Overall Satisfaction with Airtable
Airtable is currently being used by our Operations Team as our CRM. As a small non-profit with a matching small budget, we quickly realized the limitations of what was available to us with CRM options. Off the shelf products didn't offer the customization we needed. The customizable bigger solutions were just that, too big for our needs, and often with a big price tag. We'd resorted to using Excel spreadsheets; not a bad solution for us, but a very limited one. Then came Airtable! After watching a few video tutorials, exploring the available templates, and getting inspired by what other users were sharing in the "Airtable Universe" we were quick to realize it would be a very viable solution to our CRM needs. We started with a seamless export of our Excel data into Airtable and started building everything we needed in a system from there. We were impressively up and running a CRM and rolling it out to the Operations Team in a couple of days.
- Airtable is easy to use. It has an intuitive interface and plenty of video/help support for what is not.
- It makes not only organizing your data efficient, but connects that data to everyone on your team in one centralized database. I love that multiple people can be editing the same records at the same time, and Airtable captures it all in real time!
- Easy to link data between tables. This makes a lot of information available to users with just a few keystrokes - which makes the frustration of hunting down information a thing of the past.
- Really appreciate being able to use Zapier to connect Airtable to several of our other systems that house data - MailChimp, SurveyMonkey, Quickbooks to name a few.
- Being able to change the data views is one of the bigger fan favorites on our team, whether it is in Grid, Gallery, or Kanban, to grouping and sorting by Field Type. There is something for everyone's needs there.
- I can see where being able to connect several bases together within one workspace would be beneficial. Currently, we've created a lot of tables within one CRM base, and in doing so has made it a bit overwhelming (visually) for some of our users. Limits flexibility a bit.
- The app for the iPhone is solid. The Android app needs some work/an update.
- The formula functionality between cells is a bit limited (not the depth of say, MSExcel) and not intuitive for all of our user base.
- The ability to create charts through the "Blocks" options is a great idea, but very limited in it's initial debut. Looking for more features (pie charts, series labels, dual axes, etc.) to be able to create more dynamic charts in the future.
- I've gotten a browser warning or two about Airtable being "resource heavy." Time will tell if that becomes an issue.
- Airtable has definitely had a positive impact on our organization. It's helped up organize and manage our client information, keeping it current, accurate, and accessible to everyone on our team, no matter where they are. We are able to be more efficient and client-responsive because of this.
- It's automated some of the tasks we were performing manually - capturing data that our systems like MailChimp and SurveyMonkey house - and importing it directly into our database through the use of Zapier, thus saving us time and potential data input error.
- My only "negative impact" comment I'll put out there is that it is just really fun to use - and because of that I've personally "lost" a lot of time spent exploring and being inspired by so many new ways to house other business data!
- All-in-all, it is keeping us in front of our data, freeing up time and resources, and giving us a better view into running our nonprofit more efficiently and effectively.
Airtable Feature Ratings
Using Airtable
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Creating tables
- Linking Data between Tables
- Changing views through Grouping or Sorting fields
- Connecting Airtable to other external systems like Dropbox, MailChimp, SurveyMonkey, etc
- For some, entering/creating formulas for calculations between fields or tables
- Using the Android App
Yes - iPhone mobile interface works really well. Snappy response time and easy screens. Android interface not so much - have trouble finding my own bases, general app unresponsiveness.