Building a Full CRM in Coda

A proper CRM isn't a single contacts list — it's a graph of related objects. In Coda, each object type becomes a table, and relation columns connect them. Before building any table, sketch the data model so every connection is intentional.

Every contact, deal, and activity ultimately traces back to a company. Build the Companies table first with a clean set of core columns, then add the derived columns that roll up data from child tables.

The two formula columns — Contact Count and Open Pipeline — are derived from child tables using Filter() and Sum(). They update automatically as contacts and deals are added. Add these columns after creating the Contacts and Deals tables.

The Contacts table holds the individual people you work with. The most important column is the relation to Companies — it connects each person to their account and makes company attributes available as lookup columns in Contacts.

The Deals table is the heart of the CRM's commercial layer. It tracks every sales opportunity from first qualification through to won or lost. The Kanban board view — grouped by Stage — turns the Deals table into a visual pipeline your whole sales team can manage.

Build the Pipeline Kanban view

In the Deals table, click + New view → Board. Set group-by to Stage. Set sort to Close Date ascending. This gives you a visual pipeline where cards move between columns as deals progress. Display Value and Owner as card fields for quick scanning.

The Activities table is your interaction log. Every call, email, meeting, or follow-up note becomes a row. Each activity links to a contact and optionally to a deal — so you can filter "all activities for Deal X" or "all activities for Contact Y" at a glance.

Calendar view for scheduling

Add a Calendar view of the Activities table with the Date column as the calendar field. This gives your team a visual week-by-week schedule of all customer touchpoints. Filter by Owner to see each rep's activity calendar.

Automation: update Last Activity on the Contact

When a new Activity row is created: Trigger = row added to Activities. Action = modify a row in Contacts where Contacts = this Activity's Contact. Set Last Activity = Today(). This keeps the Contact table's Last Activity column current without manual updates.

A Coda page acts as a dashboard by embedding multiple filtered views of the five tables in one place. The home page of your CRM doc is the central command center — no separate BI tool needed.

Automations are what turn a Coda CRM from a fancy spreadsheet into an active system. Each automation below handles something that reps would otherwise do manually or forget.

Now that the CRM is built, layer in AI columns. These columns read actual row data — deal stages, activity notes, contact history — and generate summaries and recommendations per row. This is where Lesson 18's AI skills pay off at scale.