Decision guide
Set up Close CRM yourself or have it set up professionally?
There are exactly two paths to a working Close CRM: you set up Close CRM yourself, or you have it set up professionally, with us as your Close partner.
Setting it up yourself only makes sense if you are self-employed, have no sales team, do not plan to grow and just need a simple system to call your own leads.
As soon as setters and closers are involved, setting up Close CRM yourself turns into ongoing trial and error. You solve today’s problem and notice months later what is missing: a KPI dashboard without the numbers you need by then. Or no upsell process, even though suddenly there are lots of customers. Then the CRM gets rebuilt again and again. You don’t know what you don’t know.
Then there is the second loss: you or your sales manager spend evenings tinkering with fields instead of training the team, analyzing calls and doing marketing. Missing automations and AI cost extra time and money.
The sensible decision: have a Close partner set up Close professionally. That frees you up for the lever that actually brings in revenue.
| Criterion | Set it up yourself | Have it set up professionally (CRM Kraft) |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work? | You, on top of selling | Justus Kraft and CRM Kraft |
| Cost | Your working time, often that of the owner or the sales manager | Package price after the strategy call |
| A good fit if | You are self-employed, have no sales team, do not plan to grow and just want to call your own leads | You have a sales team that should grow: setters, closers, several tools, ongoing changes |
| What you notice later | The setup only knows today’s problem. A dashboard without the KPIs you need by then. No upsell process, even though suddenly there are lots of customers. After that: constant rebuilding. | The setup thinks ahead from the start: pipelines, KPIs, follow-up, upsell, automations and AI workflows |
| Where your time goes | Tinkering with the CRM. Trial and error. Readjusting over and over. | Training the team, call analysis, marketing. Your focus on the biggest lever. |
| Simple data migration | Via the import in Close | Included in the Close CRM Set Up package |
| Connecting other tools | Build it yourself | n8n, Make, Zapier, Calendly |
| Automations and AI | Missing or patchy, depending on what you come up with yourself | Part of the setup: follow-ups, AI workflows, lead prioritization |
| Support in German or English | Up to you | Yes, in both languages |
When do you not need a Close partner?
When you are self-employed, sell on your own, have no sales team and do not plan to grow. Then a simple Close CRM that you use to call your own leads is enough. You don’t need us for that.
If you have setters, closers or the goal of getting more out of the same leads, setting up Close yourself is the more expensive path. The biggest cost is not on any invoice: it is the owner clicking through fields instead of making the team better.
When is a Close partner especially worth it?
- As soon as there is a sales team, not only once “everything feels complex”.
- You don’t want to spend months trying out Close CRM yourself and only then find out which metrics, handoffs or upsell steps are missing.
- The owner or sales manager should lead, not piece the CRM together.
- Automations and AI should run from the start instead of turning up as the next problem to fix in six months.
- Close is already running, but the team only uses a fraction of it.
What should you look for when comparing several partners?
Look at three things: a listing in the Close directory that you can check, clear statements about the scope, and who will actually work on your project. Also ask what happens after go-live.