--- title: "CRM for Cold Email: Contacts, Deals, Pipelines | FirstSales" description: "A CRM inside your cold email tool. Keep contacts, companies, deals and pipelines next to your campaigns and inbox, so no reply turns into a lost deal." canonical: "https://firstsales.io/crm/" --- CRM # A CRM that lives next to your campaigns. Contacts, companies, deals and pipelines, inside FirstSales. When someone replies, the person, their company and the deal are already there. Move the deal along a pipeline you design, and see what may close this month, without copying anything into another tool. [Start your $1 trial T](https://app.firstsales.io)[See pricing](/pricing/) $1 for 3 days · Cancel anytime · No contract ![The Contacts table in the FirstSales sample workspace, with names, companies and status for each person](/_next/image/?url=%2Fimages%2Fai-sdr-software%2Ffeature-2.webp&w=3840&q=95) * 01 Contacts, companies and deals in one place * 02 Pipelines with your own stages * 03 Board, List and Forecast views * 04 Right next to your campaigns and inbox The problem ## Replies get lost between two tools. Cold email finds the conversation. Then the deal moves to a different tool, and the context stays behind. That gap is where good replies go cold. ### Copying replies by hand A prospect says yes, and someone has to copy the name, the company and the thread into a separate CRM. It gets done late, or not at all. ### Two tools, two versions of the truth The email tool knows who replied. The CRM knows who is buying. Neither knows both, so every review starts with matching names. ### Deals go quiet without anyone noticing A deal waiting on a follow-up looks the same as one that is moving. By the time someone checks, the buyer has moved on. How it works ## From reply to closed deal, in the same app. Your campaigns fill the CRM. You move the deals. Nothing is copied from one tool to another, and every deal keeps the emails that led to it. 1. 01 ### Contacts come in with your campaigns Import a CSV, add people to lists or find leads in FirstSales. Each person becomes a contact, linked to their company. 2. 02 ### A reply becomes a deal When someone shows interest, create a deal from their record, or take the one FirstSales suggests from the reply. It lands in the first stage of your pipeline. 3. 03 ### Move it to won Drag the deal through your stages, log calls, meetings and notes, and mark it won or lost with a reason when it ends. What it holds ## Four records, all linked to each other. The CRM in FirstSales keeps the people you email, the companies they work for, the deals you are working on and the pipelines those deals move through. Open one and you see the others. * Contacts ### Every person you reach Everyone you import, find or email lands here, with their history in one place. * Lists and tags * Lifecycle status * Custom fields * Emails and activity * Companies ### The accounts behind them One record per company, with the people and deals that belong to it. * Domain * Industry and size * Linked contacts * Linked deals * Deals ### The money on the table A deal is a chance to sell. It has a value, a stage, an owner and a date you expect it to close. * Value * Stage * Expected close * Win probability * Pipelines ### The path deals follow Your own stages, in your own order. Run more than one pipeline if you sell in more than one way. * Your own stages * Add or rename stages * More than one pipeline * Won and lost What you get ## Everything about a buyer on one screen. The CRM is built for teams that sell with email first. It keeps the parts you use every day and skips the rest. * ### One record per person Every email, reply, note and deal for a contact sits on their record. No more searching three tools to answer one question. * ### Companies tie it together See every person and every deal at an account in one place. Merge duplicates when the same company shows up twice. * ### Pipelines that match how you sell Name your own stages and set their order. Add a second pipeline when you sell a second way. * ### A forecast you can read Deal value, expected close and win probability, grouped by date. You see what may land this month without building a sheet. * ### Replies turn into deals Deals can be suggested from replies, so interest in your inbox does not wait for someone to copy it across. * ### Data you can take with you Import contacts from a CSV and export them back out whenever you need. Your list stays yours. ## The CRM in FirstSales, part by part What each part does, in plain words. 1. Contacts ### Keep every person in order Contacts are the people you email. Group them into lists, tag them in bulk and set a lifecycle status, so you always know who is new, who is talking and who is a customer. * Lists, tags and lifecycle status. Sort people the way your team talks about them. * Custom fields. Add the details your team needs that a standard record does not have. * Import and export CSV. Bring a list in, take a list out. Map columns when you import. * Add to a campaign. Pick people from the CRM and add them to a campaign in a few clicks. Import CSV Add to campaign Name Status Tag Seats Priya Nair Lead #agency 12 Sam Ortiz Customer #saas 40 Ines Duarte Lead #agency — Custom field · Team size 2. Companies ### See the whole account A company record holds the domain, industry and size, plus every contact and deal linked to it. When two people from one company reply, you see them side by side. * Linked contacts and deals. Everyone and everything at the account, on one page. * A timeline of activity. See what happened at the account, in order. * Merge duplicates. Combine two records for the same company into one. Brightpath Studio brightpath.example Contacts 3 Open deals 1 Timeline 1. Reply from Priya Nair Today 2. Deal moved to Proposal Tue 3. Meeting held Last week 3. Deals ### Track the money, not just the messages A deal has a value, a stage, an owner and an expected close date. Add a win probability and labels, and keep the people involved on the deal so nothing depends on memory. * Value, stage and expected close. The basics of every deal, always up to date. * Owner and participants. Assign a deal to a teammate and reassign it when things change. * Calls, meetings, notes and tasks. Log what happened on the deal so the next person can pick it up. * Won or lost, with a reason. Close every deal properly and learn from the ones you lose. Brightpath · 12 seats Value $4,800 Stage Proposal Expected close Nov 28 Owner You * Meeting · demo booked * Note · wants 12 seats * Task · send proposal Won Lost · add reason 4. Pipelines ### Design the path, then follow it A pipeline is the list of stages a deal goes through. Create it, add or rename stages, and drag deals from one to the next. Open deals that have not been touched for a while are flagged, so nothing sits forgotten. * Your own stages. Create, edit, reorder and delete stages as your process changes. * Drag deals between stages. Move a deal forward the moment it moves in real life. * Quiet deals flagged. Open deals without recent updates stand out on the board. Agency pipeline Quiet for 14 days · Fieldstone deal ## Board, List or Forecast. Same deals, different questions. Switch views without leaving the Deals page. The board shows where deals are, the list shows the details, and the forecast shows what may close and when. New1 Example deal Talking2 Example deal Example deal Proposal1 Example deal Won1 Example deal Board ### See every deal by stage Each stage is a column and each deal is a card. Drag a card to the next column when the deal moves. Best for: A quick daily look at what moved and what is stuck List ### Sort and filter the details One row per deal, with value, stage, owner and expected close. Filter by owner or stage to find what you need. Best for: Reviewing a long pipeline or one person's deals Forecast ### See what may close, and when Deals grouped by expected close date, with their value and win probability, so you can see what is coming. Best for: Planning the month ahead and spotting gaps early > “User Interface, Ease of Use, Able to hit the inbox in the first attempt.” ![](/_next/image/?url=%2Ftestimonials%2Fsadashiv-b.webp&w=96&q=75)Sadashiv B. [Founder, small business · G2](https://g2.com/products/firstsales-io/reviews/firstsales-io-review-6727217) Before and after ## Working deals, before and after the built-in CRM What changes when deals live next to the emails that started them. Separate tools Email in one place, deals in another. * Replies copied by hand Someone has to move each one across. * Context left behind The deal record misses the emails that started it. * Two lists of contacts Which one is right depends on who you ask. * Another login and another bill One more tool to keep in sync. * Forecasts built in sheets Updated late, trusted less. * Quiet deals go unseen Nothing tells you a deal has stalled. FirstSales CRM Campaigns, inbox and deals together. * Deals suggested from replies Interest in your inbox can become a deal. * Emails on the record The thread sits next to the deal. * One list of contacts The same people your campaigns email. * One app Included with FirstSales, next to your campaigns. * Forecast view built in Value, close date and probability, grouped by date. * Quiet deals flagged Open deals without updates stand out. Why it is different ## CRM: FirstSales vs a separate CRM A separate CRM can do a lot. The built-in one does what email-first teams use, where they already work. __The CRM in FirstSales compared with running a separate CRM next to your email tool__ | What you get | Separate CRM | FirstSales CRM | | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------ | --------------------------------------- | | Where replies land | In a different tool | Next to the contact and deal | | Deals from replies | Copied by hand or synced | Suggested from the reply | | Contacts for campaigns | Exported and imported | The same records | | Pipelines | Varies | Your own stages, more than one pipeline | | Views | Varies | Board, List and Forecast | | Quiet deals | Varies | Flagged on the board | | Logins to manage | Two or more | One | | CSV import and export | Varies | Yes | | [Start your $1 trial](https://app.firstsales.io) | | | Plain guide ## How to run a small, clean pipeline that people actually use. A CRM only helps if the team keeps it current. These habits keep it simple enough that they do. 1. 01 ### Keep stages few and clear Every stage should mean one thing everyone agrees on, like “meeting booked” or “proposal sent”. If two people would put the same deal in different stages, merge or rename them. Four to six stages is enough for most teams that sell with email first. 2. 02 ### Create the deal when interest is real Not every reply is a deal. Create one when the buyer agrees to a next step, such as a call or a demo. That keeps your pipeline honest and your forecast close to what will really close. 3. 03 ### Give every deal an owner and a date A deal without an owner belongs to no one, and a deal without an expected close date never feels urgent. Set both when you create it. Change them when they change, and the board will tell the truth. 4. 04 ### Write the note while you remember After a call, log what was said and what happens next. One line is enough. The next person who opens the deal, or you next week, will know where it stands without asking. 5. 05 ### Close lost deals, and say why Leaving dead deals open makes the pipeline look bigger than it is. Mark them lost and pick a reason. Over time, the reasons show you what to fix in your offer, your timing or your list. 6. 06 ### Use companies for accounts with more than one buyer When several people at one company are involved, link them to the company record. You will see the whole conversation at the account and avoid two teammates emailing the same team with different messages. 7. 07 ### Review the board once a week Pick a time each week to look at the board together. Move deals that moved, follow up on the ones flagged as quiet and close the ones that are over. Ten minutes a week keeps the forecast worth reading. 8. 08 ### Let campaigns and the CRM share one list The people you email and the people you track should be the same records. Build campaign lists from your contacts, and let new contacts from campaigns land in the CRM. When a buyer replies, you will not have to wonder which copy of their record is right, and your team will not email someone who is already in a deal with you. Before you start ## Ten checks for a pipeline that stays useful Run through these once when you set up, then again each quarter. Each one takes a minute, and together they keep the board and the forecast honest. * Your stages match the real steps a buyer takes * Each stage has a name everyone understands the same way * Every open deal has an owner * Every open deal has an expected close date * Deal values are filled in, even as a best guess * Contacts are linked to their companies * Duplicate companies are merged * Lost deals are closed with a reason * Quiet deals are followed up or closed * The team looks at the board together once a week What people say ## From people who use it Real words from real users. No paid reviews. [“If you are looking to fix your sales pipeline, you should definitely try \[it\]. My open rate has increased drastically. The UI and UX are easy to understand, even for a beginner like me.” ![](/_next/image/?url=%2Ftestimonials%2Fpooja-dhole.webp&w=96&q=75)Pooja Dhole @ThisIsPoojaD X ](https://x.com/ThisIsPoojaD/status/1721107904231817391)[“One of the best email outreach tools I have ever seen in my 9 years of business experience. It has solved the problem of email outreach for my cold emails.” ![](/_next/image/?url=%2Ftestimonials%2Fsanthosh-k.webp&w=96&q=75)Santhosh K. Founder and CEO, small business G2 ](https://g2.com/products/firstsales-io/reviews/firstsales-io-review-6744226)[“I've been using FirstSales.io for several months now, and I can confidently say it has revolutionized how I approach lead generation and customer acquisition.” ![](/_next/image/?url=%2Ftestimonials%2Fpawel-stelmach.webp&w=96&q=75)Paweł Stelmach Small business owner Trustpilot ](https://www.trustpilot.com/reviews/648c7a1ecaf6acf724d76035) [Read all reviews](https://love.firstsales.io/) ## Go deeper * [Signals Find people who engage with LinkedIn posts about your topics. ](/signals/) * [Copilot Ask in plain words. It reads your deals, contacts and inbox. ](/copilot/) * [Team workspaces Unlimited workspaces for every team or client. ](/team-workspaces/) * [AI SDR Finds leads, writes, follows up and books, in one loop. ](/ai-sdr/) * [All features Everything FirstSales does, on one page. ](/features/) ## Questions, answered plainly. Can’t find yours? [Write to us](/contact/). 01 Does FirstSales have a built-in CRM? Yes. FirstSales includes contacts, companies, deals and pipelines, right next to your campaigns and inbox. You do not need a separate CRM to track deals that start from cold email. 02 What can I track in the CRM? Contacts with lists, tags, lifecycle status and custom fields. Companies with their domain, industry, size and linked people. Deals with value, stage, owner, expected close date, win probability and labels. 03 Can I create my own pipeline stages? Yes. Create a pipeline, then add, rename, reorder or delete its stages. You can run more than one pipeline if you sell in more than one way. 04 How do I see what may close this month? Open the Forecast view on the Deals page. It groups deals by expected close date and shows their value and win probability. 05 How do replies become deals? Create a deal from any contact's record, or use a deal suggested from a reply. The deal links to the contact, their company and the emails behind it. 06 Can I import and export my contacts? Yes. Import contacts from a CSV, mapping your columns as you go, and export them to a CSV whenever you need. 07 Does the CRM cost extra? The CRM is part of FirstSales. Plans start at $29/mo, and you can try FirstSales for $1 for 3 days. See the pricing page for what each plan includes. 08 Who is the built-in CRM for? Teams that find most of their deals through email and want them in the same place. If you need a CRM for a large sales team with many channels, you may still use a separate one. ## Outreach that keeps going after you log off. Leads, emails, follow-ups and replies, handled. Connect unlimited mailboxes and let AI agents find leads, write each email and follow up. Or send your own templates in manual mode. From $29/mo. [Start your $1 trial T](https://app.firstsales.io)[See pricing](/pricing/) $1 for 3 days · Cancel anytime · No contract ## Install with AI Your coding agent sets up the FirstSales CLI and skills for you. Prompt for Claude Code I'm setting up FirstSales (https://firstsales.io), an AI outbound sales platform: campaigns, contacts, a reply inbox, deliverability and lead signals. Help me get my workspace sending real, good emails end to end, from Claude Code. Read these first so you know how FirstSales works: - Developer docs and API: https://developer.firstsales.io - CLI: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firstsales.io/cli - Skills for coding agents: https://github.com/firstsalesio/firstsales-skills (read README.md and GUIDE.md) Setup 1. Install the CLI: npm install -g @firstsales.io/cli 2. Install the FirstSales skills: claude plugin marketplace add firstsalesio/firstsales-skills claude plugin install firstsales@firstsales 3. Ask me if I already have a FirstSales account. If not, send me to https://app.firstsales.io to sign up. 4. Ask me to create an API key under Settings → API → API Keys, with only the scopes we need. Never ask me to paste the key into this chat. Tell me to run this in my own terminal, so the key stays hidden: read -rs FS_KEY && firstsales auth login --api-key "$FS_KEY"; unset FS_KEY 5. Run `firstsales whoami` and tell me which workspace and organisation we are connected to. Then ask me about my business: what I sell, who I sell to (roles, company size, countries), my best customers, and what I use today for outbound (tools, lists, mailboxes). Walk me through: 1. Teaching FirstSales my business: website, offer, proof points and case studies in the knowledge base, so the AI writes like someone who knows the product. 2. Connecting my sending mailboxes and checking my sending domain: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and warm-up. If anything is unhealthy, tell me the exact DNS record to add. 3. Bringing in contacts: import my CSV or CRM export into a clean list, remove duplicates and bad emails, and block domains I must never email (customers, competitors, my own). 4. Building my first campaign: the right list, senders, steps and timing. Write the sequence with me, show me the drafts, and do not launch until I say yes. 5. Setting up Signals if it fits: find people engaging with LinkedIn posts about topics my buyers care about, and turn them into leads. 6. Inviting my team and giving each person the right access. Once campaigns run, show me how to work the reply inbox from here: which replies need an answer, draft responses in my voice, and move good conversations into deals. If I use Cal.com, connect it so follow-ups can offer my booking link (not the first email). Throughout, as you learn about my business, proactively suggest and help create: - Reply templates for the questions and objections my prospects are likely to raise, based on my product, site and codebase if you can see them. - Campaign ideas and segments worth testing, with the reason for each. Safety rules: - Show every change as a dry run (--dry-run) first and wait for my yes. Never send emails, launch campaigns or delete anything without my yes. - Tell me before anything that spends credits, and how many. Be opinionated. If the docs give a sensible default, just use it. Don't make me choose between five options. [Developer docs ↗](https://developer.firstsales.io)[npm: @firstsales.io/cli ↗](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firstsales.io/cli)[GitHub: firstsales-skills ↗](https://github.com/firstsalesio/firstsales-skills)