What we know
Tools we've used properly, not just watched a demo of.
Anyone can list logos. Here's the same list with an honest opinion attached to each one, because knowing when not to use something is the useful part.
CRM
HighLevel
HighLevel packs a CRM, email, text messages, calendars, forms and pipelines into one place. It's fast to launch and genuinely capable, as long as somebody keeps it tidy.
What it's good at
- Getting a full enquiry to booking journey live in days, not months
- Email and SMS side by side, so follow up doesn't depend on one channel
- Calendars, forms and pipelines that already talk to each other
- Running several brands or clients without paying per seat everywhere
Where it gets awkward
- The interface changes often, so documentation ages quickly
- Workflows can duplicate quietly and send twice if nobody's watching
- Reporting is fine, but not where you'd do serious analysis
- It rewards discipline with naming and tags more than most tools
Our experience with it
We run our own business on it, so we've hit the edges ourselves. We've built enquiry flows, nurture sequences, reactivation campaigns and appointment reminders in it, and connected it to websites, spreadsheets and other systems by webhook and API.
Things we've built or connected
This website's enquiry forms, posting straight into HighLevel with proper field mapping
A preference centre where people choose what they hear about, synced both ways
Reminder sequences that cut no-shows without nagging anyone
Usually in the same conversation