history. The context you need for productive client conversations lives in one place instead of scattered across email, documents, and project tools.
When a client emails asking about the operational efficiency recommendations from last quarter, you open their profile, see the engagement summary, review the documented recommendations, and reference the setup notes showing which recommendations were adopted and which faced resource constraints. The 15-minute email archaeology search becomes a 2-minute profile review.
Proposal-to-engagement flow
Contact databases don't connect to consulting work. Plutio connects client profiles to the complete engagement lifecycle. Discovery call notes attach to the prospect's profile. Proposal creation pulls contact details automatically. When the client accepts the proposal, the engagement appears in their profile with scope items as deliverable tasks, strategic priorities documented, and timeline established.
The accepted engagement scope becomes the project plan without manual recreation. Phase 1: Current State Assessment with 12-hour budget. Phase 2: Strategy Development with 18-hour budget. Phase 3: setup Planning with 10-hour budget. The scope you promised flows directly into deliverable tracking.
Deliverable tracking with client visibility
Consulting deliverables need organization and client accessibility. Plutio stores deliverables with engagement projects and makes them available through client portals. The current state assessment report from Phase 1 lives in the client's portal. The strategy document from Phase 2 lives there. The setup plan from Phase 3 lives there.
When a client wants to share your strategic recommendations with their board, they log into the portal, find the strategy document, and download it. No email request to you at 9pm asking for files you delivered three weeks ago.
Setup tracking for follow-up timing
The best consulting relationships build across engagements. setup tracking enables timely follow-up. Mark recommendations as implemented, in-progress, or deferred. Add setup notes documenting barriers or successes. When a client successfully implements cost reduction recommendations, that's the moment to discuss revenue growth strategies.
Plutio shows setup status in client profiles. The operational efficiency engagement delivered six recommendations. Four were implemented with documented cost savings. Two faced resource constraints and were deferred. The context shapes next-engagement discussions.
Strategic recommendation documentation
Consulting value comes from strategic guidance. Plutio documents recommendations with context and outcomes. Record the recommendation, delivery date, client response, setup decision, and follow-up actions. Six months later, reference what was recommended and why.
Clients ask "what did you say about market expansion timing?" You open their profile, find the strategy engagement, review documented recommendations, and reference the specific guidance including market analysis that informed the timing recommendation.
Communication history with search
Consulting relationships generate extensive communication. Proposal discussions, deliverable feedback, setup questions, strategic guidance, follow-up planning. Plutio keeps all client communication threaded and searchable in client profiles.
When you need to find what was discussed about setup timeline constraints, you search the client's message history, find the relevant thread, and reference the exact context without hunting through email folders.
White-label everything
Use your own domain. Upload your logo, set your brand colors and typography. Every client-facing touchpoint shows your consulting brand, not third-party software. Clients access their portal at yourconsulting.com, see your branding, and experience professional consistency.
Unified inbox for all client communication
When a client responds to a proposal, comments on a deliverable, asks about an invoice, or sends an setup update, the message appears in one inbox. Reply directly without opening email. All messages attach to client profiles for complete communication history.
Granular permissions
Control exactly who sees what at the level that makes sense for your consulting practice. Senior consultants see all client engagements. Associate consultants see only assigned clients. Administrative staff see invoicing and scheduling but not strategic documents. Clients see only their own engagement materials through portals.
No-code automations
Create rules that trigger actions without manual intervention. Common consulting automations include: proposal acceptance creates engagement project with scope items as tasks, engagement phase completion triggers invoice for milestone payment, project completion triggers setup review scheduling email, retainer month-end triggers next month invoice.
Native integrations for consulting workflows
Connect Stripe and PayPal for payments. Sync Google Calendar or Outlook for meeting scheduling. Use Zapier to connect 3,000+ other apps. Accounting software integration for financial reporting. Document storage integration for deliverable backup.
Everything runs from one app with your branding, your consulting terminology, and your engagement workflow logic. Clients see professional consistency. You see complete relationship context without switching tools.
How to set up CRM in Plutio
Setting up CRM in Plutio takes 2-4 hours for initial configuration, then 5-10 minutes per new client after your templates and workflows are in place.
Step 1: Configure default client fields (30 mins)
Decide what information belongs in client profiles beyond contact basics. Industry vertical, company size, strategic priorities, decision-making structure, and engagement history notes. Create custom fields for consulting-specific information: primary strategic challenges, key clients and team members, budget cycle timing, decision authority.
Consultants working with enterprise clients might track procurement process details, approval chain structure, and fiscal year timing. Consultants working with small businesses might track growth stage, funding status, and operational maturity.
Step 2: Create engagement templates (1-2 hours)
Build 3-5 templates covering your common engagement types. For consultants, recommended templates include:
- Strategy consulting engagement: Discovery phase, current state assessment, strategic recommendations, setup planning. Standard scope structure with customizable deliverable details.
- Operational consulting engagement: Process documentation, efficiency analysis, optimization recommendations, setup support. Deliverables organized by operational area.
- Advisory retainer: Monthly strategic guidance, ongoing setup support, ad-hoc analysis requests. Recurring structure with hour allocation tracking.
Each template includes proposal structure, standard deliverables, typical timeline, and milestone payment schedule. Clone and customize for each new opportunity instead of building from scratch.
Step 3: Connect integrations (20 mins)
Link Stripe and/or PayPal for payment processing. Connect your calendar (Google Calendar or Outlook) for meeting scheduling. Test each integration before using with clients. Verify payment processing works with test transaction. Confirm calendar sync updates availability correctly.
Step 4: Import existing clients (30 mins)
Upload existing client data via CSV export from your current contact management system. Map fields appropriately: company name, contact name, email, phone, industry, engagement status. Import creates client profiles with basic information. Add engagement history and strategic notes manually for active relationships.
Step 5: Test with one real client engagement
Run through the complete workflow with an actual client rather than a test account. Create client profile from discovery call notes. Build and send proposal. When accepted, verify engagement project creates correctly with scope items as tasks. Document recommendations, track setup status, invoice for milestone payments. The first real engagement reveals workflow gaps that test scenarios miss.
Common setup mistakes to avoid
- Over-customizing too early: Start minimal and refine based on actual use. The fields you think you need often differ from the information you actually reference. Build for the 80% use case, add complexity only when patterns emerge.
- Ignoring mobile: Download the mobile apps during setup and test key workflows. Consultants often need to access client context while traveling or between meetings. Verify mobile experience supports reference lookup, not just full engagement management.
- Skipping automation setup: Configure proposal acceptance triggers and milestone invoice scheduling during initial setup. The time saved accumulates with every engagement.
Build templates for the 80% cases that cover most of your consulting engagements. Edge cases get customized individually, but standard engagement types should flow from templates in 10 minutes instead of requiring 45 minutes of manual setup.
CRM organization for consultants
Organizing CRM creates clarity and enables efficient engagement management across multiple client relationships.
Client segmentation for consultants
- Active engagement clients: Currently working under signed proposals with deliverables in progress. These clients need frequent context reference and deliverable tracking visibility.
- Retainer clients: Ongoing advisory relationships with monthly allocations. Track hour usage against monthly limits and document strategic guidance provided.
- Past clients: Completed engagements with no active work. Maintain relationship context for future opportunities and reference previous strategic recommendations.
- Prospects: Discovery calls completed, proposals sent, awaiting decisions. Track proposal status and follow-up timing.
Engagement lifecycle stages
- Discovery: Initial conversations, challenge identification, scope definition. Notes attach to prospect profiles before proposals are created.
- Proposal: Scope documented, pricing established, terms outlined. Proposal attached to client profile and tracked until decision.
- Active engagement: Work in progress with deliverables being produced. Track scope items, setup status, and milestone completion.
- setup support: Deliverables completed, client implementing recommendations. Track adoption progress and setup barriers.
- Completed: Engagement finished, outcomes documented, relationship maintained for future opportunities.
Information to track
- Strategic priorities by engagement date showing evolution over time
- Recommendations delivered with setup decisions and outcomes
- Key clients and team members and decision-making structure
- Budget cycles and procurement processes for engagement timing
- Deliverables organized by engagement and accessible
- Communication history threaded and searchable
- setup barriers and success factors for future reference
Proven methods
- Document strategic recommendations immediately after delivery with client response notes. Memory fades, documented context persists.
- Update setup status based on client conversations. Track what's working, what's facing barriers, what's been deferred.
- Reference previous engagement context when creating new proposals. Show how new work builds on established foundation.
- Schedule periodic relationship reviews for past clients showing setup success. Timely outreach when they achieve results.
Organized CRM enables consulting relationship depth. Structure serves long-term client relationships that span years and multiple engagements, with each new project building on documented strategic history.
Client portals for consultants: CRM connection
Client portals connect CRM data to client-facing access, creating smooth engagement collaboration and reducing administrative communication.
Portal as engagement hub
Clients access their complete consulting relationship through branded portals. Engagement scopes, deliverables, strategic recommendations, setup tracking, meeting scheduling, and invoicing in one place. CRM organization powers what clients see and access.
When clients log into their portal, they see current engagement status with deliverable progress, past engagement documentation with strategic recommendations accessible, upcoming meetings with preparation materials attached, and outstanding invoices with payment options. Everything organized based on CRM relationship structure.
Consistent experience
Portal presentation reflects the organized engagement data in CRM. Deliverables appear in chronological order by engagement. Strategic recommendations organized by topic area. Meeting notes attached to relevant projects. Professional, consistent client experience across all interactions.
Clients don't ask "where's the strategy document you sent last month?" They log into the portal, navigate to the strategy engagement, and find deliverables organized and accessible.
Self-service access
Clients find their own engagement documents, strategic recommendations, and setup materials. CRM organization enables client self-service without administrative burden on consultants.
When a client wants to share your market analysis with their executive team, they download it from the portal. When they need to reference operational recommendations before a board meeting, they access the documented recommendations. No email requests to you, no searching through sent folders, no delays.
Two-way visibility
Portal interactions feed back into CRM. Client document downloads show what materials are being referenced. Client questions about recommendations become threaded conversations attached to engagement records. Client setup updates add to status tracking. Complete picture from both perspectives.
You see when clients download strategic recommendations three weeks before budget planning meetings. The notification signals engagement renewal timing. You see which deliverables clients reference repeatedly. The notification signals highest-value consulting outputs.
Engagement continuity
Portals maintain consulting relationships across engagements. Returning clients find their previous engagement history. Connection maintained between projects separated by months or years. Past strategic recommendations inform new engagement scope discussions.
A client returns 18 months after completing a market expansion strategy engagement. They log into the portal, review previous recommendations, see what was implemented, and understand how new operational efficiency work builds on established strategic foundation.
Portals make CRM client-facing. Internal engagement organization translates to external client experience. Clients see professional consistency and relationship depth.
How to migrate CRM to Plutio
Migration from another CRM software typically takes 3-5 hours of active work spread over a weekend, with the best time to switch being between engagements rather than mid-project.
Step 1: Export from your current tool
Most CRM software provides CSV export. Here's what to export from common tools:
- HubSpot: Navigate to Contacts → Actions → Export. Include contact properties, engagement notes, deal stages. Separate exports for contacts and deal history.
- Salesforce: Reports → New Report → Contact report with all fields. Export to Excel, save as CSV. Opportunity export separate for engagement history.
- Spreadsheets: If using Google Sheets or Excel for contact management, export directly as CSV. Include all custom fields.
Step 2: Build templates in Plutio (2-3 hours)
Use your exported engagement data as reference to create proposal and project templates. Focus on forward-looking workflows for new clients, not historical archives. Build templates for your three most common engagement types. Additional templates can be added as needed.
Review your past engagement scopes and extract the repeating structure. Strategy consulting engagements typically include discovery, assessment, recommendations, setup planning. Operational consulting typically includes process documentation, analysis, optimization design, setup support.
Step 3: Set up integrations (30 mins)
Connect payment processing (Stripe or PayPal), calendar sync (Google Calendar or Outlook), and accounting software if needed. Test each integration before relying on it for client work. Process test payment, verify calendar availability syncs correctly, confirm accounting integration exports invoices as expected.
Step 4: Import data (30 mins)
Upload your CSV to Plutio. Map fields appropriately: contact name to name, company to organization, email to email, phone to phone. Custom fields map to Plutio custom fields or notes. Import creates client profiles with basic information.
For active engagements, add scope documentation, deliverables, and strategic recommendations manually. The process takes time but keeps consulting context is properly structured. Historical completed engagements can remain minimal with just contact information unless frequently referenced.
Step 5: Run parallel for new work
Use Plutio for all new client engagements while keeping the old CRM active for relationships already in progress. New discovery calls go into Plutio. New proposals created in Plutio. New engagements managed entirely in Plutio.
This approach avoids disrupting active client work while establishing new workflow patterns. Consultants comfortable with Plutio after 2-3 new engagements can migrate active clients from old CRM progressively.
Step 6: Phase out the old tool
Once all active engagements complete in your old CRM (typically 30-90 days depending on engagement length), export any final data needed for records, then cancel that subscription. Historical client data either migrates to Plutio or gets archived for reference.
You keep read-only access to old CRM for 3-6 months after switching to reference historical notes if needed, then export archive and cancel.
Common migration pitfalls to avoid
- Trying to migrate everything: Focus on active client relationships and forward-looking workflows. Completed engagements from 3 years ago don't need full migration. Archive and move on.
- Switching mid-engagement: Finish in-progress consulting engagements in the old system. Start new engagements in Plutio. Avoid splitting single engagement across two platforms.
- Not testing integrations: Verify payment processing works before sending client invoices. Confirm calendar sync reflects accurate availability before clients book. Integration failures with clients are embarrassing.
The investment in migration pays back in time saved on every future client interaction. 15 minutes searching for engagement context costs billable consulting hours. CRM that connects to the complete consulting workflow eliminates that search time permanently.
