Switching From Paper and Texts to a CRM: A One-Week Plan

Why switching feels harder than it is

Most owners put off getting organized because they picture a lost weekend typing in every customer they have ever had. You do not need to. You need the work that is open right now, the leads, quotes, jobs and money in motion, and you can move that in about half an hour a day for a week.

Day 1: Your customers

Start with the people already in your phone. Bring in the contacts who are customers, not your cousin or your dentist. If a name has no address yet, leave it. You will fill it in the next time you talk to them.

Day 2: Your prices

Write down how you price the work you do most: by the room, by the square foot, by the hour or by the piece. Put those prices in once. From now on every quote starts from the same numbers instead of a guess in the driveway.

Day 3: Every open quote

Go through your texts and email for quotes you sent in the last month that have no answer. Add each one with the date and the price, and give it a follow-up date. Most owners find a few jobs they forgot they were still in the running for.

Day 4: The calendar

Put the next two weeks of booked jobs on the calendar, with the crew on each one. When the schedule lives in one place, nobody has to call you to find out where to be.

Day 5: Money owed

List every invoice that has not been paid, oldest first. Send each one again with a way to pay by card. This day usually pays for the whole week.

Days 6 and 7: Use it, do not perfect it

The last step is the only one that matters: run tomorrow from the list. New lead? It goes in before you call back. Sent a quote? It goes in. Finished a job? The invoice goes out from the same place. After a week, the habit is the system.

One rule for the switch: do not try to bring in your whole history. The past is in your old notebook if you ever need it. The future goes in the new place.

Jetsy is built to make this week easy: customers come in from your phone's contacts in a few taps, the quote is already written for your trade so you only add your prices, and on the plans that answer calls you keep your own number. It runs on the phone or tablet you already have. $25 a month, the first 7 days free, no card.