How Ataraxis PEO Upgraded from Spreadsheets to Atlas CRM

A Business Built on Reducing Stress

Ataraxis means the absence of stress, and it’s a fitting name for a team that tackles the tricky side of running a business: payroll, HR, benefits, and so on. They’re based in Idaho, and they help clients across the country sort out the less glamorous parts of being an employer.

The person keeping everything running smoothly on the tech side is Jared. He’s been there for eight years, carrying the not-so-tidy title of Information Technology, which basically means if it has wires or an internet connection, he’s in charge. He’s also the one who brought Atlas CRM into the picture—though he’d tell you it was more of a group effort, driven by the entire team’s need to ditch napkin scribbles once and for all. But don’t just take our word for it—he explains it best himself.

Watch the video below to hear how Atlas CRM changed the way they work.

The Problem: Too Many Spreadsheets, Too Many Notes

In the earlier days, Ataraxis PEO was small. They were around a dozen people then, and everyone wore half a dozen hats. Jared got the “keep the systems together” hat, which meant dealing with a lot of spreadsheets, random emails, and the occasional coffee-stained napkins When the company started growing, they realized they needed something more reliable than the “hope we remember where we wrote that” approach.

So they adopted Jira Service Management, which worked nicely for filing tickets and tracking tasks, but there was still a gap when it came to keeping everything about each client in one place. It felt like they had the house’s foundation poured with Jira, but no walls or a roof for the actual client data.

The Solution: A CRM That Actually Fits

Ataraxis liked that Atlas CRM sits quietly inside the Jira environment without feeling tacked on. It doesn’t jump around or demand you learn an entirely separate set of instructions. You install it, and it’s basically just there, sitting in the corner, ready to help. The team was already familiar with Jira Service Management, so they didn’t have to retrain everyone. That in itself was a big deal.

What changed after switching to Atlas CRM?

• No more frantic emails asking for basic client details.
• No more guessing about customer history before meetings.
• No more scattered spreadsheets—everything now lives in one system.

A Smarter Way to Track Customer Relationships

Jared and his team gave a few CRMs a look. Some of them were monstrous in price and forced them into an ecosystem that had nothing to do with the tools they already used. Some were too simple—fine for a tiny sales team, but not for a growing outfit with complex HR scenarios.

They needed to store unique data fields like EINs, addresses, and “temperature” (which tracks client sentiment—happy, not-so-happy). Trying to manage that info in separate systems felt like building a house in a different state. So they started hunting for something that fit right into Jira Service Management. Atlas CRM checked all the boxes.

Small Wins That Add Up

After they switched, the first big difference showed up in the shape of fewer “where do I find this?” conversations. All that info now lives inside Atlas CRM.

• Tag a client, see their open tickets, and get an instant overview of their relationship with Ataraxis.
• The sales team—including the CEO, who still handles some sales work—gets a structured, reliable way to log interactions without disrupting their workflow.
• Customer service reps can quickly check past tickets before picking up the phone, making conversations much smoother.

“If you’re using Jira Service Management and not Atlas CRM, you’re only using half the tool.” — Jared

More Than Just a CRM—A Daily Time Saver

Jared also likes that Atlas CRM didn’t make them feel like they were compromising on features. In his words:

‍“We’ve got a full-scale CRM, not a diet version.” — Jared‍

They’ve created custom fields to handle the HR details they care about.

Key benefits they’ve seen:

• Faster onboarding: A new employee can pick up a client’s history in seconds.
• Consistent data: No more re-entering details with every ticket.
• Scalability: The CRM has grown with them without driving up costs.

Jared says that when you’ve got 50 or 60 people who need to track phone calls, tasks, notes, and client sentiment, you don’t want a platform that requires an advanced degree in Theoretical CRM.

“We are big on tracking what we call the ‘temperature’ of a client. Before a meeting, we check Atlas CRM to see ticket history and sentiment. It’s a simple shift, but it turned us from reactive to proactive.” — Jared

Final Thoughts: No Going Back

Nowadays, the folks at Ataraxis PEO can handle new hires for their clients, manage separations, track all HR changes, and note every phone call in one place. Jared can’t name a single big moment where Atlas CRM saved them—it’s an ongoing collection of small, daily wins that add up.

They used to be reactive, always chasing problems after they popped up. Now, they’re a step ahead.

“Skipping Atlas CRM when you’re using Jira Service Management is like building a house with only half a hammer. You’ll get something built, but it’s going to be a hassle.” — Jared

Ataraxis decided to do it the easier way, and they haven’t looked back.

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