Startup: Custom Google Sheets CRM with automation

Context

Founder-led sales; needed pipeline visibility without another SaaS line item.

Challenge

• CRM seats cost ~$400/month but reps still lived in Sheets for notes.
• No automated reminders when deals stalled in a stage > 7 days.
• Weekly board reports built manually every Sunday night.

Approach

1. Designed Pipeline, Contacts, and Activity tabs with protected schema.
2. Stage-change trigger posts to Slack and sets Next Action dates.
3. Weekly time-driven trigger emails funnel summary PDF to leadership.

Solution

Sheets as system of record + Apps Script for workflow + optional Slack for real-time alerts.

Outcome

• Cancelled SaaS CRM — saved ~$4,800/year.
• Stalled deals surfaced automatically; close rate improved on follow-up discipline.
• Board report generation went from 2 hours to zero (automated Sunday night).

Technical approach

onEdit installable trigger for stage changes → Slack webhook → date math for stall detection → weekly Summary sheet + PDF email.

Lessons learned

Lock schema columns early. Train team on one data-entry convention. Add Activity log tab for audit before you need it.

Related on this site

• Custom CRM guide →
• Sheets automation →