How to Use ClickUp as a Custom CRM

ClickUp can become a powerful, customizable CRM that helps you organize leads, track deals, and manage every stage of your customer relationships in one place. This how-to guide walks you through turning a flexible workspace into a full CRM system.

The steps below are based on best practices for building a no-code CRM that adapts to your sales process, team size, and reporting needs.

Why Build a CRM in ClickUp

Before diving into setup, it helps to understand why teams choose this platform as their CRM foundation instead of traditional, rigid tools.

• Custom workflows: Model your exact sales pipeline and customer journey.
• Centralized data: Keep conversations, documents, and tasks in one hub.
• Flexible views: Switch between list, board, and dashboard visualizations.
• Scales with you: Start simple, then grow into more advanced automation and reporting.

The underlying idea is to replace scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tools with a tailored workspace you can keep optimizing over time.

Plan Your ClickUp CRM Structure

Start by designing the structure of your CRM so everything is easy to navigate and report on later. Think about where accounts, contacts, and deals should live.

Define Your CRM Hierarchy in ClickUp

A common approach is to use the workspace hierarchy to separate territories, teams, and processes. For example:

• Space: Sales or Revenue Operations
• Folders: Pipeline, Accounts, Onboarding, Renewals
• Lists: New Leads, Qualified Opportunities, Active Accounts, Churn Risk

Use clear naming so anyone can understand where to find information about a lead, deal, or customer in seconds.

Document Your Sales Stages

Define the stages a lead passes through, from first touch to closed deal and beyond. Typical stages might include:

• New Lead
• Contacted
• Qualified
• Proposal Sent
• Negotiation
• Closed Won / Closed Lost

These stages will become custom statuses and fields inside your ClickUp CRM views.

Set Up Custom Fields in ClickUp

Custom fields turn basic tasks into rich CRM records by storing all the details that matter for each lead or opportunity.

Choose Key CRM Data Points

Identify the information your sales team needs on every record. Common CRM custom fields include:

• Deal value or potential revenue
• Close date or target close month
• Lead source (organic, paid, referral, event, etc.)
• Account name and contact role
• Industry or segment
• Priority or deal score

Limit fields to what your team will actually use so data stays clean and easy to maintain.

Create Custom Fields in Your Lists

For each list that represents leads or deals, add custom fields that match your process. You can use:

• Number fields for revenue and scores
• Date fields for follow-ups and close dates
• Dropdowns for lead source and deal stage
• Text fields for key notes or links

Once created, these fields can be reused across multiple lists inside your ClickUp CRM structure.

Build Pipeline Views in ClickUp

Visual pipeline views help you understand the health of your funnel and quickly move deals through each stage.

Create a Board View for the Sales Pipeline

A board view grouped by status is ideal for managing opportunities like a Kanban board. To build this:

1. Create a list for Opportunities or Deals.
2. Add custom statuses that mirror your defined stages.
3. Switch to a board view and group by status.
4. Display essential custom fields on each card, such as value and close date.

Now you can drag and drop cards between stages and instantly see where every deal stands.

Use List and Table Views for CRM Reporting

List or table views give a spreadsheet-like overview of your sales data. Use them to:

• Sort by close date to prioritize upcoming deals.
• Filter by owner, segment, or region.
• Group by lead source to understand performance.
• Quickly update fields in bulk.

Saved filters and views make it easy for each sales rep or manager to see exactly what matters to them.

Automate CRM Workflows in ClickUp

Automation helps you reduce manual data entry and ensure consistent follow-up with leads and customers.

Set Up Basic Sales Automations

Begin with simple rules that support your process without overcomplicating things. Popular examples include:

• When a status changes to Qualified, assign the deal to a specific owner.
• When a due date is set, create a follow-up task a few days before.
• When a deal is marked Closed Won, move it to an Accounts list.
• When a priority is High, add a tag and notify the manager.

These automations make your ClickUp CRM more reliable by reducing the risk of missed handoffs and forgotten follow-ups.

Connect Forms to Your CRM Lists

Use forms to capture new leads directly into your pipeline. To implement this:

1. Create a form view on your New Leads list.
2. Map form fields to your CRM custom fields.
3. Embed the form on your website or share the URL.
4. Set default values, such as status = New Lead.

Every form submission instantly becomes a record inside ClickUp, ready for qualification and outreach.

Collaborate With Your Team in ClickUp

A good CRM is not just a database; it is a collaboration hub where sales, marketing, and customer success work together.

Use Comments and Mentions on Deals

Instead of scattered emails, keep conversations attached to the right records. Encourage your team to:

• Use comments to log call notes and decisions.
• Mention teammates when they need input or approvals.
• Attach proposals, contracts, and recordings directly to the task.

This keeps every interaction in context, making handoffs smoother between sales and post-sale teams.

Share Dashboards With Stakeholders

Create dashboards that summarize CRM metrics and pipeline health. Helpful dashboard widgets may include:

• Total pipeline value grouped by stage
• Deals closing this month by owner
• New leads by source
• Velocity from lead to closed won

Dashboards make it easy for leaders to understand performance at a glance without digging through raw data.

Optimize Your ClickUp CRM Over Time

Treat your CRM as a living system. As your process evolves, update fields, views, and automations to match.

Review Data Quality Regularly

Schedule periodic reviews to clean and improve your records:

• Archive or close out stale opportunities.
• Normalize values in dropdowns and tags.
• Remove unused fields and views.
• Refine automation triggers and actions.

Consistently maintaining data quality makes reporting more accurate and daily work more efficient.

Gather Feedback From Users

Ask your sales and customer success teams which parts of the CRM feel slow or confusing. Then adjust:

• Simplify forms and required fields.
• Reorganize lists and folders for clarity.
• Add new views tailored to specific roles.
• Improve notifications so they are helpful, not noisy.

Iterative improvements ensure your ClickUp CRM remains aligned with real-world workflows.

Learn More About Customizable CRMs

If you want to dive deeper into building a flexible, no-code CRM, review the detailed breakdown of customizable CRM software and examples on the official blog at this ClickUp article about customizable CRM software.

For additional strategy, implementation, and optimization support, you can also explore consulting resources such as Consultevo, which focuses on improving systems, workflows, and CRM performance for growing teams.

By following these steps and continuously refining your setup, you can turn a flexible workspace into a powerful, customized CRM that supports your entire customer lifecycle.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

Get Help

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