---
title: "Articles: Lead Follow-Up and Simple CRM Guides | Garner Desk"
description: "Practical guides for business owners: finding lost leads, cleaning contacts, setting up free HubSpot, and following up without sounding salesy."
---

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Articles

# Practical guides for following up and staying organised

Plain-English guides for business owners who don't have a sales team. No jargon, no software to buy.

- [How to organise scattered leads into one simple pipeline](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/organise-scattered-leads?hsLang=en)Pull contacts from your inbox, spreadsheets and phone into one place you can actually use.
- [How to find the leads hiding in your inbox](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/find-leads-in-your-inbox?hsLang=en)Gmail and Outlook search tricks that surface forgotten quotes and unanswered enquiries.
- [Spreadsheet vs CRM: when should you switch?](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/spreadsheet-vs-crm?hsLang=en)The honest signs a spreadsheet has stopped working, and when it's still fine.
- [How to set up the free HubSpot CRM for a small business](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/set-up-free-hubspot-crm?hsLang=en)What the free plan covers, what it doesn't, and a setup you can finish in an afternoon.
- [What is a sales pipeline? A plain-English guide](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/what-is-a-sales-pipeline?hsLang=en)The stages that matter for a small business, and the ones you can skip.
- [How to clean up duplicate contacts](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/clean-duplicate-contacts?hsLang=en)Find and merge duplicates across email, phone and spreadsheets without losing anything.
- [How often should you follow up with a lead?](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/how-often-follow-up-lead?hsLang=en)A simple rhythm that keeps you in touch without being pushy.
- [Follow-up email templates that don't sound desperate](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/follow-up-email-templates?hsLang=en)Short, specific messages for quotes, quiet leads and ‘next quarter’ contacts.
- [How to reconnect with past clients without sounding salesy](https://www.garnerdesk.com/articles/reconnect-with-past-clients?hsLang=en)Why past clients are your warmest leads, and how to restart the conversation.

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We gather, clean and organise your leads into one pipeline. Fixed price, done in 5 to 10 working days.

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