Managing your customer relationships lets you increase brand loyalty and attract new customers. You can get many insights from tracking how your customers interact with your business, such as gaining more knowledge on the consumer market, product performance, and purchasing behaviors. And to do that, using a Google Sheets CRM is a great solution.
Today, we’ll explore how you can effectively use Google Sheets as a customer relationship management tool. We’ll also give you a free template to track your customers, making things easier.
Get the template here: Google Sheets CRM
Table of Contents
What Is a Google Sheets CRM?
If you’re familiar with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools, you’ll realize that a Google Sheets CRM is just a simplified version that runs on a spreadsheet. You can use it to organize your customer contacts by utilizing the columns and rows.
For instance, you can make several categories at the top of each column to group your data by name, institution, contact details, and other aspects. Additionally, it includes basic communication information, determining how your customers have interacted with your business so far.
Aside from having the familiar functionality of spreadsheets, the best thing about Google Sheets CRM is that you can use it for various purposes, such as integrating it into your sales pipeline management and marketing campaigns.
Related: Free Google Sheets Sales Templates (and How to Use)
How Does a Google Sheets CRM Work?
Before delving into Google Sheets CRM templates, you’ll want to understand how to use the platform first. Fortunately, we have many tutorials you can browse to get familiar with Google Sheets. But of course, you don’t have to do this if you’re already spreadsheet-savvy.
To answer the question, there’s really no standard way for how Google Sheets CRM works. For example, it can be as simple as making a list of your existing customers in one column and then populating the other columns with their communication details.
But that doesn’t quite fit its name. After all, your goal is to track your interactions with them. Hence, adding other information like purchase history, product interests, the date, and the type of interaction would be excellent.
But here’s the exciting part: you get to make visual charts and calculations to gain insights into your raw data.
Google Sheets CRM templates can also be linked to online forms your customers can fill out. This lets you automate the data input process, which means you can allocate your time to things that will increase your business’s progress.
Simple Free Google Sheets CRM Template and How To Use It
Let’s admit it. If you’re new to using Google sheets, getting started and managing your client interactions can be difficult. That’s why we have prepared a free spreadsheet template and will walk you through the steps on how to use the template, giving you everything you need to start tracking your clients today.
Get the template here: Google Sheets CRM
1. Customer Data Tab
Once you’ve got your copy of our template, you’ll see two different tabs that provide you with two functionalities. Let’s first discuss the “Customer Data” tab, where you update your client records. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the various column names.
Customer Number, Date Added, and Source
Knowing when a specific client interacted with your business lets you determine whether it’s time to send an email to them, though this isn’t its only application. Meanwhile, the customer numbers in the central column let you track your client count more easily.
The most helpful part of this category is the “Source” column, which allows you to track how your customers can reach you. For example, if you see that only a few of your clients reached out to you through social media, you can enhance your social media marketing strategy to gain more followers.
It also uses a drop-down list and data validation that lets you pick familiar client sources, such as referrals and organic traffic. If necessary, you can modify this to match your requirements.
Affiliation, Customer Contact Name, Communication Details
This category has four columns that you can populate with your client’s basic details. First is the “Company” column, where you enter their affiliation. The next column is the “Name” column, while the following two separate fields are for their email addresses and phone numbers.
Size of Deal and Progress
There are also columns for the size of your potential deal and your sales pipeline progress. These columns are named “Deal Value” and “Progress.” The “Progress” tab has drop-down lists per cell, allowing you to select the deal’s status.
For convenience, we have included the basic stages in a sales pipeline from the initial contact to aftersales. Of course, you can modify this accordingly according to your spreadsheet requirements.
Location Details and Notes
The last columns of the “Customer Data” tab are fields where you enter your clients’ location details and additional notes about them. The “Remarks” column is beneficial to keep your client’s interests and behaviors in mind.
2. Summary Tab
The other tab that you’ll see on the template contains the summary of what you’ve inputted in the “Customer Data” tab by far. This sheet features three charts and tables that give you a more visual insight into your data. However, keep in mind that there’s no need for you to modify this section, as it relies on the data that you inputted from the other tab.
Pie Chart for All Deals Captured
The first is a pie chart that compares the total number of deals you’ve won against the total number of potential deals you currently have. It provides a helpful summation of your successful deals.
These values are automatically calculated according to the set criteria. A formula for the “Total Opportunities” category is written to count all the names you’ve listed in the “Customer Data” tab. The “Deals Sealed” section is updated depending on your choice of option under the “Progress” column. This is also the criteria for summing up the deal sizes.
Bar Chart for Sales Pipeline Progress
You will also find a bar chart detailing the number of pending or won deals. For example, you’ll find how many customers you’re negotiating with or will give a proposal to, allowing you to assess and compare your data quickly.
Pie Chart for Customer Distribution According to Source
The last chart you’ll see under the “Summary” tab regards the distribution of your customers according to the source. This shows you through graph form which channels gain you the most and least customers, clearly indicating what aspects you need to optimize in your business.
Why Use This Template?
Using our template has its perks, particularly regarding your budget. For one, Google Sheets is a powerful program that only requires a free Google account. Here are some other benefits:
- Customizable: While our template has pre-installed functions and charts, you can customize it with your tweaks. You simply need to click on a cell, input your formula, and adjust it to fit your needs.
- User-friendly: Spreadsheets are intuitive to use. For novice users, there are many free online resources to learn and familiarize themselves with. Therefore, whether you’re a freelancer or a small business owner, Google Sheets CRM templates provide a helpful and user-friendly experience.
- Easy-to-access: Google Sheets is cloud-based, which means they’re entirely online. You can access your file as long as you’re connected to the internet. Plus, it allows easy sharing among you and your team members.
- Can be automated: If you prefer, you can also use various macros, add-ons, and scripts in Google Sheets to automate tedious tasks, such as auto-input of form responses and sending follow-up emails.
Related: Mail Merge in Google Sheets: Easy Step-by-Step Guide 2024
Tips To Use Google Sheets CRM Effectively
A Google Sheets CRM template’s functionalities are pretty limited, making its integration into other business tools a lot more beneficial. Still, it does have several excellent features you can utilize. To get the most out of your spreadsheet, here are some tips that you can apply.
- Filters and sorting: While there are no problems with seeing twenty or thirty customer information lines, it can quickly become challenging to navigate when your data grows to over a hundred. Therefore, using filters and sorting tools lets you bypass these issues.
- Integration and automation: You can easily integrate your sheets with Google Forms to collect client information. The data gets updated automatically, too, once they’re linked. You can also use some scripts and macros to automate your sheets further.
- Constant data updates: Undoubtedly, keeping your records up-to-date is the best way to effectively use your Google Sheets CRM template. If you manually input your data, ensure that you do it regularly.
- Conditional formatting: Highlighting specific cells according to color is highly beneficial and convenient to make better sense of your numbers. For example, you can set all deals won to green and those lost to red.
- Data-based decisions: Ultimately, your goal is to make data-based decisions in your business. Check which sources need optimization and what to do based on how your clients interact with your business.
How To Create a Google Sheets CRM Template
Creating a spreadsheet is your next best option if you’re looking for a more personalized CRM with Google Sheets. This way, you include every functionality you need for your client management without all the clutter you wouldn’t use. Here’s a quick run-through on how to create a simple but effective spreadsheet.
Creating a Form Linked to Your Spreadsheets
After creating a new spreadsheet in Google Sheets, start with creating a linked online form. This lets you gather your data more efficiently, skipping the manual input of client information.
- On your spreadsheet, navigate to “Tools” > “Create a new form.”
- Upon clicking, you will be redirected to Google Forms, where you can set your questions.
- Ask for the necessary details you want to be included in your CRM sheet, such as their company, name, and contact details.
- After that, hit “Send” or copy the form link so you can give it to your current or potential customers.
As people answer your form, one of your tabs will automatically update with their responses. This is usually named “Form Responses” 1 or 2, depending on how many linked forms you have created.
Organizing Your Data
The next step is to organize your data into an easy-to-view format. You need to add another sheet tab in the same file for this. To do so, simply follow the steps below:
- Rename the tab linked to the form, e.g., Data.
- On a new tab, name several columns on the first row to create your required data categories.
- Ensure to bold them for clarity.
- Click on the first cell in the first column under the name and type =INDIRECT(
- Select your cell range or manually type it in this format: “<first_tab_name>!<cell_name1>:<cell_name2>” (e.g., “Data!A2:F”)
- Close the function with a parenthesis and hit the “Enter” or “Return” key.
And you’re all set. Now, you can manipulate your data into charts, tables, graphs, and similar applications depending on your needs. Plus, your data will automatically update as more clients fill out your forms. Streamlining your spreadsheet usage by creating an invoice template is also a good idea.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Google Have a CRM System or Product?
Google has no specific CRM system. However, its various pieces of software like Sheets, Analytics, Mail, and Drive are often integrated into commonly used CRM tools, allowing users to access their Google-related data from their CRM platform.
2. What Are the Three Types of CRM?
The three types of CRM include: analytical, operational, and collaborative. Analytical CRM uses data to produce insights into customer behavior, while operational CRM focuses on streamlined processes based on existing customer information. The last type is collaborative CRM, which is used when you manage customer relationships across teams.
Final Thoughts
Tracking your client interaction creates ample opportunities that usher in sales and business growth. You can effectively do this using an effective Google Sheets CRM.
To get started, don’t forget to get your free copy of our CRM spreadsheet or browse our guides to using Google Sheets for your business.
If you’re ready to start a new project and want to find more templates, this code: SSP will save you 50% off on all of our premium paid templates.
Want to learn more tips and tricks? Check out these Google Sheets courses today!
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