Set up Attio as the first CRM for a small online business
· Marketing and sales
A spreadsheet can be enough when you have a handful of conversations. But if follow-ups keep slipping or customer details are scattered across inboxes, a CRM can give you one place to keep track. Attio is a flexible CRM; the useful setup is the one that matches the way you sell today.
Decide what you need to remember
Before you create fields, write down the questions you need to answer each week. Who have we spoken to? What problem are they trying to solve? What did we promise to do next? Which opportunities are active? If a field will not help answer a question or trigger a useful action, leave it out for now.
Start with a small set of people and company records, plus a short pipeline that reflects your actual sales steps. A service business might use “new enquiry,” “discovery,” “proposal” and “won or lost.” A product waitlist might need something entirely different.
Keep notes useful and respectful
Record what helps you serve the customer: their stated need, relevant context and the agreed next step. Avoid collecting personal details you do not need. Make notes factual and concise so another person could understand the history without interpreting your opinions.
If you connect email or calendar accounts, check what information syncs and who can access it. Keep access limited to the people who need it, and use your business's retention and privacy practices.
Automate one repeated task
Once the basics are working, choose one repeated task to automate. For example, create a follow-up reminder when a new enquiry has no next step. Keep a human review before sending messages or changing important records until you have seen the automation behave reliably.
Attio describes itself as a flexible CRM with workflows and AI features. The product can change, so check its current site and documentation before relying on a specific feature or plan. Begin with a workflow that saves a small amount of time and is easy to inspect.
Review your pipeline once a week
Set aside fifteen minutes to check records without a next step, opportunities that have gone quiet and patterns in the questions customers ask. The CRM is useful only if it helps you act. Remove fields and stages that no longer make sense.
You can add more detail as the business grows. For now, keep the process simple enough that you will update it after every meaningful conversation.
A useful next step
Start with the customer details and follow-ups you need this week. Let the CRM grow with the business.
Source: Attio