Yes.
You need a simple CRM — and you're right, you're overthinking it.
What's really going on
Eight months of Excel got you here, which means your problem isn't software — it's that leads now arrive faster than a spreadsheet can hold them. You're losing leads, can't see conversion, and double-checking ownership. Those are the three jobs any real CRM does on day one. The cost of another fortnight comparing feature grids is more dropped leads, not a better decision.
What to do instead
- HubSpot Free CRM (free) — shared pipeline, every email logged against the contact, unlimited users. Good enough for years if you ignore the upsell noise.
- Freshsales (free tier, paid per-user — check current pricing) — pick this instead if you want built-in calling and a lighter feel than HubSpot.
- The habit that matters more than the tool — every lead gets logged the same day, by the person who touched it, with a next step and a date. No exceptions.
First action, today: open HubSpot Free, import your Excel as a CSV, and set three pipeline stages — New, In Conversation, Won/Lost. One hour. Stop comparing after that.
What you're being oversold
If anyone has pointed you at Salesforce, walk away — it's built for companies with a dedicated admin and hundreds of leads a month, and the seat cost will quietly eat your runway. Same warning on HubSpot's paid Sales Hub: the free tier is excellent, the upsell is aggressive, and you don't need it yet. Every week you stay on email threads, more leads slip — you already know this because you've watched it happen.
When to revisit this
When your team passes 8-10 people, or you're running more than one distinct sales motion (say, inbound web leads and outbound prospecting) in the same pipeline and it's getting tangled.
The part worth getting right
The one call your situation hinges on: are your leads mostly inbound email, or is your team already doing real outbound calling? If it's inbound email and shared ownership, HubSpot Free wins and you'll stay on it for years. If you're calling out daily, Freshsales' built-in phone changes the math — and picking HubSpot first means a migration in six months. That's the fork. Get it wrong and you'll be re-importing contacts at exactly the moment you should be selling.