SOP 50: Spreadsheet vs. CRM vs. Notion — Tracking Deal Flow

SOP 50: Spreadsheet vs. CRM vs. Notion — Tracking Deal Flow

Your pipeline tool should match your volume. Over-tooling wastes more time than it saves.

— Under 10 active prospects: a single spreadsheet (one row per deal, columns for stage, asking price, multiple, last contact, next action). Fast, no setup, sortable.
— 10–40 deals or a partner involved: a lightweight database (Airtable/Notion) for linked records — connect a deal to its diligence checklist, seller contact, and document folder.
— 40+ deals or a team: a real CRM (Pipedrive/HubSpot) for stage automation, reminders, and reporting on conversion by source.
— Anti-pattern: do not build a CRM for 5 deals a quarter. The maintenance overhead exceeds the deals.

Mandatory columns regardless of tool: stage, asking price, trailing-12 net, next action date, source channel.

Pass criterion: every live deal has a next action with a date, visible at a glance.

Save this — run it every deal.