How to use Google Sheets as a CRM
Give each deal one row, lock the stage to a dropdown, and let a next-step date turn red when you're late. Then know when to stop.
The short answer
- A Google Sheets CRM works best as one row per deal, with a dropdown for stage and a next-step date on every row.
- Data validation keeps the stage column clean, conditional formatting flags overdue follow-ups, and filter views let each person see their own deals without changing the sheet for everyone else.
- Google Sheets holds up to 20 million cells per spreadsheet, per Google's Drive help as of September 2026, so size is rarely the reason to leave.
- Teams leave a Google Sheets CRM when emails need logging, several people edit at once or follow-ups slip. SalesCrew imports the sheet as a CSV and matches contacts on email.
Set up a Google Sheets CRM in six steps
- 1
Make one tab for deals
One row per deal, one column per fact. Freeze the header row so it stays in view as you scroll.
- 2
Lock the stage to a dropdown
Use Data › Data validation to list your stages, such as New, Contacted, Meeting, Proposal, Won and Lost. Free-typed stages break every filter you build later.
- 3
Add a next-step date to every row
A deal with no next step is a deal nobody is working. Make the column required in your own rules.
- 4
Flag overdue rows
Add a conditional formatting rule that colours the row red when the next-step date is before today. Open the sheet, sort by that date, and work top down.
- 5
Give each person a filter view
A filter view on owner lets a rep see only their deals, without hiding rows for the rest of the team.
- 6
Keep a second tab for activity
Log each call or email as its own row with the date and the deal. That history is what a spreadsheet loses first.
The ten columns a Google Sheets CRM needs
Start here and resist adding more until you filter on them weekly.
| Column | Example | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Northwind Dental | Groups contacts and deals |
| Contact name | Priya Shah | Who you're talking to |
| priya@northwind.example | The key you'll match on when you import later | |
| Source | Referral | Tells you which channel pays |
| Stage | Proposal | Dropdown only, never free text |
| Deal value | 4,800 | Adds up to your pipeline total |
| Owner | Sam | One name per deal |
| Last touch | 2026-09-18 | Shows what's gone cold |
| Next step | Send revised quote | The action, in a few words |
| Next-step date | 2026-09-26 | Drives the overdue flag |
Four signs your Google Sheets CRM has run its course
You'll know it's time when the sheet needs a person to keep it true. The first sign is email: your replies live in Gmail and the sheet never hears about them. The second is two people editing the same row and overwriting each other's notes.
The third sign is follow-ups slipping even with the red rows, because nobody opened the sheet that day. The fourth is a question you can't answer, such as which source brought this quarter's deals. At that point, the sheet costs you more hours than a CRM costs money.
Moving the sheet into SalesCrew
SalesCrew takes your sheet as a CSV. You upload it to the data bank, map each column, and tag the batch so you can find it later. Contacts already in the CRM are matched on email and filled in, never overwritten, and every import leaves an audit row.
From there, connected mailboxes log your email threads to each contact over IMAP, with the last 90 days pulled in on the first sync. Seats are unlimited on every plan, starting with Core at $299 a month, so everyone who edited the sheet gets their own login.
Don't let the email column go messy
Questions
- Can Google Sheets work as a CRM?
- Yes, for one or two people tracking up to a few hundred deals. Sheets gives you rows, dropdowns, filters and shared editing, which covers a simple pipeline. It won't log emails or keep a history of each touch, so it stops working once follow-up gets busy.
- What columns should a Google Sheets CRM have?
- Start with 10: company, contact name, email, source, stage, deal value, owner, last touch, next step and next-step date. Every extra column is one more thing someone forgets to fill in. Add a column only when you'll filter or sort on it every week.
- How big can a Google Sheets CRM get?
- A spreadsheet created in Google Sheets holds up to 20 million cells or 100 MB, per Google's Drive help checked September 2026. You'll hit the limits of people long before that: a sheet slows down and gets messy well before it runs out of cells.
- How do I move from Google Sheets to a CRM?
- Export the sheet as a CSV and import it. In SalesCrew, you upload the CSV to the data bank, map each column, and tag the batch. Contacts already in the CRM are matched on email and filled in, never overwritten.