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How to Use monday CRM: Master Sales Automation in 2026

by | Last updated Jan 8, 2026

how to use monday

Do you feel like your sales leads are falling through the cracks?

Keeping track of every client in messy spreadsheets is a nightmare.

It is easy to lose data, miss follow-up calls, and let deals go cold.

This chaos slows you down and costs you money.

You might feel stressed and disorganized as your to-do list grows.

The good news is that monday CRM fixes this.

It puts all your data in one spot.

You can see your whole business clearly and get more done. Let’s learn how to use monday CRM.

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Monday

Join over 225,000 customers who use monday to boost productivity. Teams report saving 10+ hours every week with automation.

How to use Smart Workflow Automation

Think of Smart Workflow Automation as a helper that never sleeps.

In Monday sales CRM, these are “if-this-then-that” rules.

They handle the small, boring tasks so your sales team can focus on talking to people.

This is a big part of customer relationship management.

It helps your sales performance stay high because you never forget a lead.

When you bring on new team members, automations make training easy.

They don’t have to learn every tiny step of your sales process because the system does it for them.

Everything stays in the same place, making your life much simpler.

Setting Up Your First Automation

  • Go to the Automation Center: Look at the top right of your board. Click the button that says “Automations.” You might need to update your browser to view this site properly.
  • Pick a Recipe: You will see many “recipes.” These are ready-to-use rules. A great one for a sales team is: “When a status changes, notify someone.”
  • Fill in the Blanks: Click the underlined words. For example, choose the “Status” column. Then, pick “Qualified” as the change. Finally, like yourself or a teammate to get the alert.
  • Turn it On: Click “Create Automation.” Now, whenever a lead is ready, the right person will know instantly!
  • Connect Different Tasks: You can even set it to move a deal to a new project management board once the sale is closed. This keeps all your different tasks moving without any extra clicks.
monday smart automation

How to use Kanban Board

A Kanban board is a simple way to see your work.

It looks like cards on a wall. It helps your team see where every deal is hiding.

You can manage your clients without getting confused.

Instead of a long list, you see a visual map of your success.

If you cannot see the cards, you may need to update your browser.

Sometimes, a browser to view this site needs to be fresh.

If you see a Ray ID error, check your performance security settings.

Most of the time, you need a modern browser to see the chart view clearly.

Building Your Kanban View

  • Add a New View: Look at the top of your board. Click the “+” icon. Choose “Kanban” from the list.
  • Pick Your Columns: The CRM will ask how to group your cards. Choose “Status.” This shows columns like “New,” “Working,” and “Closed.”
  • Choose What to See: You can pick what info shows on each card. You might want to see the deal price or the client’s name.
  • Move Your Deals: To move a lead, simply click on the card. Hold down your mouse and drag it to the next column. Is it that easy?
  • Review the Work: Use this view to review who needs a phone call. You can even click a card to send personalized emails to your clients right from the board.
monday kanban

How to use a Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a great tool for organization.

It looks like a timeline that shows when your projects start and end.

While a Kanban board is for quick moves, a Gantt chart helps you see the big picture.

It is super simple to use once you get started.

It helps teams stay on track during long tasks.

Using this feature helps you focus on what needs to happen first.

If you are managing many customers at once, you need a clear structure.

The Gantt chart lets you organize every deal so nothing overlaps.

This keeps your account tidy and your lead management smooth.

Planning Your Project Timeline

  • Add the Gantt View: Click the “+” sign on your platform dashboard. Select “Gantt” to create the new view.
  • Fill in Your Dates: For the chart to work, your items must have dates. Make sure you have a “Timeline” column for all your projects.
  • Link Your Tasks: This is the best part. You can draw a line between two tasks. This tells the CRM that one task must finish before the next one starts.
  • Watch the Progress: As you finish work, the bars on the chart will change color. This shows you the project’s progress in real time.
  • Use Automation: You can set up an automation to notify the team when a bar reaches its end date.
Gnatt chart of monday CRM

Alternatives to Monday

  • Pipedrive: A sales-focused CRM known for its intuitive visual sales pipelines, helping teams manage deals and track progress efficiently.
  • Keap: Specializes in automation for small businesses, combining CRM functionalities with email marketing and sales pipeline management.
  • ActiveCampaign: A customer experience automation platform that integrates marketing, sales, and e-commerce functionalities, allowing for personalized communication and automated workflows.
  • HubSpot: A widely recognized platform offering a suite of “hubs” for sales, marketing, customer service, content management, and operations, ideal for businesses seeking integrated solutions.
  • ClickFunnels: Primarily a sales funnel and landing page builder, with some lead collection and basic email marketing capabilities, focusing on conversion-driven online campaigns.
  • Folk: A simple, integrated, and proactive CRM with features like sales pipelines, email campaigns, contact management, and workflow automation.
  • GoHighLevel: This is great for marketing and sales teams. It helps you build pages and send many texts. It is a powerful tool for growing your agency.
  • Instantly: This company focuses on lead finding and cold email outreach, offering customer relationship management, lead tracking, and sales process automation.
  • ClickUp: A versatile work management platform that can be customized to function as a CRM, offering features like contact management, sales pipeline views, email integration, and customizable dashboards.
  • Capsule CRM: A growth-oriented CRM designed for simplicity, helping businesses manage contacts, track sales deals, and maintain client relationships with features like multiple pipelines and task management.
  • Insightly: A CRM suitable for small to mid-sized businesses, offering contact and project management, workflow automation, and robust reporting, along with a user-friendly interface.
  • Freshsales CRM: A cost-effective option offering extensive features for sales teams, including lead communication, conversion tools, AI-based lead scoring, and strong integration capabilities.
  • Salesforce: A robust, industry-leading CRM platform offering extensive features for sales, marketing, and service, known for its high customizability and scalability for larger enterprises.
  • Zendesk: Primarily a customer service and support platform that also offers robust CRM capabilities, providing end-to-end customer interaction management and analytics.

Monday Compared

Here’s a brief comparison of Monday CRM with these software solutions:

  • Monday CRM vs Pipedrive: Monday CRM is a versatile work operating system with robust project and team management. Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM known for its visual pipeline management and deal-closing features.
  • Monday vs GoHighLevel: Monday is really good for managing projects and team tasks. It helps you keep track of work visually. GoHighLevel is more of an all-in-one tool for marketing and sales.
  • Monday CRM vs Keap: Monday CRM provides highly customizable visual workflows for team collaboration and customer management, while Keap offers powerful sales and marketing automation designed for small businesses.
  • Monday CRM vs ActiveCampaign: Monday CRM focuses on visual collaboration and customizable dashboards for project and customer relationship tracking, whereas ActiveCampaign excels in advanced email marketing automation, segmentation, and detailed analytics.
  • Monday CRM vs Hubspot: Monday CRM offers a flexible, visual platform for managing projects and customer data, while HubSpot provides a comprehensive suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools.
  • Monday CRM vs Clickfunnels: Monday CRM is a flexible work OS with strong CRM capabilities; ClickFunnels is primarily a sales funnel builder for creating landing pages and automating sales conversion processes.
  • Monday CRM vs Folk: Monday CRM provides highly customizable visual workflows and collaboration for diverse teams; Folk focuses on intuitive, collaborative contact management and enrichment with a simple interface.
  • Monday CRM vs Instantly: Monday CRM is a flexible work OS with CRM functionalities for visual pipeline management; Instantly specializes in automated cold email outreach and high-volume lead generation.
  • Monday CRM vs ClickUp: Monday CRM prioritizes visual and user-friendly project and work management; ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity platform offering extensive features for task management, CRM, and more.
  • Monday CRM vs Capsule CRM: Monday CRM provides extensive customization for workflows and projects, integrating CRM functionalities; Capsule CRM is a simpler, more affordable contact manager primarily focused on sales tracking.
  • Monday CRM vs Insightly: Monday CRM offers a highly customizable platform for managing projects and customer relationships, whereas Insightly provides a more traditional CRM with integrated project management.
  • Monday CRM vs Freshsales CRM: Monday CRM is a versatile work OS with CRM features for customizable tracking. At the same time, Freshsales CRM is a dedicated sales CRM with AI-powered lead management and automation.
  • Monday CRM vs Salesforce: Monday CRM offers a flexible, visual, and highly customizable platform for various business needs; Salesforce is an enterprise-level CRM with extensive, deep features for complex sales and marketing operations.
  • Monday CRM vs Zendesk: Monday CRM excels in visual project management and team collaboration for sales and other functions. At the same time, Zendesk is a specialized customer service platform focused on ticketing and support.

Conclusion

Learning to navigate this software is a smart move for your company.

It helps you optimize your daily work and boost performance.

By using tools like the Gantt chart and Kanban board, you streamline how you track contacts.

You can even use templates to get started fast.

For example, you can use groups on your boards to keep details organized.

Whether you are sending invoices or checking a lead form, everything is created to help your productivity.

Many companies use these features to build better relationships.

Now, explore your account and build a better workflow!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to use monday CRM effectively?

Focus on your sales stage to keep deals moving. Use the dashboards for a high-level overview. This gives you full control over your team’s weekly goals and conversations.

Can Monday work as a CRM?

Yes, it is one of the top platforms for managing leads. You can customize every board to fit your workflow. It keeps all your contacts in one easy place.

Is Monday CRM really free?

There is a free version for two people. It lets you access basic boards. Larger teams usually pay a monthly fee to unlock better automation and more storage.

Does Monday have tutorials?

Yes, you can find a helpful tutorial in the Monday Academy. If you get stuck, these guides show you how to use every widget and feature on the site.

What does monday CRM do?

It helps you track your sales from start to finish. You can see your progress on visual dashboards. It connects with other apps to keep everything in one place.

How easy is Monday to use?

It is very simple and friendly. The software looks like a colorful spreadsheet. Most people can navigate the main boards and start working in just a few minutes.

More Facts about Monday CRM

  • Monday CRM has ready-made templates to help you start organizing your sales tasks quickly.
  • You can use the deals board to manage your sales and see where your money is coming from.
  • You can build a sales dashboard to track your goals and measure your progress.
  • There is a free plan available that works well for very small teams of two people.
  • The Basic plan has a set monthly fee per person on your team.
  • The Standard plan costs a little more per person each month but gives you more features.
  • The Pro plan has a higher monthly cost per person because it includes advanced tools.
  • The Enterprise plan has a custom price that varies based on your large company’s needs.
  • This software helps you keep all your customer details and sales steps in one central place.
  • You can customize your sales dashboard to show the exact numbers and performance you need to see.
  • The system lets you create automated actions across different boards to save time on repetitive tasks.
  • You can control who can see private data, so your information stays safe.
  • There is a workload view that helps you see how busy your team is, so nobody gets overworked.
  • You can create boards to manage your projects and the steps needed to finish them.
  • Monday offers many different templates to help you set up your boards easily.
  • Dashboards give you a quick summary of how all your current projects are going.
  • You can choose from over 27 different ways to view your work and boards.
  • You can add widgets, such as pie and Gantt charts, to your dashboard to view project details clearly.
  • You can create a central hub to check the overall health of all your plans at a high level.
  • The “People” column shows which team member is responsible for a task.
  • You can drag and drop items on the screen to build your own visual sales paths and charts.
  • You can easily turn a qualified sales lead into a project board and link client data to the work.
  • The software syncs with Gmail and Outlook so you can send and track emails directly.
  • The system uses AI to look for patterns and warn you about potential risks before they happen.
  • You can manage your customers’ entire journey and your sales pipeline in one spot.
  • To get started, you need to create an account and turn on the CRM workspace.
  • You can add new contacts by typing them in manually or by using a form.

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