Referral enquiries, scoping calls, proposals and retainer renewals sit on one record per client, owned by the firm rather than by the partner who happened to answer. From $10/user/month billed annually.
Quick answer
Very little is lost at the enquiry stage. A referral arrives, a partner takes the call, and the conversation is warm. The leak happens later. A proposal goes out, the client says they will discuss it internally, and three weeks pass. Nobody chases because chasing feels commercial and the relationship matters more than one engagement. Meanwhile a competitor who followed up on day four is already scoping the work.
A referral message arrives on the firm number and opens a record with the referrer, the practice area and the owning partner. The scoping call is booked from the thread and the notes go on the same record: what the client actually needs, the deadline driving it, the likely fee basis and who signs.
The proposal is logged with a value, a date and an owner. That single act changes the firm, because for the first time the managing partner can see total proposed fees by practice area and how old each proposal is, without asking anyone to compile a list.
Verbal agreement is not signature. Proposals that are agreed in principle move to their own stage with a task to get the engagement letter out and back. Firms that separate these two stages find work they thought was won but never started.
These are the message types that arrive on a firm business number in an ordinary week, and what a CRM does with each rather than leaving it as an unread chat.
| Client message | Fields captured | Stage | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral introduction from an existing client | Referrer, practice area, owner | Enquiry | Reply within the hour, scoping call slot offered |
| Asks what a scope like this usually costs | Fee basis, indicative range | Scoping call booked | Call held before any number is committed in writing |
| Requests the proposal in writing | Proposal value, date sent, decision maker | Proposal sent | Follow-up task at day four, not an automated nudge |
| Says they are discussing it internally | Expected decision date | Negotiation | Dated task on the decision week, owner notified |
| Confirms they want to proceed | Start date, billing contact | Engagement letter signed | Onboarding checklist and billing setup task |
| Existing retainer nearing its anniversary | Renewal month, current fee | Retainer renewal | Reminder six weeks out for a scope and fee conversation |
Import the client and prospect list first, then agree ownership. Every record needs one named owner, and that conversation will take longer than the software setup. Create one pipeline per practice area if the cycles genuinely differ, otherwise use a single pipeline with practice area as a field.
This is not a practice management or time recording system. It will not run your billing, your matter files, your document management or your conflicts process, and it should not try to. Keep deliverables and formal advice in the systems built for them, and use the CRM for the enquiry, the proposal and the relationship history.
WhatsApp itself has constraints worth knowing. Promotional or re-engagement messages need approved templates and prior opt-in, free-form replies work inside the service window that opens when the client writes, and Meta charges for conversations. Professional firms rarely need bulk messaging anyway, so this matters less here than in retail, but do not build a plan around broadcasting to your client base.
Finally, culture beats configuration. Partners who keep a private list will undermine any pipeline view. The firms that get value are the ones where the weekly partner meeting uses the pipeline on screen as the single agenda, which quietly forces the records to stay current.
Useful next reads for services firms: WhatsApp CRM, CRM for small business, sales automation, CRM vs Excel, what is a CRM, pricing.
Every team in this space loses revenue to the same recurring gaps. Here is what they cost you and how HelloGrowthCRM closes each one.
Every partner runs their own client relationships from their own phone, so the firm has no consolidated view of what is in the pipeline.
Enquiries, proposals and conversations sit on shared client records with a named owner. Managing partners can see total proposal value by practice area and by partner without asking anyone to fill in a spreadsheet on Friday.Shared client pipeline
Proposals go out and then nothing happens, because chasing feels like nagging and nobody wants to do it.
Sent proposals carry a date, a value and a follow-up task. The system prompts the owner rather than the client, so the follow-up is a deliberate conversation about scope or timing instead of a reminder blast.Proposal follow-up tasks
Retainers roll on unchanged for years and only get repriced when the client complains or leaves.
Renewal dates sit on the engagement with an early reminder, so the scope and fee conversation happens on your schedule while the relationship is healthy rather than in a crisis.Retainer renewal reminders
Referrals are the main source of new work and nobody tracks where they came from.
Source and referrer are recorded at capture. The firm can then see which referrers, alumni or partner introductions actually converted to signed engagements, and thank the right people.Referral attribution
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