Why Your SaaS Boilerplate Needs a Built-In CRM

The Gap in Every SaaS Boilerplate

You buy a SaaS starter kit. It has auth. It has payments. It has a nice landing page.

Then you launch. Someone signs up for your waitlist. Where does that lead go?

Nowhere. Because most boilerplates assume you'll "figure out" customer acquisition later. They give you the tools to build a product, but not the tools to sell one.

This is backwards. Customer acquisition isn't a "later" problem—it's the whole point.

Why Founders Ignore CRM Until It's Too Late

• "I'll just use a spreadsheet" — Until you have 200 leads and no idea who's hot
• "I'll add HubSpot later" — $50/month minimum, complex setup, and you lose early data
• "I don't need it yet" — But when you do need it, you've lost months of signal

The founders who win understand that lead data from day one is irreplaceable. You can't retroactively know which landing page copy converted, which traffic source sent your best customers, or which feature request came from a paying user.

What a Built-In CRM Should Include

Enterprise CRMs have 500 features. SaaS founders need exactly 7:

1. Lead Capture

Every form on your site should flow into one database. Email capture, waitlist signup, demo requests—all in one place.

2. Source Tracking

Where did this lead come from? UTM parameters, referrer, landing page. This data tells you what's working.

3. Pipeline Stages

Not every lead is equal. Move them through stages: New → Qualified → Demo → Proposal → Won/Lost.

4. Notes & Activity

Record what happened. Phone call, email exchange, feature request. Context matters when you follow up.

5. Tags & Segmentation

Tag leads by persona, company size, use case. Send targeted messages instead of blasting everyone.

6. Owner Assignment

When you have a co-founder or first sales hire, who owns this lead? Clear ownership = clear accountability.

7. Analytics

Conversion rates by stage, source performance, daily capture trends. Data to improve your funnel.

LaunchKit's CRM Implementation

LaunchKit includes all of this out of the box. Here's the schema:

-- leads table
CREATE TABLE leads (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  email TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  source TEXT,           -- utm_source, page path, campaign
  tags TEXT[],           -- ['saas-founder', 'enterprise']
  persona TEXT,          -- 'technical-founder', 'marketing-lead'
  phone TEXT,
  company TEXT,
  message TEXT,
  stage TEXT DEFAULT 'new',  -- new, qualified, demo, proposal, won, lost
  owner_email TEXT,
  notes TEXT,
  tasks JSONB,           -- [{title, done}, ...]
  activity JSONB,        -- [{text, at, actor}, ...]
  inserted_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now()
);

The Lead Capture Flow

Every lead enters through /api/lead:

// API automatically:
// 1. Validates email format
// 2. Rate limits to prevent spam
// 3. Extracts UTM parameters from referrer
// 4. Optionally enriches with AI (persona detection)
// 5. Triggers webhook to Slack/Discord
// 6. Syncs to email service (Mailchimp/ConvertKit)

// Frontend usage:
<ButtonLead
  source="homepage-hero"
  tags={["early-access"]}
  onSuccess={() => router.push("/thank-you")}
/>

Pipeline Stages That Convert

Default stages in LaunchKit, optimized for SaaS sales:

• New: Just captured. No qualification yet.
• Qualified: Meets your ICP. Worth pursuing.
• Demo: Scheduled or completed a demo/call.
• Proposal: Sent pricing or terms.
• Closed-Won: They paid. Celebrate.
• Closed-Lost: Didn't convert. Record why.

Customize these in Supabase and the admin UI. Add stages like "Trial" or "Negotiation" if your sales cycle needs them.

Integrations Out of the Box

LaunchKit CRM connects to your existing stack:

• Mailchimp: Sync leads to lists automatically
• ConvertKit: Tag subscribers for sequences
• HubSpot: Push to enterprise CRM if needed
• Slack/Discord: Real-time alerts on new leads
• Cal.com/Calendly: Booking events create leads
• Custom Webhook: Send to any endpoint

Set environment variables and integrations work. No code changes needed.

Admin Dashboard Features

The /dashboard/leads route gives you:

• Sortable/filterable lead table
• Inline editing for stage, owner, notes
• CSV import/export
• Stage funnel visualization
• Conversion rate by source
• 14-day capture trend chart

Protected by ADMIN_EMAILS environment variable. Only you (and team members you designate) can access.

The Booking → Lead Pipeline

When someone books a demo through Cal.com or Calendly:

// Configure webhook in your scheduler to POST to:
// https://yoursite.com/api/booking

// Payload includes invitee email
// LaunchKit:
// 1. Creates or updates lead with booking email
// 2. Auto-sets stage to "demo" (configurable via LEAD_BOOKING_STAGE)
// 3. Records booking in activity log
// 4. Triggers Slack notification

// Result: No lead falls through the cracks

Why Not Just Use Notion/Airtable/Sheets?

• No automation: Manual entry for every lead
• No source tracking: You don't know what's working
• No integrations: Copy-paste to email service
• Team friction: Sharing access is awkward
• Data silos: Customer data in one place, product data in another

A built-in CRM means your lead data lives next to your customer data. Same database. Same dashboard. Complete picture.

Day One Data Collection

The best time to start tracking leads was before you launched. The second best time is now.

With LaunchKit, your first landing page visitor can be your first tracked lead. Every interaction from signup to payment is captured. When you're ready to analyze what's working, the data is there.

Most founders realize they need this after losing months of signal. Don't be most founders.