CRM for consultants · updated 2026-08-03
CRM for consultants
Lyto Pipeline is a CRM built for independent consultants and small consultancies: it tracks leads, proposals and retainer clients in one kanban pipeline, deriving status from real activity instead of manual dropdowns — and it ships in the same login as time tracking and invoicing, so a signed engagement flows straight into the hours you bill and the invoice you send. It starts at €10 per seat per month billed annually, 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 — a client pipeline, not a sales floor | Sales teams, with fields and automations you switch off |
| Lead status | Derived from 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 July 2026; see each vendor's pricing page for current figures.
Why the standard CRM is the wrong shape for consulting
Most CRMs are built for sales teams: many reps working many parallel pipelines, chasing conversion rates, leaning on forecasting and automation. A consulting practice does not look like that. You have a smaller set of relationships — some are warm leads, some are live engagements, some are retainer clients who come back — and the value is in nurturing them, not in pushing volume through a funnel.
Bought a sales CRM anyway, a consultant spends the first week switching things off: the deal-rotting alerts, the empty forecast, the second and third pipelines nobody needs. What is left is an over-built address book that still does not know anything about the work you are actually doing.
What Pipeline does instead
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 — not a maze of parallel pipelines.
- Status is derived, not declared. Attach an engagement to a lead and they become a client; nobody maintains a lifecycle dropdown by hand.
- A full relationship timeline. Calls, notes, meetings and documents live against the contact, so picking a relationship back up after a quiet month takes seconds.
Where it connects — the part a standalone CRM cannot do
The reason a consultant’s CRM should live in a suite is what happens after the “yes.” In Lyto the client you just won already exists everywhere else: log billable hours against them in Tally, raise the retainer or T&M invoice in Sum from that same data, handle their questions in Solve. One shared customer record means the deal you closed is already the client you bill — no re-typing the same company into three more tools.
Where a dedicated sales CRM still wins
Be honest about your shape. If you run an inside-sales motion with several reps, need multiple parallel pipelines, or live inside a marketplace of sales-specific integrations, a dedicated sales CRM will go deeper than Pipeline. Lyto trades that depth for a connected suite at a small-team price — which is usually the better trade when selling is a few relationships a quarter, not a full-time team.
What it costs
A three-person consultancy is €30 per month billed annually — €10 per seat, all seven apps, one bill. The 14-day trial asks for a card up front and cancels in one click; a trial ended before day 14 is never charged.
Questions people ask
What is the best CRM for a small consultancy?
The best CRM for a small consultancy is one that tracks a client relationship from lead to retainer without the weight of a sales-team tool. Lyto Pipeline runs one pipeline per organisation, derives status from real activity, and connects directly to the time you track and the invoices you raise — so the same client record follows the engagement all the way to getting paid, from €10 per seat per month billed annually.
How is a consultant CRM different from a sales CRM?
A sales CRM optimises for volume: many reps, many parallel pipelines, forecasting and automation. A consultant usually has a smaller number of higher-value relationships that turn into retainers and repeat work. Lyto Pipeline is deliberately one pipeline with editable stages and a full deal timeline, tuned for that shape — and because it sits in a suite, 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, so the hours you logged become the invoice you send without a separate export or re-entry step. Everything sits under one login and one €10-per-seat bill.
Try the whole suite, not a demo
Every plan includes all seven apps — from €10 / seat / mo, billed annually.
14-day free trial · card required · cancel in one click