How to build a free sales pipeline in Google Sheets

Growing teams all hit the same wall: the sales pipeline lives in someone’s head, a half-updated CRM, and a messy spreadsheet. Let’s turn Google Sheets into your best free sales pipeline software, then show how to scale it with no‑code and AI agents.

1. Manual Google Sheets pipeline – the classic way

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1.1 Design your pipeline structure

1. In Google Sheets, create a new spreadsheet and name it 'Sales Pipeline'.
2. Add columns like:
   • Deal ID
   • Company
   • Contact name
   • Email
   • Deal value
   • Stage (Lead, Qualified, Meeting, Proposal, Closing, Won, Lost)
   • Owner
   • Next action
   • Next action date
3. Freeze the header row so it stays visible as you scroll (View → Freeze → 1 row).

Reference: Google’s help on creating and formatting spreadsheets: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292

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1.2 Capture every lead consistently

1. After each inquiry (website form, LinkedIn DM, cold email reply), immediately add a row.
2. Set Stage to 'Lead' and fill in value (even rough) and owner.
3. Always add a specific next action (e.g. 'Send case study', 'Book demo') and a concrete date.
4. Use filters (Data → Create a filter) so reps can quickly view only 'Lead' or 'Meeting' stage.

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1.3 Run weekly pipeline reviews

1. Sort by Stage, then by Next action date.
2. For each row, during your meeting, update:
   • Stage (did it move forward?)
   • Next action and date
   • Deal value if it changed
3. Insert a second tab 'Metrics' and build simple charts using COUNTIF and SUMIF to show:
   • Deals by stage
   • Total pipeline value
   • Win rate over the last 30/60/90 days

Google’s chart guide: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/63824

Pros (manual):

• Totally free, flexible, easy to start today.
• Everyone understands spreadsheets.

Cons (manual):

• Heavily dependent on human discipline.
• Easy for follow-ups to slip; no reminders or automation.

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2. No‑code automation on top of Google Sheets

Once the basics work, you can bolt on no‑code tools so reps spend less time updating Sheets and more time selling.

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2.1 Auto-create deals from form submissions

Use Google Forms or your website forms integrated with Sheets.

1. Create a Google Form with fields that match your pipeline columns.
2. Link it to your Sheet (Responses → Select response destination → Existing spreadsheet).
3. Every new response creates a row with the right headers filled.

Docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2917686

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2.2 Trigger email tasks from pipeline changes (via no‑code)

With tools like Zapier or Make:

1. Trigger: 'New or updated row in Google Sheets' where Stage changes to 'Meeting'.
2. Action: Create a calendar event and send a templated confirmation email via Gmail.
3. Add a 'Last contacted' column in Sheets and let the automation update it.

Result: reps only change the Stage; your no‑code stack handles the admin.

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2.3 Build a live dashboard without touching formulas

Use Google Sheets' Explore and connected charts:

1. On your 'Metrics' tab, use pivot tables (Data → Pivot table) to group by Stage and Owner.
2. Build a chart that shows deals by stage over time.
3. Use the Explore box to auto-generate suggested charts and formulas.

Pros (no‑code):

• Still low‑cost, but you gain reminders, basic workflows, and dashboards.
• Non‑technical ops people can maintain it.

Cons (no‑code):

• Every new rule or field can require editing multiple zaps.
• Still reliant on reps touching the sheet correctly.

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3. Scaling with AI agents (Simular Pro)

At some point, your constraint is no longer the template; it’s the keystrokes. This is where an AI computer agent like Simular Pro starts to feel like another team member sitting at a desk, living inside your tools.

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3.1 Let the agent operate your entire pipeline workspace

Using Simular Pro’s desktop and browser automation, you can:

1. Instruct the agent: 'Every morning, open Gmail, scan for new replies from open deals, and update the Stage, Last contacted, and Next action in the Sales Pipeline Google Sheet.'
2. The agent:
   • Logs into Gmail.
   • Reads email threads, understands intent (interested, stalled, asked for proposal).
   • Opens your Google Sheet in the browser.
   • Locates the matching row (by email or deal ID).
   • Edits Stage, Next action, and Next action date with human‑like precision.

Because Simular Pro is designed to automate nearly anything a human can do on a desktop, you are not limited to APIs – it literally clicks, types, and navigates your browser.

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3.2 Automated research to enrich deals

You can also have Simular agents run prospect research and push it into your pipeline:

1. Give the agent instructions: 'For each row in the Sales Pipeline sheet where Company URL is blank, search the web, find the official website and LinkedIn, and fill those columns.'
2. The agent:
   • Opens the sheet, filters for blanks.
   • For each record, opens a new browser tab, searches, validates the right domain.
   • Pastes the website and LinkedIn URL back into the sheet.

Pros (AI agent at scale):

• Works across Gmail, LinkedIn, CRMs, and Google Sheets without fragile APIs.
• Production-grade reliability for workflows with thousands of steps.
• Every action is inspectable and modifiable, so you can audit what it did.

Cons (AI agent at scale):

• Requires clear instructions and initial supervision.
• Best suited once you have a stable pipeline structure and naming conventions.

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3.3 From spreadsheet to semi-autonomous revenue machine

Combine everything:

• Google Sheets as the free, flexible database and dashboard.
• No‑code tools for simple triggers (form → sheet, sheet → email).
• Simular Pro agents to handle complex, high-volume, cross-app work: following up, updating stages, logging research, and even drafting outbound.

This layered approach lets a scrappy business owner or agency start with a simple sheet, then graduate to a semi-autonomous pipeline without ripping anything out. You keep control of the logic; the AI agent just takes over the clicking, typing, and tab‑switching you and your team don’t have time for.