How to track deals without spreadsheets
Track deals without a spreadsheet by using a simple pipeline: five or fewer stages named after buyer actions, one card per deal with its value and close date, a required next task on every card, and a 10-minute weekly review. A pipeline shows what a spreadsheet hides: what needs action today.
Why do spreadsheets quietly kill deal tracking?
A spreadsheet remembers states, not stories. The cell says "proposal sent", but not when, not what was discussed, not that the client asked for a phasing change on a call you forgot. And rows never nag: a deal can sit untouched for six weeks without the sheet ever raising its hand.
The deeper problem is that updating a sheet is manual homework. Homework gets skipped in busy weeks, busy weeks are when deals move, and within a month the sheet is fiction that you still feel obligated to maintain.
Pipeline vs spreadsheet: what actually changes
Both can hold deal data. Only one of them works for you between edits.
| Orbit | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Reminds you to follow up | A dated next task on every deal | |
| History per deal | Full timeline: calls, emails, notes, invoices | Whatever the cell says today |
| Updating a deal | Drag the card to the next stage | Find the row, edit cells by hand |
| Stale-deal alerts | Sam flags deals that stop moving | |
| Weekly numbers | Ava's Monday report, from real activity | Build and babysit formulas yourself |
| Price to start | Free plan, 1 pipeline, no credit card | Free |
How to set up deal tracking in 30 minutes
One sitting, and the sheet retires the same day.
- Define five stages or fewer, named for what the buyer did: replied, meeting held, proposal sent, verbal yes, won. If a stage name describes your feelings instead of their actions, rename it.
- Create one card per live deal with three fields: value, expected close date, and the next step.
- Prune as you import: any deal with no activity for 30+ days gets closed with a reason or given one honest revival touch. Do not move the zombies into the new home.
- Add a dated next task to every surviving card. This rule is the entire system: a deal without a next step is a deal that is drifting.
- Book a 10-minute weekly review: move cards, close the dead, count deals per stage. The count per stage tells you what kind of week to have next.
A spreadsheet records your pipeline. A pipeline runs your week.
Let the team run this for you
Orbit's pipeline comes with staff. Sam flags stale deals in his weekly hygiene sweep, Wes flags deals where no proposal was ever sent and nudges the unsigned ones on day 3 and day 7, and Ava opens your Monday with real workspace numbers: calls made, meetings booked, money collected. No formulas, no babysitting, and every suggested fix arrives as a card you approve.
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Frequently asked questions
What is wrong with tracking deals in a spreadsheet?+
Spreadsheets hold data but take no action: they never remind you to follow up, they keep no history of calls and emails behind each row, and they depend on manual updates that stop the first busy week. The result is a sheet that looks organized and quietly goes stale.
How many pipeline stages do you need?+
Five or fewer for most small businesses, each named after something the buyer did: replied, meeting held, proposal sent, verbal yes, won. More stages feel rigorous but mostly create filing debates. Fewer, action-named stages make it obvious where every deal stands.
What should every deal card include?+
Three things: the deal's value, the expected close date, and a next task with a date on it. The next task is the one that matters most, because it converts a static record into a queue of actions, which is the entire point of leaving spreadsheets.
How do you migrate deals from a spreadsheet to a CRM?+
Export the sheet to CSV, import contacts and deals, then prune before you celebrate: close anything untouched for 30+ days with a reason, or give it one final revival touch. Migrating the zombies just rebuilds the old sheet's problems in a nicer interface.
Is a free CRM enough for a solo founder?+
Usually, yes. Solo deal tracking needs one pipeline, contact history, and tasks, which is exactly what free tiers cover. Orbit's free plan includes one pipeline with unlimited contacts, tasks, and notes, plus the AI team on your own keys. Paid tiers mostly lift limits later.
Retire the deals spreadsheet this week
Orbit gives you a pipeline, a next task on every deal, and a Monday report with real numbers. Free plan, no credit card.
Free forever plan. No credit card. No spam.