How the CRM is put together

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Most CRMs decide in advance what you are allowed to track. This one does not. You define the things you care about and the fields they have.

Four ideas explain the whole thing.

Objects

An object is a type of thing. Your firm starts with three:

• Accounts — companies
• Contacts — people
• Opportunities — deals in progress

You can add your own. A firm that tracks lenders, intermediaries or portfolio companies separately adds an object for each rather than bending Contacts into a shape it was not meant for.

Opening CRM takes you to Opportunities. The sidebar switches between objects.

Records

A record is one of those things. One company. One person. One opportunity.

Records have fields, and the fields are the object's attributes. Accounts come with Name, Domains, Description and Industry. Contacts come with Name, Email, Phone and Job title. You add more as you need them, either from object settings or straight from the table.

Records link to each other. A contact belongs to an account; an account has contacts and opportunities. Following those links is how a company page can show you everything that has happened with everyone who works there.

Lists

A list is a saved subset of one object's records. "Q1 outreach", "Portfolio", "Bankers to call back".

Two things make lists more than a saved filter.

A list can have its own columns. A Priority column on your outreach list exists on that list only. It does not clutter the Accounts object for everyone else.

Being on a list is a fact about the record. Adding a record to a list is recorded on its timeline, and removing it takes it off the list without deleting the record.

Views

A view is a way of looking at records: which columns, what order, grouped how, as a table or a kanban board.

Views are presentation. Changing one changes what you see, never what is stored.

How they fit

Object            Accounts
  Attributes        Name, Domains, Industry, and any you add
  Records           Cascade Industrial Coatings, Harbourline Logistics, …
  Lists             Q1 outreach, Portfolio
    List columns      Priority
  Views             All accounts (table), By industry (kanban)

Who can change what

Import being open to viewers is deliberate: importing creates records rather than changing existing ones.

Next

• Records
• Lists