CRM for consultants · updated 2026-10-08
CRM for consultants
Lyto Pipeline is a CRM for independent consultants and small consultancies. It tracks leads, proposals and retainer clients in one kanban pipeline, and it sets status from logged activity. It shares one login with time tracking and invoicing. A signed engagement goes straight into the hours you bill and the invoice you send. It costs from €10 per seat per month billed annually, with all seven apps included.
Lyto · all 7 apps, one login
from €10 / seat / mo
billed annually · €13 monthly · one bill
The usual way · 4 separate tools
A sales CRM built for a sales team you do not have
A separate proposal tool to send and track quotes
A time tracker to record billable hours
An invoicing app to bill retainers and T&M
Lyto vs the usual separate-tools setup
| Lyto · Pipeline | The usual way | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is built for | One-to-ten-person consultancies with a client pipeline | Sales teams, with fields and automations you switch off |
| Lead status | Set by activity. Attach an engagement and a lead becomes a client | A dropdown someone has to remember to update |
| From won deal to invoice | The client already exists in Tally and Sum. Bill the hours you tracked | Re-key the client into a separate invoicing tool |
| Retainers and T&M | Time and fixed fees tracked against the same client record | Spreadsheet reconciliation at month end |
| Price for a 3-person consultancy | €30 / month billed annually. CRM plus six more apps | Three or four subscriptions, each billed per person |
Any competitor prices checked October 2026; see each vendor's pricing page for current figures.
Why does a standard CRM fit consulting badly?
Most CRMs are built for sales teams. Many reps work many parallel pipelines, chase conversion rates and rely on forecasting and automation. A consulting practice works differently. You have a smaller set of relationships. Some are warm leads, some are live engagements and some are retainer clients who come back. The value comes from looking after those relationships over time.
A consultant who buys a sales CRM spends the first week switching things off. That means the deal-rotting alerts, the empty forecast and the extra pipelines nobody needs. What is left is an address book with too many fields. It still knows nothing about the work you deliver.
What does Pipeline do?
Pipeline is the CRM inside Lyto, built for one-to-ten-person consultancies:
- One pipeline, editable stages. Leads, proposals, live engagements and retainers move across a single board.
- Status comes from activity. Attach an engagement to a lead and it becomes a client. Nobody updates a lifecycle dropdown by hand.
- A full relationship timeline. Calls, notes, meetings and documents sit on the contact. After a quiet month you can pick a relationship back up in seconds.
What happens after the client says yes?
In Lyto the client you just won already exists in every other app. You log billable hours against them in Tally. You raise the retainer or T&M invoice in Sum from that same data. You answer their questions in Solve. One shared customer record means the deal you closed is already the client you bill. Nobody types the same company into three more tools.
When is a dedicated sales CRM a better fit?
Some teams need more sales depth than Pipeline offers. That includes teams with an inside-sales motion and several reps, and teams that run multiple parallel pipelines. It also includes teams that rely on a marketplace of sales-specific integrations. A dedicated sales CRM goes deeper in those cases. Lyto offers a connected suite at a small-team price. That fits a practice that wins a few relationships a quarter.
What it costs
A three-person consultancy pays €30 per month billed annually, which is €10 per seat. That covers all seven apps on one bill. The 14-day trial needs no card, and cancelling is one click.
Questions people ask
What is the best CRM for a small consultancy?
A small consultancy needs a CRM that follows a client from lead to retainer. A tool built for sales teams adds weight it does not use. Lyto Pipeline runs one pipeline per organisation and sets status from logged activity. It connects to the time you track and the invoices you raise. The same client record follows the engagement until you are paid. It costs from €10 per seat per month billed annually.
How is a consultant CRM different from a sales CRM?
A sales CRM is built for volume: many reps, many parallel pipelines, forecasting and automation. A consultant usually has fewer, higher-value relationships that turn into retainers and repeat work. Lyto Pipeline has one pipeline with editable stages and a full deal timeline. It sits in a suite, so a won engagement is already the client you track time against and invoice.
Can I track retainer and time-and-materials billing?
Yes. Retainers, fixed-fee and time-and-materials work all tie back to the same client in Pipeline. Track billable hours in Tally and raise the invoice in Sum from that data. The hours you logged become the invoice you send, with no export or re-entry. Everything sits under one login and one bill at €10 per seat.
Try all seven apps free for 14 days
Every plan includes all seven apps, from €10 per seat per month, billed annually.
14-day free trial · no card needed · cancel in one click