Revolutionising Workflow Management: Solving 5 common CRM challenges with our custom Notion system

Now, we're excited to share v2 of our custom Notion CRM system! It connects seamlessly with Clay.earth, Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Linear, Google Drive, and Xero. With deep automation and native integrations powered by Zapier, it eliminates repetitive tasks, syncs and enriches data in real time, and provides a 360° view of every client relationship.

Solving the 5 Most Common CRM Challenges

Managing client relationships often involves jumping between Gmail, spreadsheets, Slack, and project tools. Important context lives in meeting notes or siloed inboxes. Things fall through the cracks.

So, we built something better: a custom Notion CRM system tailored for modern, lean teams. It combines the flexibility of Notion with the automation power of Zapier, the enrichment muscle of Clay.earth, and smooth integrations across your existing tools.

ㅤ	The Problem	The Fix
1.	Leads and client data are scattered across tools Some contacts are in Gmail. Others in Slack. A few live in spreadsheets. It’s hard to get a full picture.	360° View in One Place We consolidate emails, meeting notes, contact info, invoices, and more into a single Notion workspace. Every client interaction is visible and connected: no more switching tabs to get context.
2.	CRM upkeep is a manual time sink It’s hard to keep everything updated. We waste hours copying, pasting, and cleaning data.	Automated Data Entry and Enrichment Using Clay.earth, Zapier, and Notion, we’ve eliminated almost all manual input. Contacts are enriched, company records are created on the fly, and meeting notes, emails, and invoices are auto-logged, saving hours each week.
3.	Deal stages are hard to track and resource We forget follow-ups, and setting up projects after closing deals is repetitive.	Real-Time Sync Across Tools As deals move forward, Zapier triggers key workflows: spinning up Slack channels, Linear projects, and Google Drive folders. Every stage is tracked and resourced without manual coordination.
4.	No one has the full client context If I didn’t join the last call or email thread, I feel out of the loop.	Intelligent Linking for Full Context By linking contacts, companies, deals, notes, emails, and invoices, our system builds a narrative of every relationship. Anyone can step in and immediately understand the history and status of a client.
5.	Existing tools don’t work together (and AI feels like an afterthought) We’re paying for Gmail, Slack, Xero… and Notion AI, but they don’t talk to each other.	Strategic Consolidation That Unlocks Notion AI With all client activity centralised in Notion, we leverage Notion AI to summarise timelines and meetings, generate follow-ups based on recent interactions, and conduct natural language research across our CRM - and connected tools like Slack and Linear - making insights instantly accessible.

The more we consolidate, the more leverage we gain — not just in efficiency, but in strategic intelligence. This structure helps us deliver more value, with less effort, using tools we already trust.

How Our CRM Works: The 3-Pillar Architecture

Our Notion CRM is built around three fundamental databases that form the backbone of any effective customer relationship management system:

1. Contacts Database

Gmail and Google Calendar (email + meeting metadata)

WhatsApp and iMessage (metadata only)

LinkedIn (connections)

Clay enriches each contact with job titles, companies, and communication history, then syncs it into Notion via a native integration. We always know who we last spoke with and when.

2. Companies Database

When a contact is added or updated:

Zapier extracts the email domain. If no company record exists, it creates one, and a Zapier Agent fetches company metadata (name, logo, description, industry) and enriches the record

Zapier then links the Company and Contact records in Notion

This ensures our companies database stays complete and consistent with zero manual effort.

3. Deals Database

Our deals database tracks business opportunities from initial contact through to close. Several Zapier automations streamline the workflow throughout the life cycle of a deal:

Generating a Google Drive folder structure for document storage, and linking it back to the Notion record for easy access

Creating a Linear project when a deal closes, speeding up our time to implementation

Setting up a dedicated Slack channel for client collaboration

These automations trigger at different stages of the deal process, ensuring all necessary resources are in place exactly when needed.

Beyond the Basics: Enhanced CRM Features

What sets our CRM apart is the additional functionality we've built to capture and organize all client interactions:

Meeting Notes Integration

Our system automatically creates meeting note entries from calendar events with powerful features:

Automatic tagging of all attendees (both internal and external)

Links to relevant contact records

Follow-up automation that summarises meetings and creates Linear tickets for action items

Email Tracking

We've implemented a streamlined email tracking system that:

Captures emails tagged with a specific Gmail label

Syncs them to our Notion database

Automatically links emails to the relevant contacts

Presents them in Notion's intuitive feed view

Invoice Tracking

We’ve also added a Xero integration that:

Captures new invoices as they’re created and links them to the appropriate Company and Contact record in Notion

Updates the invoice status in Notion whenever it changes in Xero

The Integration Ecosystem

Our CRM leverages several key integrations to create a seamless workflow:

Clay.earth: Powers contact syncing and enrichment from multiple communication channels

Zapier: Orchestrates automations and data enrichment across platforms

Linear: Handles project management for closed deals

Google Drive: Provides document storage and organisation

Slack: Facilitates team communication and client collaboration

Xero: Real-time invoice tracking

In his head, a plan of mathematical perfection

Looking Forward: Evolution and Scalability

While our current implementation is powerful, we recognise some challenges and areas for future development:

Expanding to support multiple team members (Clay.earth currently offers team plans at $40/month per user)

Enhancing the one-way sync limitation between Clay and Notion

Streamlining the process for manual contact additions

As Notion continues to expand its presence in Asia, we're excited to position ourselves at the forefront of this growing ecosystem. With Notion's strong adoption among students and the future workforce in Singapore, we believe this platform will become increasingly central to business operations in our region.

Ready to Transform Your Workflow?

Are you interested in implementing a similar system for your business? Our team specialises in creating custom Notion solutions and automation workflows that streamline operations and enhance productivity. We can tailor this CRM system to your specific needs and integrate it with your existing tools.

Get in touch today to discuss how we can help revolutionise your workflow management!

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