A spreadsheet can be your first CRM. Here are the exact columns to use, how to build the template in Excel or Google Sheets, how far it really takes you, and the moment to migrate to a real CRM.
A CRM Excel template is a single spreadsheet with one row per contact and ten core columns: company, contact, email, phone, source, stage, next action, next action date, owner, and notes. It works well for one person and a few dozen deals, and stops working the moment a second user, automation, or a few hundred records enter the picture.
A CRM Excel template is a structured spreadsheet set up to track contacts, deals, and the next step for each one, mimicking the basics of customer relationship management software. Instead of paying for a tool on day one, you use columns, dropdowns, and a pivot table to recreate a contact list, a pipeline, and a follow-up queue.
It is the most common first CRM in the world, and a perfectly reasonable starting point. The trap is treating a template as a permanent system. A spreadsheet is built for calculation, so it struggles when many people edit live records at once. If you want the broader trade-off first, read CRM vs Excel, which compares the two head to head.
Skip the 30-column "master sheet" you find in template marketplaces. Most go unused and slow you down. These ten columns cover what a small team actually tracks:
| Column | What it holds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Business name | Your primary unit of work in B2B |
| Contact | Person and role | Deals close with people, not logos |
| Verified address | The channel you will actually use | |
| Phone | Direct number | For field and follow-up calls |
| Source | Where the lead came from | Tells you which channels work |
| Stage | Pipeline step (dropdown) | Turns a list into a funnel |
| Next action | The single next step | Stops deals from going quiet |
| Next action date | When it is due | Sort by this to see today's work |
| Owner | Who is responsible | Avoids two reps chasing one lead |
| Notes | Context, last touch | Memory you cannot keep in your head |
The two columns that do the heavy lifting are Next action and Next action date. Sort by date ascending and your spreadsheet answers the question you face each morning: who am I supposed to contact today? Without those two, you have an address book.
Either tool works. Use Google Sheets if more than one person will touch the file, and Excel for heavy local calculation. The steps are the same:
One row per contact, the ten columns above as your header. Keep the header row to exactly one line so filtering and pivot tables behave.
In Excel, Insert > Table; in Sheets, apply filters. A formatted table keeps your structure intact as you add rows and lets you sort any column instantly.
Use Data Validation to limit the Stage column to fixed values: New, Contacted, Meeting, Proposal, Won, Lost. Fixed values are what make a pivot table possible later.
Fill the next step and due date for every active deal. Conditional formatting can flag overdue dates in red so nothing slips silently.
Add a pivot table or a COUNTIF summary that counts deals per stage. Now you have a funnel you can read in five seconds instead of a flat list.
Lock the header, restrict editing where needed, and share a single source of truth. Never email copies around. If they start multiplying anyway, see how to migrate from Excel to a CRM.
A template is real value. According to U.S. Census Bureau business statistics, over 99% of American employer firms are small businesses, and many run their entire early sales motion in a sheet. The problem is not the spreadsheet, it is the moment you outgrow it:
| A spreadsheet still works if... | It has broken when... |
|---|---|
| One person edits it | Two people overwrite each other's rows |
| You track under ~500 active deals | The file lags, breaks formulas, or corrupts |
| You remember to open it daily | Follow-ups slip because nothing reminds you |
| You only need a contact list and a funnel | You need automation, email logging, or a map |
| You export to CSV cleanly | You copy data between tabs by hand |
The hidden cost is version control. A shared Excel file has no single source of truth: someone keeps a personal copy, edits it, and now two truths exist. Exporting to CSV and re-importing patches it, badly. Harvard Business Review's sales research has long shown that pipelines fail on bad data, and a spreadsheet edited by three people is bad data waiting to happen.
The moment two people touch the same file, you need real multi-user access and an audit trail, not a shared link.
A sheet never pings you. If deals go cold because no one opened the file, you need automated reminders.
Performance and formula fragility start to bite. Sorting and pivoting a 2,000-row sheet stops being instant.
If people keep asking "Which version is current?", that is your warning. Past a solo setup you need one source of truth.
Pasting conversation history into a Notes cell does not scale. A CRM logs it automatically against the contact.
No spreadsheet shows prospects on a map or plans a route. Field teams need a mapped CRM, not a grid.
If you checked two or more, a starter CRM, even a free CRM plan, will pay for itself in saved upkeep. Our guide on how to choose a CRM covers what to look for, and CRM for SMBs weighs free against entry paid plans.
Search Google Maps and press Start. Vonsel gathers the business results as you explore the map, going beyond the pins you can see at a glance. Pause, continue and save your search when you are ready. Google Maps does not provide business emails. Vonsel visits the available business websites to find published emails, additional phone numbers and links to up to 118 supported social networks and other platforms. What it finds depends on what each website publishes. Keep businesses on a map, organise them by stage, edit their details and use a Kanban board, calendar, notes, actions, tags and custom fields. Basic holds 400, Pro 2,000 and Scale 10,000.
In summary:
If you would rather start with prospects than with a blank grid, watch the video tutorial to see a Google Maps search turn into a list of businesses. The pricing page lists the plan limits for extraction and for the Mapped CRM.
