CRM &
early automations.
Before you start marketing, you need a system to catch and track leads — otherwise you spend money driving traffic and lose leads because you have no process to follow up. Set this up now. Not after you launch. Now.
Inbox & memory break at five leads.
A CRM does three things. It captures leads. It tracks status. It automates follow-up so deals do not go cold because you got busy.
Without one, you are running a business out of an inbox and your memory. That works at zero leads. It collapses around five. The cost of fixing it later, after you have wasted ad spend on lost leads, is always higher than the cost of setting it up now.
Pick your CRM stack.
No single right answer. Pick the one that fits your budget and the complexity of your offer.
GoHighLevel
All-in-one — CRM, funnels, email, SMS, automations, booking. $97-297/mo. Steeper learning curve, very powerful. Best if you want everything in one platform.
HubSpot (Free Tier)
Solid free CRM with contact management and basic automations. Good for people who want a real CRM without paying yet. Limited at the free tier but enough to start.
Pipedrive / Zoho
Sales-focused CRMs with simple pipelines. Pipedrive is the cleanest UX. Zoho has a free tier with surprising depth. Either works for service businesses.
Form to Spreadsheet
The MVP. Google Form or Typeform → Google Sheet, with email notifications on submission. Free, manual, and fine for your first 10-20 leads. Upgrade when it bottlenecks.
Track the right fields.
Whatever tool you pick, capture these. Anything less and you lose the data you need to optimize later.
- ›Contact info — name, email, phone.
- ›Lead source — ad, referral, organic, cold outreach.
- ›Status — New / Contacted / Interested / Proposal Sent / Closed Won / Closed Lost.
- ›Next action — what needs to happen next.
- ›Notes — anything relevant from your conversations.
- ›Date added — so you can track response time.
Build two essential automations.
You do not need complex automation to start. You need these two working before you spend a dollar on marketing.
Lead capture to CRM
When someone fills out your form: their info goes into the CRM automatically and you get notified by email or SMS immediately. GHL and HubSpot have this built in. For forms-to-sheets setups, use Zapier or Make to connect them.
Automated follow-up sequence
- ›Immediate — confirmation email ("Thanks, we got your info. Here's what happens next.").
- ›Day 1 — follow-up email or SMS with more info about your offer.
- ›Day 3 — follow-up if no response.
- ›Day 7 — final follow-up.
Three or four emails. The point is no lead goes untouched because you got busy.
Set up your outreach email.
Use your business email from Lesson 2. Build a simple signature with your name, business, phone, and website.
For sequences, Mailchimp's free tier, ConvertKit, or your CRM's built-in email tool will all work. Pick one and stop evaluating.
Before moving to Lesson 6.
- □CRM or lead tracking system live.
- □Lead capture connected (form submissions auto-feed CRM).
- □Notification firing when a new lead comes in.
- □Automated follow-up sequence (3-4 emails) built and tested.
- □Business email with professional signature ready for outreach.
Lead capture is wired. Now wire the pipeline.
Lesson 6 is everything that happens after a lead says yes — sales, payment, onboarding, fulfillment handoff, delivery.