Most small business owners in Brisbane start out tracking leads in their head or via a messy inbox. But as you grow, things start slipping through the cracks—a follow-up call is missed, or a quote is forgotten. You don't need a $200-a-month Salesforce subscription yet; you just need a central 'source of truth' to manage your relationships.
In this guide, I’m going to show you how to build a custom CRM using Google Sheets. It’s free, it’s flexible, and honestly, for most Aussie tradies and service providers, it’s all you’ll need for the first few years.
Why a "DIY" CRM works
Before we dive in, here is the reality: the best CRM is the one you actually use. High-end software often feels like a chore. A spreadsheet is familiar, you can access it on your phone while on-site, and you can change the columns whenever you like.Prerequisites
- A Google Account (personal or Google Workspace).
- A list of your current customers (even if they are just in your phone contacts or Xero).
- About 45 minutes of quiet time.
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Step 1: Set up your Foundation
Open a new Google Sheet. Don't worry about making it look pretty yet; we’re focusing on structure first. Give it a clear name like "[Business Name] Master CRM 2024". Pro tip from experience: Create one tab for "Leads & Active Deals" and a second tab for "Existing Clients." Keeping your active sales pipeline separate from your historical database makes it much easier to focus on where the money is coming from right now.Step 2: Define your Headers
This is where most people get stuck—they try to track too much. Keep it lean. In your "Leads" tab, create these headers in Row 1:- Date Added (Crucial for knowing how long they’ve been waiting)
- Company Name / Contact Name
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Lead Source (e.g., Google Search, Facebook Ad, Referral from Steve)
- Status (We’ll automate this in Step 3)
- Estimated Value (The dollar amount of the quote)
- Last Contact Date
- Next Action (e.g., "Send quote," "Follow up Wednesday")
- Notes
Step 3: Create your Sales Pipeline (The Dropdowns)
This is the "engine" of your CRM. We want to avoid typing the status every time because it leads to messy data (e.g., writing "In progress" vs "In-progress").- Highlight the entire Status column.
- Go to Insert > Dropdown.
- In the Data Validation sidebar, add these options:
Step 4: Add Conditional Formatting for Follow-ups
One of the biggest frustrations I hear from Brisbane business owners is: "I forget who I'm supposed to call back." Let's fix that.We want the "Last Contact Date" cell to turn red if you haven't spoken to someone in more than 7 days.
- Select your Last Contact Date column.
- Go to Format > Conditional formatting.
- Under "Format cells if," choose Date is before > In the past week.
- Set the formatting style to a light red fill.
Step 5: The "Aussie Context" – Adding ABN and Business Details
If you are doing B2B work in Australia, I highly recommend adding a column for ABN. When it comes time to move this lead into Xero or MYOB for invoicing, having the ABN right there saves you from searching the ABN Lookup tool for the tenth time that day.(Skip this if you're a residential tradie or b2c—it’s just extra clutter you don't need.)
Step 6: Automate the Date Entry
Writing the date manually is fiddly. Here is a little trick: whenever you start a new row, instead of typing the date, just double-click the cell.To make this work: Highlight your "Date Added" column, go to Data > Data validation, add a rule, and set the criteria to "is valid date." Now, when you double-click, a calendar picker pops up. It’s a small thing, but it saves so much time over a week.
Step 7: Mobile Access
Download the Google Sheets app on your phone. This is the part where most people fail—they only use the CRM at their desk. Real-world observation: If you're at a job site in Chermside and a new enquiry calls you, you should be able to pull over, open the app, and log that lead immediately. If you wait until you get home, you'll forget.---
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Over-complicating it: Don't add 50 columns. If you don't use the data to make a sale, don't track it.
- Deleting "Lost" leads: Never delete data! A lead that wasn't ready today might be ready in six months. Just mark them as "Lost" and hide the row if it bothers you.
- Forgetting the "Source": If you don't track where leads come from, you won't know if your Facebook ads are actually working or if your SEO is doing the heavy lifting.
Troubleshooting
- "My dropdowns disappeared": This usually happens if you copy and paste a row from somewhere else. Use
Ctrl+Shift+V(Paste Values only) to avoid overwriting your formatting. - "The sheet is getting slow": If you reach 2,000+ rows, Google Sheets can lag. At that point, congratulations! Your business is booming and it’s time to move to a dedicated CRM like Pipedrive or HubSpot.
- "I can't see my headers when I scroll": Go to View > Freeze > 1 Row. This is the most common "frustration" fix I do for clients!
Next Steps
Now that you have your CRM built, the next step is to make sure leads are actually flowing into it. You might want to look at:- Setting up a Google Business Profile to get more local Brisbane enquiries.
- Linking your website contact form to this sheet automatically using a tool like Zapier.
If you find yourself getting stuck or you'd rather have a professional team handle your lead generation and sales tracking setup, feel free to reach out to us at https://lmgroup.au/contact. We help local businesses across Australia turn messy spreadsheets into streamlined sales machines.
You've got this! Setting this up is the first step toward moving from a 'job' to a scalable business.