Introduction
If you’ve been searching for a reliable, all-in-one platform to manage your customer relationships, GoHighLevel is one of the top CRM tools you can leverage in 2025. It’s more than just a CRM—it’s a complete sales and marketing powerhouse that streamlines client communications, automates workflows, manages pipelines, and even helps you white-label your services.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to use GoHighLevel as a CRM effectively, even if you’re just starting. Whether you’re a digital agency owner, freelancer, or small business entrepreneur, this step-by-step tutorial will show you how to set up and use GoHighLevel to manage leads, close deals, and grow your business.
Table of Contents
Why Choose GoHighLevel as Your CRM?
GoHighLevel isn’t your average CRM. It’s a complete marketing suite designed to centralize all your sales and marketing operations under one roof. With features like:
- CRM and pipeline management
- Sales funnels and landing pages
- Email and SMS marketing automation
- Scheduling and calendar integrations
- White-label options for agencies
…it’s clear that GoHighLevel is built for businesses that want to scale efficiently.
Get Started with a Free Trial
Before diving into the CRM functionalities, you can start using GoHighLevel for free by signing up through this special link. You’ll even receive over $2,000 in bonus resources, including ready-made funnel templates—free.
📌 Pro Tip: Use the unlimited plan if you’re planning to white-label and offer CRM accounts to your clients. The starter plan is great for solo use, but white labeling is only available in the unlimited tier.
CRM Basics in GoHighLevel: Understand the Structure
To get started, let’s first break down some of the CRM terms you’ll see inside your GoHighLevel dashboard:
1. Accounts vs. Contacts
- Accounts: These represent the actual businesses you’re working with (e.g., Google, Apple, Shopify).
- Contacts: These are the individual people (your clients, leads, or reps) associated with each account.
This distinction allows you to manage multiple people under one business, helping you stay organized and target communications effectively.
Looking to capture more leads and boost conversions? Don’t miss our step-by-step blog on How to Build a High-Converting Landing Page in GoHighLevel. Learn how to design pages that not only look great but also drive real results—complete with built-in forms, automations, and analytics to track your performance.
Step-by-Step: How to Use GoHighLevel as a CRM
Step 1: Set Up Your Account
Once you log into GoHighLevel, you’ll land in the Agency View if you have admin access. From here, you can either manage your own business or client accounts.
For this tutorial, let’s walk through setting up your CRM inside your test account.
Step 2: Create a New Contact
To start managing leads:
- Go to the Contacts tab.
- Click on “Add Contact”.
- Please provide basic information such as your name (e.g., “Harry Potter”), email, phone number, and timezone.
- Save the contact.
You can add tags, assign a user, or segment leads based on campaigns later. This contact becomes the core of your CRM operations.
Step 3: Understand Pipelines & Opportunities
Click over to “Opportunities” in the sidebar.
Here’s where you’ll build and track your sales pipelines:
- Click “+ Create New Pipeline”.
- Name your pipeline (e.g., “Shopify Sales Funnel”).
- Add stages such as:
- New Lead
- Qualified
- Booked Call
- Proposal Sent
- Closed – Won
- Closed – Lost
- New Lead
Each stage represents a step in your sales journey.
Step 4: Add Opportunities (Deals)
Now, let’s link your contact to a sales opportunity:
- Select the pipeline you created.
- Click on “+ Add Opportunity.”
- Choose a primary contact (e.g., Harry Potter).
- Fill in relevant deal info like value, stage, source, and expected close date.
- Save the opportunity.
From here, you can drag and drop deals across pipeline stages as your client moves through the funnel. You can also mark deals as Won, Lost, or Abandoned.
Manage Everything in One Place
GoHighLevel consolidates all your sales activities into one platform. From within a deal or contract, you can:
- View communication history (calls, emails, SMS).
- Attach invoices, documents, or proposals.
- Assign team members or followers.
- Add notes, tags, and tasks.
It’s a seamless workspace that empowers your team to stay aligned and productive.
Engage with Leads via Conversations
One of GoHighLevel’s best features is its centralized Conversations tab. Every interaction across email, SMS, voicemail drops, and even Facebook Messenger gets stored in one place.
This means:
- No missed messages
- Better context during follow-ups
- Full visibility of client activity
Calendar & Appointment Booking
HighLevel includes a robust calendar tool for scheduling calls, meetings, or coaching sessions.
- Integrate with Google Calendar
- Create booking links for each pipeline or service
- Automatically assign appointments to available team members
The calendar syncs with your pipelines to track progress and helps avoid manual back-and-forth scheduling.
Automate Invoices, Subscriptions & Payments
GoHighLevel also helps you get paid faster by allowing you to:
- Create and send branded invoices
- Set up subscriptions for recurring clients
- Integrate with Stripe or other payment processors
This transforms HighLevel into both a CRM and billing solution, cutting down your tech stack dramatically.
Build Automation with Workflows
Now, let’s talk about what truly makes GoHighLevel powerful—the Automation Builder.
With Workflows, you can:
- Automatically send emails or SMS when a new deal is created
- Trigger follow-up sequences when a deal moves between pipeline stages
- Send reminders before appointments
- Nurture leads through personalized drip campaigns
Imagine this: Every time a new contact enters your CRM, they receive a welcome message, a calendar booking link, and weekly check-ins—completely hands-off.
Want to take your automations even further? Check out our detailed guide on How to Automatically DM Instagram Comments in GoHighLevel. This feature allows you to instantly engage with users who comment on your Instagram posts—perfect for lead generation, promoting offers, or simply building stronger connections with your audience. Don’t miss out on how this can supercharge your social media strategy!
Plan and Post on Social Media
GoHighLevel’s marketing tab even lets you schedule and manage your social media posts.
- Create and plan posts across multiple platforms
- Manage content calendars inside HighLevel
- Keep clients or your brand consistently visible online
Import, Export, and Customize
CSV files allow you to easily import your current leads and deals from other CRMs into GoHighLevel. Likewise, export your data whenever needed.
Everything inside the CRM is also customizable:
- Rename pipeline stages
- Create unique tags and filters
- Customize the layout and views
White-Label CRM for Agencies (Pro Feature)
If you’re running a marketing agency, GoHighLevel lets you white-label the CRM and resell it as your product.
This is a game-changer:
- Add client accounts under your agency brand
- Provide CRM access via a custom domain
- Charge recurring fees for CRM access
Need Help Setting Up GoHighLevel or Building a Custom CRM System for Your Business?
Looking for help setting up GoHighLevel or building a CRM system tailored to your business? At Axiabits, we help businesses and agencies streamline lead generation, client management, and automation with GoHighLevel.
👉 Book now and let’s get started!
Final Thoughts: Is GoHighLevel a Good CRM for 2025?
Absolutely. With its robust CRM functionality, lead tracking, automation, calendar bookings, and billing tools,try GoHighLevel is one of the most comprehensive CRM platforms available in 2025.
Whether you’re just getting started or want to scale your agency, GoHighLevel removes the need for multiple third-party apps—saving you time, money, and headaches.
Disclaimer
This article features affiliate links, which indicates that if you click on any of the links and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission There’s no extra cost to you and it aids in supporting our blog, enabling us to keep delivering valuable content. We solely endorse products or services that we think will benefit our audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes GoHighLevel a good CRM choice in 2025?
GoHighLevel is an all-in-one platform that combines CRM, sales funnels, email marketing, SMS, automation, and more. In 2025, its continued updates and integrations make it a top choice for agencies and businesses looking to manage leads, automate follow-ups, and streamline client communications—all from one dashboard.
Is GoHighLevel beginner-friendly for small businesses or solo entrepreneurs?
Yes, GoHighLevel offers a user-friendly interface and tons of tutorials to help beginners get started. Even if you’re a solo entrepreneur or a small business owner, you can set up your CRM, pipelines, and automations with minimal tech experience.
Can I manage multiple pipelines and client accounts within GoHighLevel?
Absolutely! GoHighLevel allows you to create and customize multiple pipelines for different services or client types. Plus, the unlimited plan gives agencies the ability to manage and white-label CRM instances for multiple clients.
What’s the difference between contacts and accounts in GoHighLevel?
In GoHighLevel, accounts represent companies or organizations, while contacts are the individuals you interact with inside those accounts. This separation helps you organize your CRM by associating multiple contacts with a single business.
Do I need coding skills to use GoHighLevel’s CRM and automation features?
Not at all. GoHighLevel is designed for non-technical users. Everything from pipeline creation to automation workflows and integrations can be set up using drag-and-drop builders and templates—no coding required.