Dextr is our first pick for independent consultants who use Apple devices and win work through introductions, repeat clients, and trusted professional relationships. It helps preserve the context behind the next engagement. Pipedrive and Bonsai are alternatives to evaluate when a formal sales pipeline or connected project administration is the main requirement.
A consultant's next engagement can begin long before there is a deal to track. A former colleague makes an introduction. A past client mentions a future project. A partner asks you to reconnect after a planning meeting. Your CRM needs to preserve those threads alongside active business.
Which CRM fits your consulting practice?
- Referrals and repeat relationships. CRM to consider: Dextr What to evaluate: Introductions, conversation context, reminders
- Proposals and a visible sales pipeline. CRM to consider: Pipedrive What to evaluate: Separate opportunities and next activities
- Contracts, projects, and billing. CRM to consider: Bonsai What to evaluate: The plan covering the complete engagement
- Conventional contact and lead tracking. CRM to consider: Less Annoying CRM What to evaluate: Record structure and daily upkeep
- A free starting point for sales records. CRM to consider: HubSpot What to evaluate: Free limits and future paid requirements
This guide is published by Dextr and compares official product information checked on October 27, 2026. It does not claim hands-on testing of every product.
Choose around the consulting engagement
A useful CRM for a consulting business should help you distinguish four things: the person you know, the organization they work for, a possible engagement, and the work you have agreed to deliver.
Those records are related, but they are not interchangeable. One client contact might introduce you to another team. One company might have two possible engagements. A completed project might lead to a new proposal six months later.
Before comparing software, write down where your current process breaks. Do you forget introductions? Lose track of proposals? Repeat the same setup after a client signs? Your answer should drive the shortlist.
Dextr: our first pick for referral-led independent consultants
Dextr on iPhone: remember the meeting and introducer
Dextr is relevant when you want the context around each person close at hand. Its relationship tools can help you remember who connected you to a client and how people in your network relate to one another.
For an independent consultant, that can make a referral easier to handle thoughtfully. Record the introducer, preserve the reason for the connection, and follow through on what you promised. See how introductions work in Dextr.
Dextr also supports custom fields for details such as referral source, project stage, budget, and review date. These are values on a contact. A stored review date does not replace a reminder, and a project-stage field should not be treated as a full opportunity pipeline.
This approach fits a consultant maintaining a professional network. If one organization has several simultaneous engagements, check whether you need a system organized around separate deals and projects.
Dark-mode app examples below use fictional demonstration contacts.
On iPhone, First Met and Introduced By preserve the meeting and referral context behind a professional relationship.
Dextr on iPad: store structured details
On iPad, client status, project, and preferred-contact custom fields keep structured context beside the person. Check Pro requirements for custom fields.
Pipedrive: for a consulting sales pipeline
Pipedrive's pipeline management is a useful starting point when you sell defined engagements and need to know which proposals are moving.
A consulting pipeline might use discovery, scoped, proposal sent, negotiation, and agreed. Keep the stages tied to observable changes. An opportunity should move because the buyer has progressed, rather than because you feel more optimistic.
Review Pipedrive's plans against the communication and automation you need. Its fit is strongest here when the opportunity, rather than only the contact, needs a clear record.
Bonsai: for connecting the sale to delivery
Bonsai's client-management tools connect CRM information with projects and client documents. That makes it relevant to consultants who want to reduce the handoff between a successful proposal and delivery.
The pricing comparison places proposals, contracts, invoices, payments, and a client portal in Essentials. Its deals pipeline is listed in Premium. Choose based on the whole engagement you intend to run, not the presence of CRM in an entry-plan feature list.
Less Annoying CRM: for straightforward business development
Less Annoying CRM is worth considering when you want contacts, leads, tasks, and custom information in a conventional business CRM.
For a small practice, a restrained setup can be an advantage. Start with a small number of fields and lead stages, then add detail only when it helps you decide what to do. The vendor offers one paid plan, which makes feature-tier comparisons simpler.
HubSpot: for a practice starting with free CRM tools
HubSpot's contact management and pipeline tools make it a candidate for a consultancy building a more formal business-development process.
Start by testing your actual contact and opportunity structure. A boutique firm with several people contributing to sales should also review permissions and the paid features it expects to need.
A sample record for a consulting relationship
Consider this fictional example. Alex, a former client, introduces you to Maya, an operations director considering a process review. There is no approved project yet.
Your record could include:
- Connection. Example: Introduced by Alex after a completed engagement
- Business context. Example: Team wants shorter onboarding times
- Timing. Example: Budget discussion expected in December
- Latest conversation. Example: Maya requested a sample project outline
- Next action. Example: Send the outline on Thursday
- Longer-term follow-up. Example: Reconnect after the budget discussion
Once Maya has a scoped project, create an opportunity if your CRM supports that structure. Keep the original relationship context available so the engagement does not erase how it began.
Build a weekly consulting CRM review
Set aside a short weekly review with three lists: active proposals, current-client promises, and relationships worth maintaining.
Check that each active proposal has a buyer-owned next step or a clear reason to pause. Confirm that current-client promises have dates. Then choose a few past clients and partners for useful, relevant outreach.
You do not need to contact everyone at the same frequency. A specific commitment belongs on a calendar reminder. An ongoing relationship can have a more flexible check-in habit.
Frequently asked questions
Is a CRM enough to manage a consulting business?
It can cover relationship and sales work. Delivery scheduling, resource planning, contracts, and billing may require additional tools or a broader platform.
What should a solo consultant track first?
Track who the person is, what they are trying to achieve, your most recent useful conversation, and the next agreed action. Add fields when they improve a decision.
Can Dextr track consulting clients?
Dextr can organize client contacts and related context. Its Journal Entries, available with Pro, can preserve meeting notes. Use a dedicated opportunity or project system when your work needs those record types.
For a referral-led practice, begin with the relationships that already bring you good work. Explore Dextr and record one recent introduction, one conversation, and one next action.
Start with Dextr
Keep client and referral relationships close at hand with Dextr. Install Dextr from the App Store.