Contacts are the building clocks of your CRM database. Each contact record contains important information such as their name, email address, phone number, and any other details relevant to your relationship with them.
Swivel structures your Contacts by assigning them a Contact Type, Contact Category, and Contact Status.
What is a Contact Type?
The Contact Type allows you to segment your contacts based on their characteristics or roles. For example, you may have different types of contacts such as Company, Individual, Strategic Partner, etc. Assigning the Contact Type is the highest level of contact organization.
🔍 Tip: Your Swivel account comes pre-configured with the following Contact Types: Company and Individual.
When you add a new contact, Swivel will display the configured Contact Types for your account. You will select the appropriate Contact Type or you can click the Create Contact Type button to add a new, unique type.
🔍 Tip: To learn more about adding and managing Contact Types please visit our Add and Manage Contact Types section.
What is a Contact Category?
The Contact Category groups together contacts who share common traits or attributes. Think of Contact Categories like folders in a filing cabinet--each folder holds similar types of documents making it easy to find what you need.
For example, Swivel comes pre-configured with the below recommended Contact Categories:
Leads: These are potential customers who have shown interest, but haven't made a purchase yet.
Clients: Contacts how have purchased a product with you in the past, and/or have an active product with you.
By organizing contacts into categories, you can easily target specific groups with tailored communication/marketing ensuring that your messages are relevant and effective.
🔍 Tip: Need more categories to organize your contacts? No problem! Check out our Add and Manage Contact Types section for more use-cases and best practices regarding Contact Categories.
What is a Contact Status?
The Contact Status tell you where they are in their journey with your business. For example, Swivel comes pre-configured with the below recommended Contact Statuses:
New or Prospective: Contacts that you acquired through referrals, inquiries, lead lists, and/or campaigns who you want to do business with.
Pending or In Progress: Contacts that you are engaged with who have potential to become clients.
Active or Engaged: Contacts that have shown significant interest in working with you such as you have submitted an application, and/or they are an active client with in force policies.
Inactive or Cold: These contacts are not currently engaging with you or your business, but they might still return in the future.
By assigning contact statuses, you can effectively manage and prioritize your interactions while keeping track of those who may need a gentle nudge to re-engage.
🔍 Tip: Check out our Contact Status section for more use-cases and best practices.