Getting started with DUSA: a step-by-step setup guide

You signed up. You are looking at the dashboard. And now you are wondering: where do I actually start?

That is the most common question we hear from new DUSA users, and it is a fair one. The platform does a lot. CRM, automations, landing pages, email campaigns, review management, calendars, pipelines. When everything is available at once, figuring out the right order matters.

This guide walks you through the first setup in a logical sequence. Follow it step by step and you will go from a blank account to a working system that captures leads, follows up automatically, and starts generating reviews. All in one sitting if you are feeling ambitious, or spread across a few days if that suits you better.

Step 1: Set up your business profile

Before anything else, get your house in order. Head to Settings and fill in your business details. This includes your business name, phone number, address, website URL, and timezone. These details flow into every template, automation, and page you build later, so getting them right now saves you from fixing them everywhere later.

Upload your logo while you are here. If you have brand colours, note them down. You will use them when building landing pages and email templates shortly.

This step takes five minutes. Do not skip it.

Step 2: Connect your communication channels

DUSA works best when all your conversations live in one place. Connect the channels your customers already use to reach you.

• Email: Connect your business email so you can send and receive directly from the platform. This also powers your email campaigns and automated sequences.
• SMS: Set up your phone number for text messaging. Many small businesses find that SMS has the highest open rates of any channel.
• Google My Business: Link your GMB listing so reviews and messages flow into your inbox.
• Facebook and Instagram: Connect your social accounts to manage DMs and comments without switching apps.

You do not need to connect everything today. Start with email and SMS. Those two alone cover most customer communication for service businesses.

Step 3: Import your contacts

Your CRM is only as good as the data inside it. If you have an existing list of customers, leads, or past enquiries, now is the time to bring them in.

Go to Contacts and use the import tool. You can upload a CSV file with columns for name, email, phone number, and any tags you want to apply. If you have been running your business from a spreadsheet (no judgement, we have all been there), this is where that spreadsheet finally finds a proper home.

A few tips for a clean import:

• Remove duplicates before uploading. The system can handle them, but it is cleaner to start fresh.
• Add tags during import to segment your list. For example: "past-client", "lead-2025", "referral". Tags make automations much more powerful later.
• Include phone numbers where you have them. You will want these for SMS campaigns and appointment reminders.

If you are starting from zero contacts, that is perfectly fine. Skip ahead and come back to this once leads start flowing in from your landing page.

Step 4: Build your first pipeline

A pipeline is how you track where each lead sits in your sales process. Think of it as a visual board where contacts move from left to right as they get closer to becoming a customer.

A simple starting pipeline might look like this:

• New Lead - they have just come in
• Contacted - you have reached out
• Appointment Booked - they are on the calendar
• Proposal Sent - they are considering your offer
• Won - they said yes
• Lost - not this time

You can customise this to match your business. A tradesperson might have "Quote Sent" and "Job Scheduled". A consultant might have "Discovery Call" and "Onboarding". Make it yours.

The power of the pipeline is that it gives you a single view of your entire business. No more wondering how many leads you have or where they are stuck. It is all right there.

Step 5: Create your first automation

This is where things start to feel different. Automation is what separates a busy business owner from a smart one.

Start simple. Here is a first automation that every business should have:

New Lead Follow-Up Sequence

• Trigger: A new contact is added to your "New Lead" pipeline stage
• Step 1: Send a welcome email immediately. Introduce yourself, confirm you received their enquiry, and set expectations for next steps.
• Step 2: Wait 10 minutes. Send an SMS: "Hi [Name], thanks for reaching out. I will be in touch shortly. Is there anything specific you need help with?"
• Step 3: Wait 24 hours. If no reply, send a follow-up email with more detail about your services and a link to book a call.
• Step 4: Wait 3 days. Send a final check-in SMS.

This automation runs around the clock. A lead that comes in at 11pm on a Tuesday gets the same prompt, professional response as one that arrives at 9am on a Monday. That consistency is what builds trust.

The best follow-up is the one that happens whether you remember or not.

Step 6: Build a landing page

You need somewhere to send people. Whether it is from a Google ad, an Instagram bio link, or a QR code on your business card, a dedicated landing page converts better than your general website because it has one job and one call to action.

Use the page builder to create a simple landing page with:

• A clear headline that states what you do and who you help
• A short form collecting name, email, and phone number
• A few lines of social proof (testimonials, review count, years in business)
• One strong call to action

Keep it focused. One page, one offer, one action. Resist the urge to tell your entire story here. The goal is to capture the lead. You can nurture them with your automation after that.

When someone fills out the form, the system automatically creates a contact, adds them to your pipeline, and kicks off the follow-up sequence you just built. All connected. All automatic.

Step 7: Set up review requests

Reviews are the most underused growth lever for small businesses. Most happy customers would leave a review if you asked them. The problem is that most businesses forget to ask, or they ask too late, or the process is awkward.

Set up an automated review request that triggers after a job is completed or a service is delivered. The flow is straightforward:

• When you move a contact to your "Won" or "Completed" stage, wait one day
• Send an SMS: "Hi [Name], thank you for choosing [Business]. If you had a great experience, we would love a quick review. Here is the link: [Review Link]"
• If no review after 3 days, send a gentle follow-up email

That is it. Two messages. Fully automated. Businesses that implement this consistently see their Google review count climb steadily month after month. Those reviews then drive more organic leads, which feed back into your pipeline. It is a growth loop that runs on its own.

Step 8: Send your first campaign

With your contacts imported and your channels connected, you are ready to send your first broadcast. This could be a monthly newsletter, a special offer, a seasonal promotion, or simply a re-engagement message to past clients.

Go to Marketing and create a new email campaign. Choose a template or build from scratch. Write something genuine. You do not need to be a copywriter. Just be clear about what you are offering and why it matters to the person reading it.

A few practical notes:

• Segment your list using the tags you set up during import. A message to past clients should read differently than one to cold leads.
• Include a clear call to action. Book a call, visit your page, reply to this email. Give people one thing to do next.
• Test before you send. Send yourself a preview. Check the links. Read it on your phone.

Your first campaign does not need to be perfect. It needs to be sent.

You are up and running

That is the full setup. Business profile, communication channels, contacts, pipeline, automation, landing page, reviews, and your first campaign. If you followed along, you now have a system that captures leads, follows up automatically, tracks your sales process, and asks for reviews without you lifting a finger.

The whole point is to build this once and let it work for you. Not perfectly. Not forever without adjustment. But it runs. And running beats planning every single time.

The next step is to watch what happens, look at your numbers after a week, and tweak from there. The platform gives you the data. Use it.