CRM
Keep contacts and companies together
People change roles. The work often stays with the business. You need the person and the company on the same story, with history that survives a handover.
7 min read
A contact without a company is a name. A company without contacts is a shell. Follow-up fails when you remember the business but not who to ring, or the person leaves and the history vanishes with their mobile.
Growing teams feel this when a staff member changes, or when a customer has three people involved in one job. If those people are not linked, you get duplicate companies, split notes, and a quote sent to the wrong inbox.
Small teams feel this the first time a site manager leaves, or the first time three people at one builder all ring about one job. If those people are not linked, you get split notes, two quotes, and a customer who thinks you do not know them.
Linking contacts to companies is not corporate structure for its own sake. It is how history survives a mobile number changing hands.
If you still search and find two companies that are obviously one builder, merge them the same day. Tomorrow you will quote the wrong one.
Link people to the workplace
When you save a person, attach the company if you know it. When a second person from the same place calls, they should land on the same company, not a new record that looks similar. Search before you create. The extra thirty seconds is cheaper than a year of split history.
If you only ever save mobile numbers, you will lose the account when that person changes jobs. The company is how the work stays findable.
History belongs to both
Calls, emails and jobs should show on the person and still be findable from the company. That is how a new staff member picks up the account. They open the company, see who you last spoke to, what was quoted, and what is still open.
If history only sits on the person, a role change wipes the story. If it only sits on the company, you cannot tell who actually made the decisions.
- ✓Who you last spoke to, and how to reach them
- ✓What was quoted, and which version is live
- ✓What is still open: jobs, invoices, promises
“The site manager left and we kept calling his old number. The builder was still our customer. We just could not see it because the notes were stuck on one contact. Linking people to the company sounds small. It saved the account.”
Duplicates cost more than they look
Two company records mean two half-histories. Someone quotes on one and invoices on the other. Reporting looks busy and the customer feels unknown. Merge early. Search before you create. Agree on a naming style so 'Smith Pty Ltd' and 'Smiths' do not both exist.
The same is true for people. Jane at reception and Jane the owner may be two contacts at one company. That is fine. Jane saved twice with two emails is not.
When a person leaves the customer
Keep the old contact. Mark that they have left. Add the new person to the same company. Do not delete the history to 'tidy up'. The old notes still explain why the job was scoped a certain way.
If you need to stop mailing the old person, that is a list and consent job, not a reason to erase the record.
What good looks like on a handover
A colleague opens the company on Monday and can brief themselves. They know the people, the live quote, the unpaid invoice, and the dog at the gate. Nobody needs a twenty-minute verbal tour.
That is the point of keeping contacts and companies together. The next person in your team is not starting from a blank page.
Search before you create
The extra thirty seconds is cheaper than a year of split history. Search the company name, the trading name, and the suburb. Search the person by email and mobile. Create only when you are sure it is new.
Agree a naming style. Smith Pty Ltd and Smiths should not both exist because two people typed what they heard. Pick legal name or trading name and stick to it. Put the other name in a field or the first note.
Duplicates are not a data project. They are a daily leak. Merge when you find them. Do not wait for a tidy-up day that will not arrive.
What belongs on the person and what belongs on the company
The person holds how to reach them, their role, and the conversations they had. The company holds the site, the billing, the jobs, and the relationship that outlives one mobile.
Calls and emails should remain findable from both. That is how a new staff member opens the company and can brief themselves: who you last spoke to, what was quoted, what is unpaid.
If history only sits on the person, a role change wipes the story. If it only sits on the company, you cannot tell who actually made the decisions.
- ✓Person: number, email, role, personal preferences
- ✓Company: sites, billing, open work, long history
- ✓Both: the last conversation, visible from either side
When someone leaves the customer
Keep the old contact. Mark that they have left. Add the new person to the same company. Do not delete the history to tidy up. The old notes still explain why the job was scoped a certain way.
Stopping mail to the old person is a list and consent job. It is not a reason to erase the record. Erasing feels clean and makes the next dispute harder.
If the person moves to a new company and still wants you, that is a new link, not a reason to steal the old company's history across.
A handover that does not need a meeting
A colleague opens the company on Monday. They see the people, the live quote, the unpaid invoice, and the dog at the gate. Nobody needs a twenty-minute verbal tour.
If handovers still need a tour, the links are missing or the notes are still in a head. Fix the next ten accounts you touch. The habit spreads faster than a project.
Trading names and legal names
Customers call themselves whatever is on the ute. Accounts wants the legal name. Put both on the same company. Do not create a second record for the other name.
A one-line note that says 'trades as' will save a year of doubles. Search both names before you create.
Three people, one job
Owner, site contact, and accounts are often three people. Link all three. When the site contact leaves, the owner and the invoice still have a home.
If you only keep the mobile that rang, you will lose the job when that mobile changes hands.
Foxtra keeps contacts and companies on the same customer picture so the next person in your team is not starting from a blank page. Link as you go. Merge when you find doubles. Do not wait for a tidy-up project.
Link as you go. Merge when you find doubles. Search before you create. That is the whole program. You do not need a data team to keep people and workplaces on the same story.
When the next site manager leaves, you should still know the builder. That is what together is for.
People move. Companies stay. Link them while you are already on the record, not in a later tidy that will not happen.