Overview
Contact Categories help you organize contacts in Swivel. After a data migration or import, you may find that you have duplicate, overlapping, or unnecessary Contact Categories.
You may also find that a Contact Category is being used to store information that would be better tracked using a Contact Status or field.
Consolidating your Contact Categories can simplify your contact data and give your team a more consistent way to organize and manage contacts.
When reviewing a Contact Category, first determine what the category represents. Then use the workflow that best fits your data:
Two categories mean the same thing → Merge the categories.
A category combines a category and status → Move the contacts to the appropriate Category and Status.
A category stores other information → Move the information to a native or custom field.
Understand Contact Categories and Statuses
Contact Category groups contacts based on how you view them in your business, such as Client or Lead.
Contact Status describes the contact's current status within that category.
For example:
Contact Category: Client
Contact Status: Termed
Or:
Contact Category: Lead
Contact Status: In Progress
The available Contact Statuses depend on the Contact Category.
For more information about adding and organizing Contact Categories and Contact Statuses, see How to Organize Contacts.
Merge Duplicate Contact Categories
If two Contact Categories mean the same thing and you don't need to preserve any distinction between them, merge the categories.
For example, you may have both:
Prospect
Lead
If your team uses both categories to mean the same thing, choose one category to keep and merge the other into it.
Before You Merge
Make sure the categories represent the same thing.
If one category contains information that the other category does not, don't merge them until you've determined where that information should be stored.
For example, if Referral is being used to identify the source of a lead, you may want to move that information to a field instead of simply merging the category.
How to Merge Contact Categories
Go to Settings > Data Setup > Contact Categories.
Select Merge.
Under Merge From, select the category you want to consolidate.
Under Merge To, select the category you want to keep.
Click Save.
After the merge, the contacts from the old category will use the category you kept.
Consolidate a Category Using a Contact Status
Sometimes a Contact Category combines the contact's category and status.
For example, Termed Client contains two pieces of information:
Client is the Contact Category.
Termed is the Contact Status.
Instead of using Termed Client as a Contact Category, you can separate the information:
Contact Category: Client
Contact Status: Termed
Other examples include:
New Lead → Category: Lead + Status: New
In Progress Lead → Category: Lead + Status: In Progress
Before You Begin
First, confirm that you have the appropriate Contact Category and associated Contact Status to replace the category you're consolidating.
For example, if you're consolidating Termed Client, confirm that:
Client is available as a Contact Category.
Termed is available as a Contact Status for Client.
If the appropriate Category or Status isn't available, create it before making the bulk update. For instructions, see How to Organize Contacts:
Update the Contacts
Once the appropriate Category and Status are in place, use Advanced Filters to find all contacts currently assigned to the old category.
Go to Contacts.
Click Advanced Filters.
Filter by the Contact Category you want to consolidate.
Review the results to make sure you've found all of the contacts you want to update.
At the top of the page, click the three-dot action menu and select Bulk Update.
Select Contact Category and choose the new category.
Select Contact Status and choose the appropriate status.
Click Submit.
For example, contacts with the Termed Client category could be updated to:
Contact Category: Client
Contact Status: Termed
🚧 Important: Bulk updates cannot be undone. Before submitting, carefully review your filtered contacts to make sure you're updating the correct contacts. The update applies to all contacts in the filtered results.
After the Update
After the update is complete, review the contacts to confirm that the Contact Category and Contact Status were updated correctly.
Once you've confirmed the results, archive the old Contact Category.
Go to Settings > Data Setup > Contact Categories.
Locate the Contact Category you want to archive.
Click the three-dot action menu.
Select Archive.
Consolidate a Category Using a Field
Sometimes a Contact Category is being used to store information that isn't a category or status.
For example, you may have a Referral Contact Category that is being used to indicate how a lead came to your business.
Instead, you could organize those contacts as:
Contact Category: Lead
Lead Source: Referral
Swivel has native fields for some types of information. If there isn't an appropriate native field, you may be able to create a custom field.
Before You Begin
First, confirm that you have the appropriate field to store the information.
If Swivel has a native field for the information, use that field. If there isn't an appropriate native field, create a custom field before making the bulk update.
For instructions, see Custom Fields.
Update the Contacts
Once the appropriate field is available, use Advanced Filters to find all contacts currently assigned to the category you're consolidating.
Go to Contacts.
Click Advanced Filters.
Filter by the Contact Category you want to consolidate.
Review the results to make sure you've found all of the contacts you want to update.
At the top of the page, click the three-dot action menu and select Bulk Update.
Select the appropriate native or custom field.
Enter or select the correct value.
Click Submit.
For example, contacts with the Referral category could be updated to:
Contact Category: Lead
Lead Source: Referral
If you need to update the Contact Category or Contact Status as well, run another Bulk Update after updating the field.
🚧 Important: Bulk updates cannot be undone. Before submitting, carefully review your filtered contacts to make sure you're updating the correct contacts. The update applies to all contacts in the filtered results.
After the Update
After the update is complete, review the contacts to confirm that the information was moved correctly.
Once you've confirmed the results, archive the old Contact Category.
Go to Settings > Data Setup > Contact Categories.
Locate the Contact Category you want to archive.
Click the three-dot action menu.
Select Archive.
Review Your Contact Categories
After you've consolidated your categories, review the remaining Contact Categories.
Look for:
Duplicate categories that represent the same thing.
Categories that overlap and could be combined.
Categories that are no longer needed.
Categories that combine a classification and status, such as Termed Client or New Lead.
Categories that are being used to store information that belongs in a native or custom field.
Your goal is to keep Contact Categories focused on how you view and organize contacts in your business, while using Contact Statuses and fields to track other information.
A simpler set of Contact Categories makes it easier for your team to understand the available options, filter contacts, and maintain consistent contact data.