Building a CRM from Scratch with Teable

A CRM doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars or take months to implement. In this tutorial, we'll build a fully functional CRM system in Teable — complete with contacts, companies, deals, and automated follow-ups.

Time required: ~45 minutes Skill level: Beginner

What We're Building

Our CRM will include:

📇 Contacts — People you're talking to

🏢 Companies — Organizations they belong to

💰 Deals — Revenue opportunities

📋 Activities — Meeting notes, calls, emails

⚙️ Automations — Follow-up reminders and notifications

Step 1: Create the Contacts Table

Start by creating a new table called Contacts with these fields:

Step 2: Create the Companies Table

Next, create the Companies table:

Step 3: Create the Deals Table

The money table:

Step 4: Build the Pipeline View

Switch to Kanban View on the Deals table, grouped by Stage. This gives you a visual sales pipeline where you can drag deals between stages.

Customize the card to show:

Deal name

Company

Value

Close date

Step 5: Add Automations

Automation 1: Follow-Up Reminder

Trigger: Record matches condition
  → Condition: Last Contacted > 7 days ago AND Status = "Qualified"
Action: Send email notification
  → To: Record owner
  → Subject: "Follow up with {Contact Name}"
  → Body: "It's been over a week since you last contacted {Name} at {Company}."

Automation 2: Deal Stage Notification

Trigger: Record updated
  → Watch field: Stage
Action: Send Slack message
  → Channel: #sales
  → Message: "🎯 {Deal Name} moved to {Stage} — Value: ${Value}"

Automation 3: New Lead Welcome Email

Trigger: Record created in Contacts
  → Condition: Source = "Website"
Action: Send email
  → To: {Contact Email}
  → Subject: "Welcome! Here's what's next"
  → Body: Personalized welcome template

Step 6: Create a Dashboard

Build a dashboard view with these widgets:

Pipeline value by stage — Bar chart

Deals closing this month — Filtered grid view

Top contacts by deal value — Sorted view

Win rate — Formula: Closed Won / (Closed Won + Closed Lost)

Bonus: Advanced Tips

1. Use Lookup fields to pull company info into the deals table 2. Conditional coloring to highlight deals closing this week 3. Form view for your website's "Contact Us" page — submissions go straight into the CRM

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Wrapping Up

You now have a fully functional CRM that rivals tools costing $50+/user/month. The best part? You own the structure and can customize it endlessly as your sales process evolves.

Download the CRM template →