Keep the spreadsheet while one person updates it and it still tells you who to call next. Switch when a second person needs it, when follow-ups get missed because nobody opened the file, or when the same client turns up in three different rows. Clean the data first and the move is mostly mechanical; skip that step and the duplicates and mismatched columns come with you, to be fixed by hand inside the new system.

Three signs the sheet has stopped working

Two people edit it. Someone saves an old copy over a new one, cells get overwritten, and "which version is current?" becomes a regular question.

Nothing reminds you. The sheet may have a next-step date column, but it only helps if someone filters it every day. If follow-ups are being missed, check whether anyone opens the file every day before blaming the dates.

One client, several places. The client is in two rows with different spellings, the notes are in a Word document and the emails are in someone's inbox. Answering "where are we with this client?" means opening three things.

One of these is a nuisance. Two or three together mean the sheet now costs more time than it saves.

When a sheet is still enough

You probably do not need a CRM yet if one person handles sales, the open deals fit comfortably on one screen, and most of your sales close in one or two conversations. Pipeline stages add little when a sale goes from enquiry to done in a week. In that case, fix the sheet instead: add a next-step date to every open row and sort by it each morning.

Clean the data before you import

Whatever CRM you choose, importing a messy sheet gives you a messy CRM. Do this first:

  1. One row per person. Split rows that hold two contacts ("John and Mary").
  2. One column per field: name, company, email, phone, company address, deal value, stage, next step, next-step date.
  3. One notes column. Move scattered comments into it, or leave them out.
  4. Distinct contact details. Each person should have their own email and phone, not a shared one like info@ or the office number.
  5. Company addresses filled in, so two companies with the same name stay apart.
  6. Old rows removed. Leads from three years ago with no next step can be archived instead of imported.

Then save one tab per import. Pipedrive, for example, imports XLS, XLSX and CSV files with one tab per import, a header row and up to 50,000 rows; a Google Sheet has to be downloaded in one of those formats first.

How duplicates happen on import

Before importing, check how the CRM decides that two records are the same. In Pipedrive, people are merged when their organization, phone or email matches an existing record, and organizations are merged when their address matches. Deals are never treated as duplicates.

Two practical consequences follow from that:

  • a shared email or office phone can merge two different people into one;
  • importing the same deals twice gives you two of each.

So import people and companies first, check a sample of them, and import deals only once. If duplicates slip through, Pipedrive has a merge option for people, organizations and leads.

The first week

  • Set up a few stages that match how you sell, not a long list.
  • Give every open deal a next-step date on day one.
  • Make the old spreadsheet read-only, so there is one place to update.
  • Book a short weekly review of overdue next steps.

If people keep updating the old sheet "just for now", the move has not happened yet.

Where Pipedrive fits

Pipedrive is a pipeline CRM built around stages and next activities. Its Lite plan includes pipelines, activities and spreadsheet import. Syncing email so client conversations sit next to each deal needs the Growth plan. If you try it, use a copy of your real data rather than sample data; that is the quickest way to see whether the stages match how you actually sell.