At what point does a small business actually need a CRM instead of just doing things manually or “remembering to follow up”?

I keep seeing small business owners say most leads don’t disappear because the customer said no.

They disappear because nobody followed up, the quote got buried, the note stayed in someone’s head, or the owner got busy putting out fires.

A lot of us start with texts, email threads, spreadsheets, sticky notes, and memory. That works for a while, until one missed follow-up costs real money. I suffered this myself for months.

For owners here, when did you realize you needed an actual CRM?

Was it after missed leads, forgotten quotes, messy customer notes, hiring someone, or just too many conversations happening at once?