How to use Google Sheets as a CRM

Google Sheets is a robust and easy-to-use online spreadsheet tool that can also work as a customer relationship management (CRM) system. It can be used to store important lead and customer-related data, track your sales funnel, and automate your marketing campaigns. 

No matter the advertising platform, you’ll need a CRM system to store and manage lead data, assess your marketing processes, and improve your campaigns accordingly.

By creating a TikTok-CRM integration, for example, you can automate the data transfer between the two and make the most of your lead generation campaigns.

Pros & cons of using Google Sheets as a CRM

When used as a CRM with TikTok, Google Sheets offers several advantages and a few limitations. Let’s explore both the advantages and disadvantages of Google Sheets as a CRM, when put together with the top advertising platforms. 

Pros

• Free of charge: Best for small businesses looking to keep their lead data organized.
• Easy and intuitive to use.
• Extremely effective for organizing and editing the incoming lead data.
• Easy to migrate: you can always move your data to a real CRM later.

Cons

• Google Sheets is inadequate for handling massive databases.
• It’s more difficult to simultaneously integrate with different tools, e.g., complex marketing and sales management tools. 
• Adding and maintaining an up-to-date spreadsheet is time-consuming and prone to error. 

How to use Google Sheets as a CRM

A Google Sheets CRM helps arrange your leads’ data systematically so you can easily filter through it. For example, it lets you organize your contacts by name, jobs, and other criteria. 

It also allows creating arrangements based on other data, such as emails, social profiles, phone numbers, user journeys, and even past interactions with your brand.

How to create a CRM in Google Sheets

Google Sheets can be used as a CRM with the usual logic; users can add and edit rows and columns and easily import data from other platforms into their Google Spreadsheets.

By building different worksheets for marketing, sales, and customer service, you can use Google Sheets to plan and track tasks among team members. This takes only a few simple steps to make a Google Sheets CRM. 

Start using Google Sheets as a CRM: A step-by-step guide

As we mentioned previously, Google Sheets comes with its own unique advantages and disadvantages when compared to a real CRM. Once you have evaluated the cons and pros of this app and realized it’s a fitting option for you, go ahead and get started.

1. Make a spreadsheet CRM template

First, you’ll need to create a Google Sheets CRM template, if you don’t already have one. You can also get free ones from trusted websites such as Salesflare. 

Once you have your template, go ahead and open it. At the top bar, find and open “File”. Then, select “Make a copy” from the drop-down menu.

By doing so, you’ll access this Google Sheet template as a CRM in your Google Drive account.

2. Customize your Google Sheets CRM template

In order to modify the CRM template to fit your business, you’ll need to:

Define your workflows

As a business, you must already have established both your sales and marketing processes. But if you haven’t defined your workflows clearly, now it’s a good time to write down the steps you take to make a conversion or close a deal. 

These points define the micro steps that help you achieve your business objectives. Once you know your workflows clearly, you can better adjust the Google Sheets CRM template.

Customize your sales or marketing stages

Type in your sales process’s step (or stage) under the “Stage name” column. Also, you’ll need to set a closing probability and/or conversion probability for each stage under the “Probability” column.

There could be different pre-made stages, including:

• Lead
• Won
• Proposal made
• Contacted
• Qualified
• Unqualified
• Lost

Depending on how your sales funnel flows, you may have to adjust these stages. Click on the three little lines to the left of the Stage tab to edit it. 

Add or modify the fields

There are many fields on your Google Sheets CRM template, such as;

• Company Name
• Contact Name
• Contact Email
• Stage
• Value
• Probability
• Expected Revenue
• Creation date
• Expected Close Date
• Team member
• Progress to Won
• Last interacted on
• Unqualified leads

Remember to adjust your CRM fields to make sure they correspond to your specific business. For instance, a car dealership doesn’t need a section for company names. You’ll also have to make sure to have sections for storing important micro-data points.

3. Input your existing pipeline information

Once you have customized your template, it’s time to get right down to business. 

Start by inputting your current pipeline data, while making sure all the important information is placed correctly. You can import this data manually or through email. Here’s how:

Manual pipeline data import

This is a good option if you have a limited amount of contacts. While manually moving several data points into your CRM spreadsheet can be challenging, it can be done gradually, and by spending a few minutes a day on this task. 

Pipeline data import via email

If you have kept your prospects’ information updated in your email contacts, the good practice will pay off while importing this data to your CRM template.

In case you are a Gmail user, here’s how to export, back up, or restore your contacts.

The process is pretty much the same if you are using other email providers such as Yahoo or Microsoft. 

The general idea is that you’ll need to extract a CSV file and open it in Google Sheets to copy the information into your customized CRM spreadsheet.

One way you can gather contact information directly from your email, for example, is through an email parser. It’s a piece of software that lets you extract specific data fields from incoming emails, allowing you to convert an unstructured email into easy-to-handle structured data, and send it to Google Sheets automatically.

LeadsBridge offers an email parsing service through a free integration with Incoming Email.

If you’d like to learn more about email parser, check out this blog article: Email Parser: What is it and how can it help your business?

4. Centralizing your Google Sheets template’s use

You can share your new Google Sheet CRM with your team, including your sales, marketing, and customer service team members. This allows everyone within your circle to access and edit the information in real-time.

You can also share it with “external users” by defining access options which include: view-only access, commenting rights, or full editing abilities.

To ensure the maximum security of your data, there are different options to choose from. Select “Share” at the top right corner and then click on the settings icon to:

• Prevent editors from changing access and adding new people
• Disable options to download, print, and copy for commenters and viewers

5. Using Google Sheets as a CRM relational database: Best practices

Using Google Sheets as a CRM relational database can be a simple, cost-effective way to manage customer relationships, especially for small businesses or teams with limited resources. 

Here are a few tips and best practices on how to use Google Sheets as a CRM relational database:

• Unique Identifiers (primary keys): Assign each customer or lead a unique ID, which can serve as a primary key. This will help relate data across different sheets.
• Multiple tables: You can use different sheets for various types of data (e.g., leads, interactions, sales) and relate them by linking these tables using the unique identifiers.
• Google Apps Script: This is a powerful tool that allows you to write custom scripts for automating CRM tasks in Google Sheets, such as sending follow-up emails, notifying team members when an opportunity is updated, or generating reports.
• Conditional formatting & filters: Use these features to highlight key data, such as overdue follow-ups or hot leads, and make it easy to filter customer information.
• Permissions: You can control who has access to view or edit certain parts of the CRM by using Google Sheets’ built-in permission controls. For instance, you can restrict sensitive customer data to specific users.
• Data validation: Set up rules in Google Sheets to ensure consistent data entry. This can help avoid errors such as inconsistent date formats or incorrect data types.
• Regular backups: As data grows, regularly back up your sheets to avoid accidental loss of information.
• Team training: Since Google Sheets is not a traditional CRM, it’s important to train team members on how to use it properly, including workflows for data entry, linking data, and using key features like filters and lookups.

Google Sheets can be an effective lightweight CRM tool, especially if you’re managing smaller datasets and don’t need the full functionality of a traditional CRM system. By creatively using formulas, automation tools, and integrations, you can extend its capabilities to work like a relational database.

Tips to get the most out of Google Sheets as a CRM

Here are some tips for using your Google Sheets CRM effectively.

Centralize your CRM use

The person who is in touch with your contacts, prospects, and sales progress (directly or indirectly) needs to be consistent with using and updating the CRM. This will enable you to better track your deals and scale your sales success.

Run a regular Google Sheets CRM template sorting

Keeping the CRM spreadsheet up-to-date helps prevent losing deals because interaction details don’t get logged. This way, maintaining a clean, complete, and updated spreadsheet at all times becomes effortless.

Customize your CRM spreadsheet template as your business grows

As you expand your business, you should customize your CRM spreadsheet template according to your new objectives. This includes adding or removing columns, converging quotas, etc.

Implement lead tracking on Google Sheets

When used as a lead tracker, Google Sheets allows you to manage and optimize your marketing campaigns with confidence. You can also empower your team to drive revenue much faster. This is done by lead tracking on Google Sheets and focusing on the best channels to generate highly qualified leads.

LeadsBridge allows you to do just that: automate your lead flows and move the leads you generate from your advertising platforms to Google Sheets in real time. This way, you can start working on them as soon as they interact with your brand and increase the chances of conversion.

Check out some of the most popular Google Sheets integrations here:

Benefits of building Google Sheet CRM integrations via LeadsBridge

Google Sheets supports various spreadsheet features like formulas, charts, and pivot tables. It is also accessible from any device with an internet connection, which makes it a flexible option for data management and analysis processes. But how much of these processes can be streamlined?

If we are considering Google Sheets on its own, the answer is none of it. However, LeadsBridge helps create these automated workflows.

Building a Google Sheets CRM integration offers several benefits. Here are the highlights of these advantages:

• Enabling seamless data transfer between your customer relationship management (CRM) system and Google Sheets.
• Allowing for real-time data synchronization. 
• Ensuring that all team members have access to the most current information. 
• Better data organization, which also improves collaboration among team members.
• Streamlines workflow processes and automates repetitive tasks, such as data entry and lead tracking.
• Saving time and reducing the likelihood of data entry errors. 
• Promoting data-driven decisions and ultimately boosting customer relationship management.

Integrate your entire data stack using LeadsBridge

When it comes to data management, automation is key. Creating an automated data bridge lets you run your entire data import and export on autopilot.

LeadsBridge allows you to connect over hundreds of different apps in order to create strategic automations, and improve your workflows and lead nurturing. Check out some of our top Google Sheets integrations.

Thinking of getting started with automation? Check out our guide to marketing automation for small businesses.

Connect Google Sheets with TikTok via LeadsBridge

An official Google partner like LeadsBridge lets you connect just about every CRM or marketing app on the market that can integrate with the Google platform.

This is a no-code method to facilitate data entry, send data sheets to Google Docs and other marketing and sales apps, and take full advantage of your contacts’ data. You can also connect your Google spreadsheet CRM with other advertising platforms such as TikTok. 

Here’s how to build an easy TikTok-Google Sheets CRM integration through LeadsBridge.

If you use several other third-party apps, we recommend using specialized CRM software for your small business. A CRM integration then connects your lead data with other apps for full leverage. 

Benefits of TikTok lead generation – Google Sheets integration

​No more CSV files and manual data processing

Integrating your Google Sheets as a CRM with TikTok’s Lead Generation allows you to automatically sync your lead data in real-time in your CRM. This will cut off the manual work, save time, and keep your databases error-free. 

Run timely nurturing campaigns

Getting real-time lead updates in your CRM enables you to run follow-up campaigns at the right time. Keeping up with the speed-to-lead is the key to higher conversions. 

One time setup

Once you have integrated your Google Sheet CRM with TikTok, you’ll continue to receive leads automatically. In short, integrating your CRM with TikTok Lead Generation is a one-time practice, and once completed, it works as an automated workflow. 

Final thoughts

Once you know how to use Google Sheets as a CRM, all you have to do is keep it updated. But apart from its many advantages, a Google Sheets CRM is always a temporary solution.

As your brand grows, your TikTok advertising grows consequently. And that’s when your marketing and sales teams need to switch from a CRM spreadsheet to a full-featured CRM system.

This also enables you to use our CRM integrations to build an interconnected data stack, create high-performing nurturing campaigns, and get higher ROIs. 

Discover all the possible integrations you can create with Google Sheets through LeadsBridge.