Written by Emma Brudner @emmajs24
Who
doesn't love a good spreadsheet? Excel is ubiquitous in offices for several
reasons: spreadsheets are easy to use, easy to learn, and cheap compared
to dedicated
software.
But
they also introduce a slew of problems that put your organization in grave
danger. And if you're running a startup or small company, some of these
snares could spell the end of your business.
Here
are five reasons Excel might just be killing your business. If you're running
your company on spreadsheets, you might want to reconsider.
Revenue Rifts
Leads
and customers are the lifeblood of your business and every dollar in
revenue counts, especially if you're struggling to get off the ground or keep
the doors open. It's true that keeping track of customer interactions on
spreadsheets is a fairly simple process for one or two people, but what happens
when you hire your first dedicated sales rep? Or your first 10 sales reps?
Customer tracking via Excel can devolve into madness fast.
Not
only is determining who's working what lead when all but impossible, but
inaccurate or incomplete Excel interaction tracking means that hot
prospects sometimes fall through the cracks. If that doesn't scare you, I don't
know what would.
Errors Galore
When
you're operating a small company, you had better understand the precise state
of your business. A few extra dollars here or there could make the difference
between doubling down on a new strategy or investment, or backing off entirely
and holding tight to your cash.
Too
bad that precision isn't exactly Excel's forte. A University of Hawaii
study found that 88% of
spreadsheets contain some type of error. With this in mind, doing
the financials on Excel might actually cost you money in the long run.
Sharing Woes
Does
this file name seem familiar to you?
Customer_contact_sheet_AB_YN_OP_DW_gh_final_8.31.15_final2_FINAL.xls
Such
is the nature of sharing spreadsheets. Because people can't make live
updates to the same spreadsheet, the document has to be passed around from one
team member to the next, to the next ... to the next. After each person updates
the master document (and let's pray they did it right), they pass the
baton along. It's a slow process to say the least, so if you're
waiting for the file to make its way back to you to report on results or make a
crucial decision, let's just hope your task isn't time-sensitive.
And this
assumes that each person fills out and saves the spreadsheet correctly.
Neglecting to save the document to a shared folder can give rise to several
conflicting versions. Good luck figuring out which is right.
Adoption Problems
The
number one CRM challenge salespeople cited in last year's State of Inbound
Sales report was manual data entry. This concern also
translates to spreadsheets, which are nearly 100% manual.
If
business owners struggle to get their salespeople and other employees to enter
data in a CRM (which presumably features some level of automation), they're
going to experience the same issues (perhaps even magnified) with spreadsheets.
And if your employees aren't using
spreadsheets, how will you know what's going on in your business?
The visibility forecast looks all but opaque.
Security Issues
Not
all data is suitable for everyone in your business to see. For instance, HR
information such as compensation rates, social security numbers, and home
addresses shouldn't be accessible to just any employee. Not only does faulty
security put your employees at risk, it also puts your business in danger
of a lawsuit or penalty.
So
what's Excel's answer to spreadsheet security? Access password protection. In
other words, people can either see the entire spreadsheet, or they're blocked
entirely. Needless to say, this isn't ideal in situations where users require
different degrees of access that fall in between being privy to everything
and nothing.
Also,
because security isn't attached to accounts (Excel has no way of knowing who is
accessing a spreadsheet), all it takes is a password to fall into the wrong
hands for your data to be hacked or stolen. Loose lips sink ships, so I hope
your employees are trustworthy.
As
you can see, Excel is anything but a time- or money-saver. Spreadsheets
can do a small business more harm than they're worth without you even knowing
it.
But
dedicated technology isn't always expensive. There are plenty of lightweight
finance, HR, contact
management, and sales apps available today specifically built
for small businesses' needs and budget.
If
you'd like to ensure prospect or customer data never slips through the cracks
again, download the
free HubSpot CRM. For the low price tag of $0, you can enjoy the
peace of mind that comes from knowing you're not losing out on revenue. That's
a bargain by any standards.
Realizing
you should probably move off of spreadsheets? Start learning about the
many benefits of a
CRM system and how to find the best small
business CRM.
Originally
published Sep 2, 2015 8:00:00 AM, updated January 02 2020
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