A starter CRM template for your small business

1. Build your first customer sheet

Open a blank sheet in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Copy the header line below into cell A1. The fields are separated by tabs. If they appear in one cell, use the split-to-columns option and choose tab as the separator.

Record ID Customer or business Contact details Source Customer need Stage Last contact date Next action Follow-up date Owner Quoted amount and currency Brief notes

• Record ID: use a unique label such as CRM-001. Create a separate row when an existing customer discusses a new order.
• Contact details: keep the phone number or email address you need for the conversation. Avoid collecting unrelated personal information.
• Source: record how the person found you, such as search, a referral or Instagram.
• Customer need: describe the request in one sentence, such as «monthly product photos for a neighbourhood bakery».
• Use year-month-day dates, such as 2027-04-12. Include the currency with each quote and leave unknown amounts blank.

2. Make each enquiry easy to understand

Fictional example: a bakery asks for photos of its new menu. Record the enquiry as CRM-001, with «Referral» as the source and «Quote sent» as the stage. Set the next action to «Ask which morning works for the shoot» and assign it to one person. Use the follow-up date agreed with the customer.

• New enquiry: a request has arrived and needs a first response.
• In discussion: you are clarifying the scope, timing or requirements.
• Quote sent: the customer has your offer and you are waiting for a decision.
• Confirmed: the customer has agreed to proceed. Track payment separately.
• Closed without a sale: the opportunity has ended. Add a brief reason so the team can learn from it.

Create a dropdown in the stage column using these five choices. Make actions specific: «Confirm the delivery address» is more useful than «Contact customer». Every open opportunity should have a next action and a date.

3. Keep the sheet useful every day

1. Add ten active enquiries first. Starting with current conversations makes the sheet useful immediately.
2. Each morning, sort by follow-up date and review open opportunities that are due or overdue.
3. After a conversation, update the stage, last contact date and next action. Keep notes brief and factual.
4. Review duplicates weekly. Merge repeated entries for the same opportunity while keeping separate orders distinct.
5. Limit access to the people who need it and keep a weekly backup in a restricted location.

This template does not send reminders automatically. Add important follow-ups to your calendar. It also does not replace your accounting records. Consider dedicated CRM software when shared ownership and missed updates become difficult to manage.

Go further with the AI Builders community

Visit the Azerbaijani AI Builders community at https://abcommunity.org/resurslar for real examples, peer feedback and discussion. Share your adapted template using fictional customer details. Explain one change that helped your workflow and ask others how they handle follow-ups.