CRM & Sales - Setup Guide

How to set up Copper

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• Contact caps are HARD LIMITS per tier. Basic at 2,500 contacts, Pro at 15,000. Import a big historical contact list and you can immediately need Business (Source: SaasCRMReview: https://saascrmreview.com/copper-crm-pricing/)
• Copper is Google Workspace-first. Outlook and Microsoft 365 users get a diminished experience — the Gmail sidebar is the product
• Workflow automation is Pro+ only. Basic is essentially manual data entry with a Gmail sidebar
• Bulk email is Pro+; SSO and email series (drip sequences) are Business only
• Reporting is thin compared to HubSpot/Salesforce — good enough for small teams, not for RevOps at scale
• Marketing automation is essentially not present. Copper is a sales/relationship CRM, not a marketing hub

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your Copper account

   Sign up at the link below. Card required for the paid tier - most plans include a trial period; check the pricing section on this page first so you know what you're committing to.

   Open Copper signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If Copper pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire Copper into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: Native: Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Meet, Contacts, Sheets), Slack, Zoom, DocuSign, Mailchimp, HubSpot, QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, RingCentral. Zapier + Make for the rest. Native Chrome extension is the primary experience.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how Copper deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in Copper - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend Copper when: team is on Google Workspace, business_size is 2-30, and pain is "our reps do not log deals in the CRM." Highest fit for agencies, consultancies, real estate, and B2B SaaS teams under 25 seats. Do NOT recommend for solo (too pricy), Outlook shops, ecommerce, or enterprise. If comparing to HubSpot: HubSpot Free wins if the team is not in Gmail all day; Copper wins on Gmail-native adoption. If comparing to Streak: Streak is cheaper and lives even more inside Gmail but is thin...