Yes.
You need a simple CRM.
Why
At your volume across 6 estimators, the company bid email CC is already a goldmine — every proposal is being BCC'd to a system of record, you just don't have one yet. Pipedrive and Salesflare both handle this; the deciding factor is that Salesflare auto-enriches contacts and logs email threads with almost zero data entry, which is exactly what you said you want. Pipedrive is more pipeline-flexible (you mentioned 6 distinct pipelines — that matters) but requires more manual hygiene. For a utility contractor sending fixed-format proposals, the auto-capture wins.
What you actually need
- Salesflare (~$35/user/mo, ~$210/mo for 6 seats) — point its email sync at your bid CC address and every proposal sent becomes a deal automatically, with the client contact enriched. This kills 80% of your data entry.
- Salesflare's automated follow-up sequences — set a 3-touch cadence (Day 3, Day 10, Day 21 after proposal sent) that pauses the moment the client replies. This is the single feature that recovers dropped bids.
- Six pipelines, identical stages — Bid Requested → Estimating → Proposal Sent → Follow-up → Won/Lost. Don't let each estimator invent their own stages or you'll be back to chaos in 90 days.
Do this today
Sign up for a Salesflare trial at salesflare.com, connect the company bid CC inbox under Settings → Email Sync, and let it ingest the last 90 days of sent proposals. Within an hour you'll see every open bid auto-populated as a deal with the client contact attached — that's your baseline pipeline view before you've onboarded a single estimator.
What to ignore
Skip HubSpot Sales Hub Professional ($100/seat/mo) and Salesforce Sales Cloud — both are 3–5x the cost for features you won't touch, and Salesforce will need a consultant to configure 6 pipelines. Also ignore anyone pitching Outreach, Salesloft, or Apollo — those are outbound prospecting tools, and you're a bid-response business, not a cold-email shop.
What doing nothing costs you
A conservative 10% slippage on 300 bids/month = ~30 lost bids/month from no structured follow-up. At even a $15,000 average utility contract, that's a pipeline leak measured in millions per year, not thousands.
When to revisit this
When you want to forecast revenue by pipeline and Salesflare's reporting feels thin — then look at Pipedrive Professional or HubSpot Sales Hub Starter.