A CRM for consultants

What does a consultant need from a CRM?

A list of people and companies, the open deals with their next step, and a reminder for every follow-up. Most consultants sell their own time, so the CRM has to cost minutes a week, not hours.

That is the gap Sashimi fills. It is a sales-prospecting CRM with leads, companies, deals, tasks, activities and email sequences, and you use it from Claude or ChatGPT instead of from an app. You keep working in the chat where you already write proposals and prepare meetings, and the CRM stays current as you go.

How does Sashimi remove the CRM admin?

Your AI does the data entry. You describe what happened in plain words, and it calls the right Sashimi tools: log_activity for the call, create_tasks for the follow-ups, update_deal for the new stage and list_tasks for what is due.

After a meeting, one message can cover it: who you spoke to, what they want and when you will follow up. Your AI finds the lead with search_crm, records the meeting in its history, creates the reminder and moves the deal. You can ask it for a summary of everything it changed.

• Bulk work. It creates or updates up to 100 leads, companies, deals or tasks in one call, for example after a conference.
• Forecast. crm_report gives your open deals by expected close month, with amounts weighted by probability.
• Owner by default. Tasks and activities are assigned to whoever creates them, so "my tasks" is always your list.
• Undo. Deleted records go to the trash and can be restored for 30 days.

Which deal stages and fields fit a consulting practice?

A short pipeline that follows how an engagement is sold, plus a few fields for the terms. Your workspace opens with a generic pipeline, and you change it by asking your AI, which uses tools such as create_deal_stage, create_status and create_custom_field.

Sashimi does not come with these preset. They are ideas to hand to your AI.

• Deal stages: Intro call, Scoping, Proposal sent, Negotiation, Won, Lost. Lost can have sub-stages, such as Price, Timing and Went elsewhere.
• Lead statuses: New, In conversation, Referred, Not now, Client.
• Custom fields on deals: Engagement type (select: Project, Retainer, Workshop), Day rate (number), Start date (date).
• Custom fields on leads: Referred by (text) and Last project together (text).

Each stage can carry a default probability, which feeds the forecast. Every custom field can be filtered, so "show me retainer deals in Negotiation" is one question.

What does the AI cost?

Nothing extra from Sashimi. The AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan, so there are no AI credits to buy. Sashimi also has built-in agents that can run CRM work on a schedule. They are off by default and you do not need them: your own AI does the reasoning.

You need a Claude plan with custom connectors, or ChatGPT with developer mode on the web; on Claude Team and Enterprise, an owner adds the connector. The connection guide covers the sign-in, and there is more on how the connector works. Sashimi is in private beta, invitation only, and free during the beta.

If you look for new clients through prospect data, search through Apollo spends no credits, while import and enrichment spend Apollo data credits on your own Apollo key, with an estimate first.

What if I consult and run another business?

Give each one its own workspace. One Sashimi login can belong to several workspaces, and each has its own records, pipeline and connector in your AI. A connection only sees the workspace it is tied to, so your practice and your other business stay in separate workspaces.

Related pages:

• One CRM for multiple businesses explains that setup.
• A CRM for agencies covers selling for clients.
• A CRM for solopreneurs covers working alone.
• The security page explains how workspaces are kept apart.