CRM for small professional services firms
Ariyel is a CRM for small professional services firms where partners win the work and staff deliver it, such as accounting and bookkeeping practices, IT service providers, and design or architecture studios. It tracks every inquiry from first consultation to signed engagement, runs the same client intake checklist every time, reminds you before annual engagements come up for renewal, and trains new staff on how the firm works. Ariyel's team implements it and trains your staff.
What professional services firms tell us
- "Intake depends on one person." The steps for a new client (engagement letter, documents, system access, first meeting) are in someone's head or a checklist nobody updates.
- "Partners are the pipeline." Inquiries arrive by phone and email to partners' inboxes and aren't visible to anyone else.
- "Renewals sneak up on us." Annual engagements get renewed late, or repriced without a conversation.
- "Training a new hire takes a partner's time." Every new associate learns the firm's way by shadowing.
A professional services pipeline in Ariyel
Ariyel's pipeline is call-based and the stage names are yours to set. For a small firm, a short version usually works:
| Stage | Meaning in a firm |
|---|---|
| Consultation Booked | First meeting or call scheduled (shows on the record from Google Calendar) |
| No Show / Rescheduled | Needs a rebook task |
| Consultation Done | Scope discussed; engagement letter or quote being prepared |
| Engagement Letter Out (Hot List) | Waiting on signature; a follow-up sequence runs until the stage changes |
| Future Engagement (Long-Term Nurture) | Right client, wrong time (e.g. next financial year) |
| Engaged (Closed Won) | Signed; intake checklist starts |
| Not a Fit / Dead / Lost | Closed out; still visible in the Funnel report |
Custom fields hold what your firm needs to see at a glance, such as service line, annual fee or renewal date. Saved views shared with the whole team ("Engagement letters out, by partner") replace the weekly "where are we?" meeting. See CRM for service businesses.
Example workflow: never miss an annual renewal
Many firms' engagements recur yearly. This workflow uses Ariyel's Delay until step against a date field. All steps exist in Ariyel today.
- Trigger: Field value changed on a deal: Stage becomes Engaged.
- Action: Start fulfillment with the "New client intake" template (below).
- Flow: Delay until the Renewal review date custom field (set it about 45 days before the renewal date).
- Action: Create task for the deal owner (the partner): "Renewal conversation: review scope and fee", due in 7 days.
- Action: Create note on the deal recording that the renewal review has started.
A new client intake checklist
The intake is a fulfillment template: steps with instructions, an owner rule and a due date in days from the start, copied onto the deal when it's marked Engaged. It shows progress, the next step and anything overdue.
| # | Step | Owner | Due (days from start) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Signed engagement letter saved; scope noted on the deal | Partner | 0 |
| 2 | Welcome email with document and access request | Client manager | 1 |
| 3 | Documents and system access received | Client manager | 7 |
| 4 | Kickoff meeting; key dates recorded in custom fields | Partner | 10 |
| 5 | Work assigned to the delivery team | Client manager | 10 |
| 6 | First deliverable or first-month review | Associate | Set per service line |
| 7 | 60-day check-in with the client | Partner | 60 |
Adjust steps to your service line. See client onboarding software.
Team training for a firm
Courses in Ariyel hold ordered lessons with video, notes and files. Start with "How we take on a new client" (the intake checklist explained), "How we run a consultation", and "How we record client work in Ariyel". See team training software and onboarding new hires.
FAQ: CRM for professional services firms
What's the difference between a CRM and PSA software? A CRM manages the relationship and the sale: inquiries, conversations, follow-up and the client's onboarding. PSA software manages delivery economics: time, utilisation, resourcing and billing. Ariyel is a CRM with client onboarding and team training built in.
Can each partner see their own pipeline? Yes, with filters and saved views by deal owner. Views can be shared with the whole firm.
Does Ariyel work for accounting firms during busy season? Ariyel can hold your intake and renewal process and a long-term stage for "next season" prospects.
Next steps
- How Ariyel is implemented: software, setup, training and coaching.
- Ariyel pricing: what's included.
- Back to CRM for service businesses by industry.
