Getting Started with Scout CRM

Before you start

Scout was built for mineral acquisition teams, not adapted from a generic sales CRM. That means the setup process assumes you already have owner data, deal history, and a workflow — it's designed to meet you where you are, not force you into a template.

Before creating your account, gather your existing data: owner spreadsheets, county-level deal tracking, any call logs or contact notes. Scout's import engine handles CSV and Excel files, so you don't need to reformat anything. Just know where your files are.

Importing your existing data

The first thing most teams do is import their owner database. Navigate to the Import section, upload your CSV or Excel file, and map your columns to Scout's fields — owner name, contact info, county, legal description, mineral interest, and any custom fields you track.

Scout previews your data before committing, so you can catch mapping errors before they become problems. Most teams complete their initial import in under an hour, even with thousands of owner records.

If you're tracking deals in a separate spreadsheet, import those next. Scout maps deals to owners automatically when the data matches, so your pipeline populates with existing relationships intact.

Setting up your deal pipeline

Scout ships with a default pipeline: Prospect, Contacted, Negotiating, Under Contract, Closed. These stages map to how most acquisition teams already think about their workflow. You can rename stages, add new ones, or reorder them to match your process.

The key decision is how granular you want your stages. Some teams add a Research stage before Prospect for owners they haven't contacted yet. Others split Negotiating into Offer Sent and Counter Received. Start simple — you can always add stages later.

Running your first outreach campaign

Once your owners are imported and your pipeline is set, you can run outreach. Scout's outreach center supports three channels: physical mail, voicemail drops, and multi-touch follow-up sequences.

For your first campaign, start with a targeted mail piece to owners in a specific section or survey. Select the owners, choose your mail template, and Scout generates the letters with each owner's name, address, and property details pre-filled. No merge errors, no manual addressing.

After the mail drops, set up a voicemail sequence for the same owners. Scout staggers the drops so you're not hitting everyone at once, and logs each touch automatically so your call team knows who's been contacted and when.

What to do in your first week

Day 1-2: Import your owner database and deal history. Verify the data looks right.

Day 3: Configure your pipeline stages. Move any active deals to the correct stage.

Day 4-5: Set up your first outreach campaign — a targeted mail piece to a specific AOI. Queue voicemail follow-ups.

End of week: Review your pipeline. Every owner you're tracking should be in Scout, not in a spreadsheet. Every active deal should have a stage. Your outreach should be running without you manually managing each touch.