What to set up in a CRM on day one

Day one is not for building the complete system. It is for getting to the smallest version that tells you something true, because a CRM nobody opens in week one is a CRM nobody opens in month six.

Four things. Everything else waits.

Which contacts do you import?

Bring in the people you are actually working: anyone you have exchanged mail with in the last year, plus the companies attached to them. Resist importing your whole address book. A system that opens on four thousand contacts you do not recognise reads as somebody else's data, and nobody maintains somebody else's data.

You can always add more later. Removing them once reports are built is harder.

How many fields do you need on day one?

Every CRM ships with dozens and lets you invent more. On day one you need a next step, a date for it, and a value on the deal. That is enough to answer the two questions a pipeline exists for: what is due today, and what is this worth if it lands. Add fields when you have twice wished for one, not in anticipation. The first two are also the whole of a follow-up system, which is what most small teams are actually missing.

The thirty-field version is a common way this goes wrong. Every empty field is a small accusation, and a record covered in them stops feeling worth updating. Three fields are also enough to read activity without counting people.

What do you do before configuring the stages?

Not in the tool. On one page, in words. Name each stage and the fact that has to be true to enter it. "Proposal" is not a stage until somebody can say what proves a deal is in it. Deciding what a stage means is the whole of this work, and it is the part a tool cannot do for you.

Five stages is plenty. Seven is usually two opinions that have not been resolved. Stages written this way are also what makes a pipeline total you would trust possible later.

Which saved view do you build?

Open deals whose next step date is today or earlier, oldest first.

That view is the reason to open the CRM tomorrow. Without it you have a filing cabinet, and a filing cabinet is something people update when they remember.

What waits for week two?

Reporting, automations, custom pipelines, email templates, integrations. All of them are better decided once you have two weeks of real records to look at. The realistic timeline is days rather than hours once you count deciding fields and importing, and knowing that in advance prevents the day-one disappointment that kills adoption. Then the harder problem starts: getting the team to actually use it is not a configuration question.

Frequently asked questions

What should you set up in a CRM on day one?

Four things: import the contacts you are actively working, add three fields (next step, next step date, deal value), write your stages down in words before configuring them, and build one saved view of what is due today. Everything else, including reporting and automations, is better decided after two weeks of real records.

How many fields does a CRM need to start?

Three on the deal covers it: a next step written as an action, a date for that step, and a value. Add more only after you have twice wanted one, never in anticipation. A record covered in empty fields stops feeling worth updating, and that is a common way a new CRM quietly gets abandoned.

Should you import all your contacts into a new CRM?

No. Import the people you have exchanged mail with in the last year and the companies attached to them. A system that opens on thousands of unrecognised contacts reads as somebody else's data, and nobody maintains that. Adding more later is easy; removing them once reports depend on them is not.

What should you write down before configuring a pipeline?

The entry condition for each stage, on one page, in plain words. A stage needs a fact that has to be true before a deal can enter it, and if you cannot write that fact down you do not have a stage, you have a label. The page is also the test for how many stages you need: two that share an entry condition are one stage described by two people who have not agreed.

Can you finish a CRM setup on day one?

The configuration, yes: creating your fields and stages is an afternoon's work. What runs into days is deciding what they should be, agreeing them with the people who will use them, and importing contacts you trust. Plan for the decisions rather than the clicking.

What should you not do when setting up a CRM?

Do not build reports before you have data, do not create fields you have not needed twice, and do not configure stages you have not written down in words first. Each of those feels like progress on day one and produces a system shaped around guesses rather than around what your team does.