By Circlebase · Published
Start with the work already in progress
List the opportunities you are actively discussing this week. Define a short pipeline whose stages describe real buyer progress. Add an owner and dated next action to each deal. Resist importing every old list before the team agrees how it will use the CRM. For a solo founder, Free can support the first 500 contacts; every workspace initially receives a 14-day Pro trial.
Connect one channel and test the handoff
Import a small cleaned sample, connect a mailbox or WhatsApp Business number, and exchange a test message using your own details. Check where the conversation appears and who can access it. Invite colleagues with the role they need; paid plans include free read-only viewers. Before using AI writes, try a read-only summary and inspect the result.
Review before automating
At the end of the week, look for missing owners, stale stages and overdue next actions. Fix those before adding a sequence. Test any automation with your own contact, including the reply that should stop it. Choose Business only if you need its routing, activity log or full workspace export. Decide what useful progress means for your team and measure it consistently; there is no universal first-week conversion target.