Who is this for

    CRM for consultancies managing relationships and retainers

    New engagements come from relationships you already have. Lumenbase keeps the full client lifecycle in one workspace, from proposal to retainer to renewal.

    30-day free trial · No credit card required

    Feed

    Today priorities

    Three contacts need action today. Two late-stage deals and one warm lead going quiet.

    Maya Okonkwo
    Maya Okonkwo
    Routine: Warm lead
    S4d
    Follow up on proposal

    Draft: Hi Maya, quick check-in on next steps for the proposal we sent last week.

    Jonas Rydberg
    Jonas Rydberg
    Routine: Stalled deal
    R7d
    Re-engage after demo

    Draft: Hi Jonas, wanted to follow up after the demo and see if timing still works on your side.

    Ava Lindberg
    Ava Lindberg
    Routine: Late stage
    S2d
    Send contract alignment

    Draft: Hi Ava, aligning on contract terms and confirming the close timeline for this month.

    Sebastian Streiffert, Founder, Lumenbase

    Sebastian Streiffert

    Founder, Lumenbase

    LinkedIn

    If you run a consultancy, you already know your next project usually comes from a relationship you have, not a cold lead. The hard part is that business development always loses to billable work, so your pipeline only gets attention when things go quiet. Every CRM I tried made that worse, built for one-and-done deals and leaving renewals to luck. So I built Lumenbase to keep the relationship, the project, and the renewal on one record, so nothing goes cold between engagements, even when you're slammed.

    Who this is for

    New work comes from who you know.

    Most engagements begin with a referral, an ex-client, or a warm intro. The quality of your network is your BD strategy. Right now that network lives in each partner's inbox and LinkedIn connections list.

    You run proposals, retainers, and extensions side by side.

    A new-client proposal, a retainer renewal, and a follow-on scope conversation can all be active at the same time. One generic deal pipeline can't model all three without losing something.

    Relationships go cold between projects.

    A client finishes a project, and six months pass. By the time you check back in, they've briefed a competitor. The window for the next engagement was open - and nobody noticed.

    Client context disappears when a partner hands off.

    When the lead partner changes, the new one inherits a blank record and a stack of email threads. Every relationship has to be rebuilt from scratch.

    One workspace from first meeting to invoice.

    Lists hold your network, Leads tracks active BD conversations, Deals runs proposals and engagements, and Accounts holds live clients. Invoices sit on the same record as the work, so billing and delivery aren't managed from separate tools.

    The window between projects is getting shorter - and missing it is getting more expensive.

    Competitors are more accessible, clients have less patience for being neglected between engagements, and referrals move faster when relationships are warm. A CRM that flags the relationship going cold and drafts the re-engagement message is no longer a luxury. Lumo monitors every client and contact automatically, so you catch the opening before someone else does.

    Metrics

    KPIs consultancies track, and where to find them

    Retainer renewal rate

    Clients that extend or renew vs churn. Accounts hold live clients and Routines flag the ones approaching end-of-engagement before the window for the next conversation closes.

    → Accounts

    Referral conversion rate

    How often a referral becomes an engagement. Track source on Deals and filter in Analytics to see how your network converts, and which referrers are most valuable.

    → Analytics

    Pipeline value by practice area

    Where revenue concentration is. Deals tagged by type or service line let you see which practice areas are busy and which need pipeline.

    → Deals + Analytics

    Outstanding invoices

    What's billed and still unpaid. Invoices track status per client, so collections on retainers and milestones stop being a chase at month end.

    → Invoices

    Days since last contact

    How long since you engaged each key relationship. Routines flag contacts going quiet before the relationship cools, and the Feed surfaces them while there's still a natural reason to reach out.

    → Feed

    What Lumenbase does for consultancies

    Your network is the asset, so it stops living in email threads

    Capture contacts from LinkedIn and let Unified Communication sync Gmail and Outlook, so every intro, conversation, and meeting lands on the right contact automatically. When a partner hands off an account, the full relationship history stays in the workspace instead of walking out the door.

    Proposals, retainers, and extensions in one funnel

    Configurable pipelines model how your engagements actually work: scoping, proposal, negotiation, active engagement. Deals run all active business, and Accounts hold live clients with renewal tracking. Nothing forces a product-sales shape on a professional services model.

    Lists
    Segmented contacts
    Leads
    Active opportunities
    Deals
    Pipeline
    Accounts
    Customers

    Protect the renewal, catch the extension signal

    Accounts hold live clients with the full relationship history. Routines flag clients approaching end-of-engagement or going quiet between projects, and the Feed surfaces them while there's still time. You catch the extension conversation before the client briefs someone else.

    Routine · Warm lead follow-up
    Warm lead follow-up
    Active
    Audience
    Leads in Discovery with no reply in 14 days
    Goal
    Re-engage and book a follow-up call
    Cadence
    3–5 days between touches
    Completion
    Reply received · deterministic
    Disqualify
    Marked lost or unsubscribed
    Lumo surfaces matches on theFeedwith an auto-drafted message

    Invoicing next to the relationship

    Create and track client invoices against the engagement itself. Retainer status, outstanding balances, and billing schedules live where the relationship does, so billing and delivery aren't managed in two disconnected spreadsheets.

    Frequently asked questions

    Common questions about Lumenbase for management and IT consultancies.

    Lumenbase is built for consultancies that win through relationships and grow through referrals and renewals. It keeps the full client lifecycle - network, proposals, active engagements, and renewals - in one workspace, with relationship signals surfaced by Routines and the Feed.

    Yes. Configurable pipelines model your engagement cycle, and Deals run alongside Accounts that hold live clients. A new proposal and a retainer renewal can be active at the same time without forcing one into the shape of the other.

    Pipedrive and HubSpot model product-style deal pipelines well, but they're not designed for the consulting engagement model - proposals, retainers, extensions, and the relationship gaps between projects. They have no native way to flag a client going quiet between engagements or to connect the renewal conversation to the original relationship history. Lumenbase is built around the client lifecycle, from first conversation to renewal, in one record.

    A spreadsheet and inbox work until someone leaves and takes the context with them, or until a renewal window closes because nobody noticed the relationship had gone quiet. Lumenbase keeps the full relationship history in one place, flags the signals automatically, and drafts the re-engagement so you catch the opening before a competitor does.

    Routines flag clients going quiet or approaching end-of-engagement, and the Feed surfaces them before the window for the next conversation closes. Accounts hold the full relationship timeline so every partner and senior associate can see the history without asking.

    No. Lumenbase manages client relationships, active BD, and invoice tracking - not time logging, contract management, or task-level project delivery. Use Lumenbase for the relationship and pipeline; keep your PM and billing tools for delivery and financials.

    They stay in the workspace. Unified Communication logs every email and meeting to the right contact and account automatically. The next person inherits the full relationship history instead of a blank record and an email archive.

    Guides by firm type

    Go deeper

    Proposals, retainers, renewals, and relationship signals: how consultancies run the full engagement lifecycle without losing clients between projects.

    Further reading

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