Reviewed by Thomas & Øyvind — NorwegianSpark
Last updated: April 2026
If you are a freelancer juggling five clients, a dozen email threads, and a calendar that looks like a game of Tetris, you already know the pain of manual client management. Crush AI is a lightweight, AI-powered CRM built specifically for solo professionals and small teams who want to spend less time on admin and more time on billable work.
In this tutorial you will set up Crush AI from scratch, import your existing contacts, create an automated follow-up sequence, enable AI email drafting, connect your calendar, and learn to read the weekly AI summary so nothing falls through the cracks. By the end, your client pipeline will essentially run itself.
Step 1 — Create Your Crush AI Account
Head to Crush AI and click Start Free Trial. You can sign up with Google, Apple, or a plain email address. The free tier gives you up to 50 contacts and basic automation, which is plenty to follow along with every step in this guide.
Once you have confirmed your email, you will land on the onboarding wizard. Choose Freelancer / Solopreneur as your role. This pre-configures the dashboard with pipelines labelled Lead, Proposal Sent, Active Client, and Completed, which map perfectly to a typical freelance workflow. You can always rename these stages later.
Take a moment to upload a profile photo and set your business name. These details appear in AI-drafted emails, so filling them out now saves you from editing every message later.
Step 2 — Import Your Contacts
Navigate to Contacts > Import. Crush AI supports CSV, vCard, and direct sync with Google Contacts or Outlook. If you have a spreadsheet of past clients, export it as CSV with columns for Name, Email, Company, and Tags. Crush will auto-map those headers on upload.
For Google users, the one-click Google Contacts sync is the fastest route. Authorize the connection and Crush will pull every contact that has an email address. After import, use the Tag button to label contacts: Past Client, Warm Lead, Agency Contact, or whatever categories make sense for your work. Tags are the backbone of the automation sequences you will build next.
A quick tip: if your contact list is large, use the built-in duplicate detector. Crush highlights likely duplicates based on name similarity and email domain, and you can merge them with one click. This prevents confusion when automations start firing.
Step 3 — Set Up a Follow-Up Sequence
This is where Crush AI starts earning its keep. Go to Automations > New Sequence and choose Follow-Up After Proposal as your template. The default sequence looks like this:
- Day 0: Send proposal (you do this manually or via your invoicing tool).
- Day 3: Crush sends a friendly check-in email asking if the client has questions.
- Day 7: A second nudge with a soft deadline: “I am holding your slot until Friday.”
- Day 14: Final follow-up offering a brief call to discuss the proposal.
Each email in the sequence is a template you can customise. Click into Day 3 and you will see merge fields like {{first_name}}, {{project_name}}, and {{proposal_link}}. Edit the tone to match your voice, then hit Save Sequence.
To activate the sequence for a contact, open their profile, move them to the Proposal Sent stage, and toggle Auto-Follow-Up: ON. Crush will handle the rest, pausing the sequence automatically if the contact replies at any point.
Step 4 — Enable AI Email Drafting
Under Settings > AI Features, flip the switch for Smart Compose. This gives you an AI writing assistant inside every email compose window. Start typing a sentence, and Crush will suggest the rest based on your previous messages to that contact and the current pipeline stage.
You can also use the Draft for Me button. Select a contact, click Draft for Me, and choose a purpose: Project update, Invoice reminder, Scope clarification, or Thank you note. The AI generates a full email in your tone (it learns from the emails you have already sent). Review, tweak if needed, and send.
Privacy note: Crush processes email content on their servers to power the AI but does not sell your data. You can disable Smart Compose per-contact if a client works under NDA and you prefer to be extra cautious.
Step 5 — Connect Your Calendar
Go to Settings > Integrations > Calendar and connect Google Calendar or Outlook. Once linked, Crush shows a timeline of upcoming meetings directly on each contact card. More importantly, it can automatically log meetings as interactions, so your contact history stays complete without any manual note-taking.
Enable Smart Scheduling to generate a personal booking link. Share this link in proposals and follow-up emails. When a client books a time, Crush creates the event, adds it to the contact timeline, and sends you a notification. No more back-and-forth about availability.
You can also set Meeting Prep Briefs. Fifteen minutes before any meeting associated with a contact, Crush will email you a summary: last interaction date, open proposals, outstanding invoices, and recent notes. It is like having a personal assistant whispering context in your ear before every call.
Step 6 — Review Your Weekly AI Summary
Every Monday morning, Crush delivers a Weekly Pipeline Digest to your inbox. This AI-generated report covers:
- New leads added this week and their source.
- Proposals awaiting response (with days since sent).
- Clients who have gone quiet and may need a nudge.
- Revenue in your pipeline, broken down by stage.
- A suggested task list for the week, prioritised by urgency.
You can customise the delivery day and time under Settings > Notifications. Some freelancers prefer Sunday evening so they can plan the week ahead; others like it first thing Monday. The report is also available in-app on your dashboard under the Insights tab.
Use this summary as your Monday morning ritual. Scan for overdue follow-ups, check which deals are close to closing, and tackle the suggested tasks in order. Within a few weeks you will notice that fewer leads slip through the cracks and your response times improve dramatically.
Ready to automate your freelance pipeline?
Try Crush AI Free →For a deeper look at pricing, pros and cons, and how Crush compares to HubSpot and Notion CRMs, read our full Crush AI Review (2026). You can also browse more tools in our AI for Business category.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Crush AI free to start?
Yes. The free plan supports up to 50 contacts, one automation sequence, and basic AI drafting. Paid plans start at around $19 per month and unlock unlimited contacts, multiple sequences, and advanced analytics. The free tier is generous enough to test every feature covered in this tutorial.
Does Crush AI work with Gmail?
Absolutely. Crush integrates natively with Gmail and Google Workspace. Once connected, it can read incoming emails, log interactions automatically, and draft replies directly inside the Crush interface. It also works with Outlook, Yahoo, and any IMAP provider.
How is Crush AI different from a traditional CRM like HubSpot?
Traditional CRMs are designed for sales teams with managers, territories, and reporting hierarchies. Crush AI strips all of that away and focuses on the needs of one person: you. The interface is simpler, the AI is tuned for freelance contexts (proposals, retainers, recurring gigs), and the pricing reflects a solo user rather than a per-seat enterprise model.
Can Crush AI actually write emails for me?
Yes, and surprisingly well. The AI analyses your previous correspondence with each contact to match your writing style. You still review and approve every message before it sends, so you remain in full control. Think of it as a first draft that saves you five minutes per email.