10 Ways to Automate Microsoft Excel with Zapier to Improve Your Business Operations, Fast

Microsoft power users will never stop using their favorite tools, no matter how many new apps and platforms are developed. Nor should they—programs like Microsoft Excel are robust and offer a lot of dynamic features and uses for the modern business. Basic, perhaps at first glance, but the spreadsheet powerhouse can really do some impressive things these days, starting with making data tracking easy for your business, and more. 

Anyone who uses Excel knows how easy it makes template creation and storage, file sharing and modifications, and even integrations with other tools and programs. And, thanks to Office 365, it’s available through the browser so that users can log in and access their Microsoft account and OneDrive files, including .xls files, on the go and from anywhere. 

Excel is great if you need an easy spreadsheet tool to handle day-to-day business operations. It also makes it easy to share documents with clients, customers, and peers around the globe because almost everyone uses Excel or some program that’s compatible. This platform is considered the industry standard for spreadsheets, and for good reason. 

Currently, Zapier’s integration supports OneDrive for Business file sharing and automation through the platform. When you combine the two, you’ll take a lot of tedious tasks off your plate and improve your operations in just about any way that you can imagine. 

Zapier is all about automation—it's going to connect all the tools in your tech stack and make sure that you can deliver the experience that your customers deserve and the efficient operations your business needs. It can integrate with thousands of apps and software programs to streamline all the tasks that don’t need your full attention. When automation and AI are the better choice, Zapier can help you get it done. 

Automate admin tasks and more

In your business, it will be up to you to come up with an automation strategy that fits. Of course, you’re not alone in that. Some areas of automation will be more fruitful than others, and of course, there are things that you don’t want to automate. 

(For the things that still need a human touch, ask how our virtual receptionists can be the face of your brand while you’re taking care of business.)

Administrative tasks and repetitive tasks should be first on your list. These are the ones that don’t really need your attention. They're done day in and day out, and there are dozens of programs trained on how to do them—why are you still working on them yourself? If they’re not already automated, now is the time. What all can you automate? Here are a few ideas:

• Marketing: There is little in marketing that really requires your dedicated attention. From ad campaign launches to email campaigns, you’ll find plenty of tools to automate these processes and save you the trouble. Plus, you can still set up custom rules and marketing messages so that your audience feels that personal connection that today’s consumer craves. 

• Lead Generation: Leads are an integral part of your business, but they’re not somewhere that you want to invest a lot of time and resources because you’re never sure what will pan out. Fortunately, automation can take care of a large part of the lead gen process and allow you to spend your time on your current customers or leads that are ready to convert. 

• Email and Customer Service*: Email and other communication can be automated, but only to an extent. That's why there’s an asterisk by this one—you can automate several areas of customer service. However, there are some customer service tasks that you should leave to live humans, like the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai. No matter how much people like self-service, they also like reaching a person when they need one. Automate where you can, but don’t forget to keep live agents on hand, too. 

• Sales: Automations for sales and post-sale marketing are as common as any other automation. ECommerce is one area where automation is taking off. Although the pandemic devastated the world and the global economy, it stimulated the tech industry and increased the availability of better tools for improved business functions in a largely virtual world. 

• Analytics: Who wants to sit around running and reading reports all day? Even the tools you already use have automated reporting features built in. Take it one step further and automate all of your data and analytics so that the numbers are running while you’re running your business. 

• Data Entry: Here’s another area that benefits from automation. You can get more done in less time, reduce the risk of errors, increase standardization, and even improve compliance by automating admin tasks related to data entry and sharing between software programs. This is one of the easiest and best things to automate, so if you’re not sure where to begin it’s a great start. 

Now that you’ve seen just what automation can do, think about all the improvements to be had in your business when you take advantage of tools like Zapier and Excel to automate your day-to-day busywork and get your team back on tasks that demand their attention. 

You will save time and headaches and can even improve employee morale. That’s right—when your team is doing less busywork, they’ll feel more valued. In turn, that will increase your company culture and make it feel more cohesive all around. Combine that with the business operations improvements that you’ll see, and you have nothing to lose. 

Now, let’s take a look at some of the best ways to use Zapier and Microsoft Excel to automate your business processes. 

1. Add Typeform entries to Excel as rows on a spreadsheet    

Typeform is one of the most popular tools for form submissions, offering a lot of customizations so that you can use this tool for lead generation, email collection, and so much more. It includes tons of templates and features, and when you combine it with the power of Zapier, you’ll be able to automate all the submissions and entries that come in. Rather than having to track them down, you can have the entries automatically transferred to an Excel spreadsheet so they’re ready for follow-up right away. 

2. Add rows from Google Sheets to Excel    

Although Google is popular, so is Microsoft. Some organizations use both and some have a preference. Nonetheless, you have to be able to communicate and share files with your team, your colleagues, customers, and more. This automation through Zapier makes it easy for you to add Google Sheets rows to Excel files so that you can share information without having to convert the entire document. 

3. Add JotForm submissions to spreadsheet rows in Excel    

When you take in JotForm submissions, who tracks them down? How about leaving it to AI when you use this workflow? This pre-built integration will notify Zapier each time a submission comes in, and then Zapier will send the form to a spreadsheet row in Excel based on the parameters that you set forth. Again, instead of having to follow your leads down and check up on multiple apps, you can see it all in one place and bring the information to your team. 

4. Add new responses in SurveyMonkey to Excel spreadsheet rows    

SurveyMonkey can be great for customer service surveys, lead generation, and so much more. If you’re getting responses and can’t keep up with them, or even if you don’t want to spend your time sitting around checking for new submissions, this integration could save you a lot of effort. Simply set up the workflow and whenever a new response comes in, Zapier will send the information to the spreadsheet row that you designate. You can save your team a lot of time and ensure that all your SurveyMonkey responses are logged in the same database, and more. 

5. Create Trello cards from your spreadsheet rows    

Trello is one of the most popular tools on the market for project management and collaboration. It's easy to set up stacks and cards so that you can share projects, assign tasks, and keep everyone on the same page. With this automation, you can set it up so that whenever your spreadsheet in Excel populates new rows, those rows become cards on Trello. For example, if you have a spreadsheet of leads, the lead info can be turned into a Trello card so that your team can get right to work. 

6. Add new submissions from Gravity Forms to your Excel spreadsheets

Another popular forms tool, Gravity Forms is a resource that your business can put to work in several ways, whether for customer service, lead generation, or anything else. With this Zapier automation, it will be easy for you to add all of your new forms from Gravity Forms to an Excel spreadsheet of your choosing. Simply set up the automation and whenever forms come in, they’ll be transferred to the sheet as a new row, and you won’t have to lift a finger. 

7. Send Formstack submissions to Excel spreadsheet rows    

Again, this workflow is all about doing more with less effort. Formstack submissions don’t have to be manually entered or tracked down. This automation with Zapier will allow you to turn every submission into a new Excel row on the spreadsheet of your choice. Track customer feedback, follow up on leads, and so much more. Plus, do it all without having to do any coding or even handle the data transfer yourself. 

8. Parse Zapier emails and add them to Excel spreadsheets    

If you use Email by Zapier, you’ll love the available automations. This one allows you to parse emails in your Zapier email platform and then add the information that you select to the spreadsheet of your choosing. Simply access or create a new email and watch as Zapier takes the reins and creates a new row in your Excel spreadsheet. 

9. Add Slack messages to Excel spreadsheets    

If you use Slack for communication and collaboration, you’ll find several different ways to automate notifications and other activities. If you want to keep notes on projects or just record all the discussions that are held, this automation makes it easy. You can use the basic integrations to connect these two tools and it could even help you connect with your team in a new way since they’ll feel like their contributions matter. 

10. Add Facebook Lead Ads leads to your spreadsheets in Excel    

Facebook Lead Ads make generating leads on social media easy. It automates a lot of the process and lets you use the best features of Facebook to find your customers. The entire platform is dedicated to helping you get more out of your Facebook marketing. With this integration, Zapier can help you track leads by automatically transferring them to Excel. Simply set up the workflow and anytime a lead comes in, it will be zapped to the appropriate spreadsheet into a new row so that you can follow up accordingly. 

Take operations improvements further with a partnership with Smith.ai

Our team loves the power of automation, and we love being part of what helps your business run more efficiently. Hire our virtual receptionists and we will deliver the reputable brand image that you need while answering after-hours calls, handling live website chat, and so much more. We’ll even sit down with you and come up with the best strategy to field all those needs and more. 

Zapier is also at the top of our list, and for several different reasons. For starters, it makes it easy for anyone to create smart workflows between the software tools they use for business. And because of Zapier, Smith.ai can integrate with over 3,000 apps to guarantee that each call, chat, and text gets logged in your tech stack, from your CRM to marketing automation, and more. 

Check out our apps to explore how we connect to Zapier! Learn more about Smith.ai’s Answering Service app on Zapier, and explore Smith.ai’s Website Chat app on Zapier.

Schedule a consultation now and learn more about our 24/7 live chat and phone answering services, including new client intake, scheduling, after-hours answering, and more. You’ll also find us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.