Implementing a CRM in 7 days: a day-by-day plan from sign-up to the first report

Before you start: one owner and one rule

The rollout needs one owner — a single person who makes decisions and follows up with the team, usually the sales manager or the business owner. Also agree on one simple rule: «If it is not in the CRM, it did not happen». If a lead, call, order or payment is not recorded in the system, it does not appear in reports either. Without this rule, even the best software stays half-used.

Day 1: sign-up, company and users

Sign up at crm.sbt.az/signup — no card is required and the trial starts immediately. Enter your company details and logo. Then invite your staff and give each a role: a salesperson sees only their own customers, a manager sees everyone, the accountant sees finance. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for the admin account on day one.

Day 2: migrate the customer base

Upload customers from an Excel file. Clean the file first: merge duplicates, bring phone numbers to one format and assign a responsible employee to each customer. You do not need to move the entire archive — customers you have worked with in the last 12 months are enough. More on a clean database: crm.sbt.az/blog/musteri-bazasi-nece-qurulur.

Day 3: sales stages and lead sources

Build the sales pipeline with 5–7 stages: for example, new enquiry, contacted, proposal sent, negotiation, won or lost. With too many stages, salespeople stop updating them. Set up lead sources: website, Instagram, phone call, referral. How to choose stages: crm.sbt.az/blog/satis-qifi-nece-qurulur.

Day 4: connect channels, upload products

Connect the channels your enquiries come from: WhatsApp, Telegram, email, the website form. If you have no website, or form enquiries get lost, SBT Web builds a website on subscription and connects the form to the CRM from day one: web.sbt.az. If you work with orders, stock or a POS, upload products, prices and balances from Excel today; if you use 1C, products are synced from there.

Day 5: phones and notifications

SBT CRM installs on a phone like an app, and notifications arrive on the phone too. Today, install the app on every employee's phone and allow notifications. If you have field salespeople, try logging a visit with GPS and taking an order together. When a new lead or task arrives, the employee should see it immediately — this is where the value of a CRM begins.

Day 6: a one-hour training and real work

• Show 3–4 key actions per role, not everything: leads, tasks and stage changes for salespeople; the dashboard and reports for managers.
• After the training, everyone does the day's work in the CRM, not in Excel.
• For questions there is a help centre inside the app: step-by-step articles and a way to send a question.
• In the evening the manager checks the dashboard: who recorded what and which tasks are overdue.

Day 7: review and decision

At the end of the week check three things: are all new enquiries in the CRM, do salespeople close tasks on time, and can the manager see the needed figures without Excel? If the answers are yes, choose a plan and keep the Excel file read-only. Two parallel systems should not last long. During the first month, hold a short 15-minute meeting every week to discuss what is not working and adjust the settings.

Choosing a plan and getting help

Starter (59 AZN/month) covers leads, customers, deals and tasks; Standard (149 AZN/month) adds contracts, invoices, finance and payroll; Business (299 AZN/month) adds orders, stock, POS, field sales, WhatsApp, the Telegram bot and 1C integration. For shops and pharmacies, the «Kassa + Anbar» (POS + stock) plan is 99 AZN/month. Compare: crm.sbt.az/pricing. A checklist before choosing: crm.sbt.az/blog/crm-nece-secilir-yoxlama-siyahisi.

If you need help migrating data or setting up your process, contact the SBT Consulting & Solutions team: info@sbt.az · +994 55 455 27 26.

Frequently asked questions

Is 7 days enough for a larger company?

For the core sales process, usually yes. With many warehouses, 1C integration or complex permissions, it is better to roll out in stages: sales first, then orders and stock.

Will we lose our data when the trial ends?

No. When you choose a plan, you continue in the same account and do not need to re-enter anything.

What if the team does not want to use the system?

Simplify it: remove unnecessary fields and stages and keep only the key actions for each role. The manager should also ask for reports only from the CRM.