ProContact is a simple CRM for tradespeople, side hustlers and other one-person businesses. This guide takes you from an empty account to a confirmed appointment in about ten minutes.
Create your account
Three ways to sign up from the home page:
- Email and password — you receive a verification email; click the link to activate the account.
- Google — one click, no password to remember.
- Apple — same idea, with the "hide my email" option.
Every new account starts with a free Pro trial. When the trial ends the account moves to the free plan: your data stays untouched, only creating beyond the quota is blocked.
On first sign-in ProContact asks for your GDPR consent. This is a legal requirement — without it the app stays locked.
Step 1 — create an activity
An activity is a strand of your business: "Coaching", "Electrical callouts", "Wedding photography". Everything else — contacts, appointments, statistics — hangs off an activity.
Go to Activities → New activity and fill in:
- the activity name (your clients see it in emails);
- a short description;
- a phone number and an email address for this activity;
- optionally an image.
If you only do one thing, create a single activity in your own name. You can add more later.
Step 2 — add a contact
Head to Contacts → New contact. The useful minimum:
- first name and last name;
- at least one email address — it receives appointment confirmations and unlocks the client portal;
- a commercial status (Prospect, Active client, Qualified lead…) so you know where the relationship stands.
A contact can have several emails, several phone numbers and several postal addresses, one of them marked as the main one. Finally, attach the contact to one or more activities.
Step 3 — schedule an appointment
In Appointments → New appointment, pick the contact, the activity, the date and the start and end times, then give it a title your client will understand ("Bathroom quote", "Discovery session").
Tick the confirmation email: your client immediately receives the appointment details along with a secure link to their portal. You always get a copy, which leaves you a record of every message sent.
Step 4 — set a reminder
An appointment without a follow-up gets lost. From the appointment, add a reminder: date, frequency (once, daily, weekly, monthly) and recipient (you, the client, or both).
This is the feature that pays off fastest — most lost deals are lost to silence, not to quality.
What next
- Get into the habit of writing a note after every conversation. It is your client memory.
- Check the dashboard once a week to spot upcoming appointments and dormant contacts.
- Review your statistics at month end and export them if your accountant asks.
Carry on with the activities guide, then the contacts guide.