Create, edit and own a contact

A contact is a person you hold a relationship with. Everything else — deals, tickets, email, meetings — attaches to it, which is why the quality of this one record decides how useful the rest is.

Who this is for

Everyone. Creating and updating contacts is the most common thing anyone does in a CRM.

Before you start

• Permission to create and update contacts.
• The person's email address, ideally — it is what duplicate matching relies on.

Search before you create
The most common way a CRM degrades is two records for one person, each holding half the history. Searching first takes a moment; merging later takes considerably longer and something usually gets lost.

Work with a contact

1. Search first
   Look for the person before creating them. A colleague may already have the record, with history you would otherwise lose.
2. Create with an email address
   The email is what links future correspondence to this record automatically. A contact without one is much harder to keep current.
3. Link them to their company
   People belong to organisations, and linking means deals, tickets and activity roll up to the account view on their own.
4. Set the owner
   The owner is who is responsible. An unowned contact is nobody's job, which is usually how a relationship goes quiet.
5. Let the timeline fill itself
   With email connected, correspondence lands on the record without anyone logging it. The timeline is the point of the contact, not the fields.
6. Add followers for people who need to know
   Following subscribes a colleague to a record without making them the owner — useful when someone needs visibility but not responsibility.

What you get

• One record per person, with the whole relationship on it.
• Automatic roll-up to the company account view.
• A clear owner, so follow-up is somebody's job.
• A timeline that fills itself rather than depending on discipline.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the owner and a follower?

The owner is responsible for the relationship. Followers just stay informed. Use followers when someone needs visibility without taking on the work.

Do I need an email address to create a contact?

You can create one without, but the email is what links future correspondence automatically and what duplicate matching leans on. Add it as soon as you have it.

What happens if I create a duplicate?

Merge them. The history comes together on one record — but searching first is cheaper than merging afterwards.

Should every contact have an owner?

Yes. Unowned records are the ones that go quiet, because nobody is accountable for them.