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Referral follow-ups for consultants: pipeline in Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM tracks every warm lead and referral with a next step and due date, so promising conversations don't go cold. From about $36£27€32A$52C$51 a month.

At a glance

  • What it costs$36–45£27–34€32–40A$52–65C$51–64 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$499£375€446A$720C$705 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Independent consultants win much of their work through people they know, and lose it through silence: a promising coffee in March, a 'come back to me after the budget' in April, then nothing. With 20 open conversations and no system, some are never followed up. If better follow-up won one more $5,985£4,500€5,355A$8,640C$8,460 project every 6 months, that's $998£750€893A$1,440C$1,410 a month of work.

What the AI does

Capsule is a UK-built CRM with contacts, sales pipelines, tasks with due dates and a daily task email. Workflow automations and AI summaries of a contact's history start on the Growth plan. Every conversation goes in as an opportunity with a stage and a next task, the daily email tells you who to contact, and before a call the AI summary reminds you where you left it.

A worked example

An independent finance consultant in Chester has about 20 live conversations at any time, mostly referrals from accountants and past clients. They move them from email and memory into Capsule Growth and add a next task to every one.

Before

About 20 open conversations tracked in email and memory; some never followed up

After

Every conversation with a next step and date; about one extra $5,985£4,500€5,355A$8,640C$8,460 project every 6 months

What it's worth

About $499£375€446A$720C$705 a month in profit, at an assumed 50% margin on $998£750€893A$1,440C$1,410 a month of extra work (one $5,985£4,500€5,355A$8,640C$8,460 project every 6 months). Capsule Growth is $36£27€32A$52C$51 a user a month billed annually or $45£34€40A$65C$64 monthly; the free plan (2 users, 250 contacts) doesn't include workflow automations or AI summaries.

How to set it up

  1. Start Capsule's 14-day free trial and set up one pipeline with simple stages: conversation, proposal, decision, won, lost.
  2. Add every live conversation as an opportunity with its value and a next task with a date.
  3. Read the daily task email each morning and do those follow-ups first.
  4. Set a workflow so each new referral gets a thank-you task for whoever referred it.
  5. Review lost opportunities each quarter to see where conversations stall.

What goes wrong

  • A CRM nobody updates is worse than a notebook. Log every call and email in the moment, or the tasks are wrong.
  • Follow-ups should be useful, not 'just checking in'. Share something relevant to their problem.
  • Capsule is priced per user; the automations and AI summaries need Growth, not the free plan.
  • Contacts' details are personal data. Record why you hold them and delete people who ask.

More ideas for Consultants

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Calendly lets prospects book and pay for a diagnostic session up front, instead of free 'pick your brain' calls. Including card fees, from about $23£17€20A$33C$32 a month.

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Perplexity for consultants: sourced sector briefings

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Fixed-fee project budgets for consultants with Harvest

Harvest tracks time against each fixed-fee project's budget as you work, so scope creep shows up while you can still raise a change. From about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month.

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Rechargeable expenses for consultants captured with Dext

Dext reads travel and hotel receipts from a photo into Xero, ready to recharge to the right client. From about $32£24€29A$46C$45 a month.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.