CRM software is one of the biggest recurring costs for small businesses. HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive charge $50–$300 per user per month for features most small teams don't even use. Airtable can replace all of them for a fraction of the cost — and because you build it yourself, it fits your exact process rather than forcing you to adapt to someone else's.
What Your Airtable CRM Will Include
- Contacts table — every lead and client with their details and history
- Deals table — every active opportunity linked to a contact
- Activities table — calls, emails, and meetings logged against each deal
- Pipeline view — Kanban board showing every deal by stage
- Follow-up dashboard — who needs contact today
Step 1: Set Up Your Contacts Table
Create a new Airtable base and name the first table 'Contacts'. Add these fields: Name (Single line text), Company (Single line text), Email (Email), Phone (Phone number), Source (Single select: Referral, Website, LinkedIn, Cold Outreach), Status (Single select: Lead, Prospect, Client, Lost), Notes (Long text), and Last Contacted (Date).
Step 2: Create Your Deals Table
Add a second table called 'Deals'. Fields: Deal Name (Single line text), Contact (Link to Contacts table), Value (Currency), Stage (Single select: Discovery, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Closed Won, Closed Lost), Close Date (Date), Probability (Percent), and Owner (Collaborator).
The link between Deals and Contacts is key — it means each deal is tied to a specific person, and from the Contacts table you can see all deals for any contact without duplicating data.
Step 3: Add an Activities Table
Create a third table 'Activities'. Fields: Activity (Single line text), Type (Single select: Call, Email, Meeting, Demo, Follow-up), Deal (Link to Deals), Date (Date), Outcome (Long text), Next Action (Single line text), Next Action Date (Date).
Step 4: Build Your Pipeline View
In the Deals table, click '+' next to the default Grid view and select 'Kanban'. Set the grouping field to 'Stage'. Now you have a visual pipeline — drag deals between columns as they progress. Add a filter to hide Closed Lost deals so your pipeline stays clean.
Step 5: Create a Follow-Up Dashboard
Back in the Deals table, create a new Grid view called 'Follow-ups Due'. Add a filter: 'Next Action Date is before or on today' AND 'Stage is not Closed Won or Closed Lost'. Sort by Next Action Date ascending. This gives you a daily task list of exactly who to contact.
Pro tip: Add a formula field in Deals called 'Days Since Last Activity' using DATETIME_DIFF(TODAY(), {Last Activity Date}, 'days'). Then create a view filtered to deals where this is over 14 — your 'going cold' alert.
Step 6: Add Automations
Use Airtable's built-in automations (or connect Make.com for more power) to: send a Slack notification when a deal moves to Proposal Sent, email yourself a morning summary of today's follow-ups, or update the Contact status to 'Client' automatically when a deal is marked Closed Won.
How Much Does It Cost?
A team of up to 5 people can run this entire CRM on Airtable's free plan (up to 1,000 records per base, which is plenty for most small businesses). Even the Pro plan at $10/user/month is a fraction of what HubSpot charges — and you get something tailored exactly to your workflow.
Want us to build and configure this for your business? We set up Airtable CRM systems as a standard service — including automations, integrations with your other tools, and training for your team. Book a free consultation to get started.