Show HN: Use Excel as a simple CRM

"This only ends in tears." - Every small bus. that went down this road ever.

I see a promising start here, but I am puzzled by why all this instead of just maintaining different sheets and use lookup functions myself.<p>From reading your friend's blog it seems that you're going after flexibility and automation. I don't see much automation in the example given...

What exactly do you need a CRM for?<p>Right now, I'm using notepad (please don't laugh) to keep track of who I'm talking to, what they've said, and what leads I have to pursue.<p>What other benefits does a CRM provide when you have less than 100 contacts?

How is typing python commands better than using Excel's built in functions to do the same thing? (References, Lookups, Sorting, Filtering)

I would like to see some live data integration into Excel, like pulling server logs into visual graphs in Excel. It shouldn't be too hard with the plugin from <a href="http://www.ironspread.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.ironspread.com</a> and python, right?

For better or worse, Excel is still the most widely used general-purpose business application. Even SalesForce, Freshbooks, and the ungodly Quickbooks have failed to put a dent into Excel's dominance and pervasiveness as a business planning, management, and operations tool.<p>It will take something quite extraordinary to dislodge Excel as a tool for simply and effectively managing a business. There's something to be said about a business app that can so handily meet the needs of such divergent business audiences.<p>That said, I think businesses can really do a LOT better than Excel. I'm working on fixing that.

One of my habitual, long, boring rants is on the theme "Excel is not structured data."<p>In the hands of an analyst who knows what he's doing, Excel is a fine tool. As a database, it is an incovenience waiting to turn into a disaster. Remember the researchers whose gene sequences went to hell because Excel did automagic conversions on things that looked like hex sequences? (comp.risks, about 10 years ago)

CRM is a broad concept that goes way beyond shared access to your company's contacts. If you can answer the 4 W questions (who, where, when, why) + how for each opened ticket and periodically use this data to reshape your internal processes, then you have reached an elementary CRM implementation level.

This looks to be a cool tool for automating spreadsheet work, and Excel is fine for a very small client list, but for a long term solution you can use Insightly CRM for free forever with up to three users, and it integrates right into Gmail to track your conversations with clients. <a href="http://insightly.com" rel="nofollow">http://insightly.com</a> (Disclosure - I am the CEO of Insightly).

"Excel is a poor man's database." My boss.<p>"It works. Business users and MBAs don't need programmers to make changes." Me.<p>There is a time and a place for using each tool. We use a CRM, but often the best way to view the data is to just put it into excel because it can be manipulated faster. When you are small excel will work. When you grow - it will become unmanageable. Learning when to transition is difficult.

I'd love something this based instead on SBCL