Add, edit and retire contacts

Contacts are the people your organization deals with: leads and buyers, society members, vendors, channel partners' staff and your own users. Opportunities, bookings, memberships, company people lists and campaigns all point at these records, so keep them tidy: add people once, correct them in place, and retire rather than delete anyone a record still refers to.

Before you start

• Contact types (Lead, Customer, Tenant, Vendor, Channel Partner, User by default) come from Lookups. Choosing one needs the View permission on Lookups; without it the panel warns "Choosing a contact type needs the Lookups permission." and a contact can't be saved, because the type is required.
• Permissions, in the role editor's words: the View permission on Contacts to see the list, Create to add, Edit to change or retire, Delete to delete. In the default roles the Administrator, Project Manager, Accountant, Sales Manager, Rehab Officer, Sales Executive and Front Desk can add and edit; only the Administrator and the Sales Manager can delete.

Steps

1. In the sidebar open Masters and choose Contacts. The Contacts list opens with "Every person your organization deals with: leads, customers, society members, vendors and channel partners." Use the search box ("Search by name, company, phone or email") to check the person isn't there already.
2. Click New contact at the top right. The New contact panel slides in.
3. Under Person, fill First name and Phone (both required: "First name is required", "Enter a phone number (at least 5 digits)") and choose the Contact type (placeholder "Choose…"; "Choose a contact type" when empty). Add what you have: Prefix, Last name, Email, Alternate phone, PAN (turned into capitals) and Company, a search over your companies ("Optional. Picking a company lists the person on its People card under Companies."). Under Address, the Address, State, City and PIN code; then Notes.
4. Click Add contact. You see "<name> added." and the person appears in the list with their type badge.
5. To correct a person, click the pencil on their row (tooltip "Edit <name>"). The panel opens under their name; change what you need and click Save changes (greyed out until something changes). You see "<name> updated." Only the fields you touched are saved.
6. To retire a person you no longer deal with, open their row the same way, untick Active ("Inactive contacts stay on records but are hidden from pickers.") and click Save changes. You see "<name> updated." and a red Inactive badge in the Type column. The person stays on every record that names them.
7. To delete a person nothing refers to, click the trash icon on their row (tooltip "Delete <name>"). The dialog "Delete contact?" reads "<name> will be removed." and warns that a person referenced by an opportunity, booking, society membership or company cannot be deleted (or, when the person has opportunities or bookings, counts them and says the server will refuse). Click Delete. You see "<name> deleted." and the row leaves the list.
8. To see who changed a person, open their row and click History at the foot of the panel. The panel "History · <name>" lists every change, newest first; see History panel.

What happens next

• A new contact can be picked at once on opportunities, bookings, company people lists, bank account holders and campaigns.
• An inactive contact is left out of campaign audiences. Despite the hint on the Active box, the contact pickers on other screens still list inactive people, so check the name before you pick.
• A retired or corrected person keeps their place on every opportunity, booking and membership.
• People attached to a company are managed from the company's People card: see Register a channel partner and its people.

If something goes wrong

• "This contact is a user of the system; deactivate the user instead" in the delete dialog: the contact mirrors a login. Deactivate the person under Users instead. See Contact can't be deleted.
• "That conflicts with existing data." in the delete dialog: an opportunity, booking, society membership, co-owner record or commission still names the person. Untick Active instead (step 6). See Contact can't be deleted.
• "Choosing a contact type needs the Lookups permission." in the panel: ask for the View permission on Lookups. See Lookups permission needed.
• The pencil is an eye (tooltip "View <name>") and the panel only has Close: you hold the View permission on Contacts but not Edit.

Related

• Contacts
• Companies
• Company
• Lookups
• Users
• History panel
• Audit log
• Register a channel partner and its people