Spreadsheets Are Not a Strategy

Most businesses know what a CRM or customer relationship management tool is. The real issue is they’re not getting the value they should from it.

In sectors like architecture, engineering and design where projects hinge on relationships and reputation, your CRM should be more than a box-ticking exercise. Done well, it’s the engine room of your business development.

The Spreadsheet Trap

Spreadsheets might feel safe, but they’re a poor substitute for a proper CRM. They’re static, unstructured and often used only by the person who created them. They’re almost impossible to use for anything strategic. Want to know your win ratio in the education sector? Which clients haven’t been contacted in six months? Which proposals were sent last quarter? Good luck if it’s all in Excel.

A CRM, on the other hand, allows you to track proposals, relationships, sectors, interactions, outcomes and value, and see all of that in one clear dashboard of knowledge and insight.

What Makes a Good CRM?

First, ease of use. If the system isn’t intuitive, your team won’t use it.

The best CRMs go well beyond lists. They offer visual dashboards and tools like Kanban views, so you can actually see what’s in your pipeline and how relationships are progressing.

Second, it’s about financial awareness. A good CRM should give you the numbers you actually need and those numbers should be available to the whole business, not just the senior leadership.

Finally, don’t wait for the perfect integration. Many businesses delay setting up a CRM because they want something that talks to finance, time tracking and project management tools.

Integration is useful, but it shouldn’t hold up implementation.

The priority is a system built for business development that people actually use. Most modern CRMs can export data or link up to existing programmes via tools like Zapier in any case.

Common Mistakes

The most common mistake? Not implementing a CRM at all.

The second? Choosing one, then not using it properly. A CRM only works if it’s embedded into your BD processes and not treated as an afterthought.

That means using it live in business development meetings. Don’t scribble notes in a book, planning to update the CRM later (which rarely happens). Your CRM should drive your meetings, your strategy, your targeting. It should be open on everyone’s laptop, updated there and then, and central to every decision you make about business growth.

And yes, it needs to be clean. That means dropdowns, mandatory fields and standardised terminology. Otherwise, you can end up with three sectors called “hospitality”, “hotels” and “F&B”, and none of your reports make sense.

The key here is clarity. If someone new to the team can’t understand the pipeline or opportunity stages at a glance, it’s too complicated. Avoid internal codes, jargon or over-engineered labels; simple, shared language helps everyone engage with the process, making it accessible to all.

Nominate someone in the business to take ownership. Every CRM needs someone who keeps it clean, makes sure data input is correct and encourages others to actually use it. Someone who can get obsessed with it!

If you’re a small business thinking “this sounds like a lot of work,” here’s the good news: it’s far easier to implement a CRM when you’re small. Don’t wait until you have 40 people and a monster spreadsheet you can’t untangle. Tools like ClickUp, Pipedrive, Monday.com, and even the free version of HubSpot, can get you up and running quickly. It’s much easier to scale than to implement one later.

Beyond Sales

This isn’t just about tracking sales. A good CRM helps you nurture relationships and spot patterns. If a regular client goes quiet, your CRM should flag it. It’s not just about logging new information; it’s a tool to gather insight and awareness.

It also opens the door to smarter marketing.

Many CRMs integrate with tools like Mailchimp, allowing you to track who opened a newsletter, what they clicked on and whether they followed up. That’s incredibly valuable when you’re planning content or identifying opportunities. That’s where marketing and business development can dovetail seamlessly.

Measuring ROI

While it’s tempting to ask what the return on investment is on a CRM, the answer isn’t always in pounds. Yes, a good CRM helps you convert leads into jobs. But more importantly, it gives you faster reporting, cleaner data, better targeting and fewer mistakes.

And if you’re ever preparing your business for sale, a strong CRM is a must. It can show not just your current pipeline, but the value of your wider network. That’s gold dust!

Final Word

CRMs don’t succeed just because you buy the software. They succeed when you embed them into your culture, use them regularly and make them work for your team. They’re only as good as the data you put in. Or as we like to say: “Sh!t in, sh!t out. Or good in, good out.”

The best systems work when people are confident using them, understand their value and see the results.