How to build a CRM in Google Sheets (with Apps Script)
Most small businesses don't need a ₹4-lakh CRM — they need a sheet they actually use. Here's a practical blueprint for a lightweight, custom CRM on Google Sheets and Apps Script.
Why a Sheets CRM works
The best CRM is the one your team actually opens. For teams of 3–30, a Google Sheets CRM does 90% of what enterprise tools promise, for ₹0 in subscriptions — because your team already lives in Google. You see the same columns, colours, and filters they're used to.
The missing piece is the plumbing: stages that move automatically, follow-up reminders that fire, and updates that log themselves. That's exactly where Apps Script comes in.
The core design
- A Leads sheet — one row per lead: name, company, stage, value, owner, source, next action, next action date.
- A dropdown for stage (New → Contacted → Demo → Proposal → Won / Lost) with conditional colours.
- A Logs sheet — append an entry whenever a lead changes, so you always have audit history.
- An Automation sheet — settings your team can edit without touching scripts.
The automations that make it a 'system'
- On-form: when a lead is submitted (or added), set defaults and assign the owner.
- On-stage-change: moving a lead to Won triggers a frozen copy; moving to Lost logs the reason.
- Daily digest: each morning, email each owner their leads due for follow-up today.
- Reminders: WhatsApp or email when 'next action date' passes with no update.
- Dashboard: a summary tab of pipeline value by stage that updates itself for the weekly meeting.
Where to be careful
A spreadsheet CRM fails when there are no rules — when anyone can type anything in any column. The guardrails that keep it clean: dropdowns on stage and source, a script that validates new rows, and ownership so every lead has exactly one person responsible.
Also plan the exit: because everything lives in Sheets, exporting to a real CRM later (HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive) is trivial if you ever grow out of it. That's a feature most paid tools can't match.
Building it vs buying it
If you have the time and comfort, the blueprint above is buildable yourself. If that sounds like a weekend project you don't want, that's what we do — this exact system, plus WhatsApp integration and live dashboards, is one of our most common builds. It's part of Google Apps Script development.