Contacts and channels
What a contact is
The record of someone outside, and why it pays to keep it right.
A contact is someone outside your organisation that you deal with: a supplier, a client, a subcontractor's worker, a signer. They have no account, do not enter the platform, and see nothing beyond what you ask them for.
Contact and user, which get confused
| How they differ | Contact | User |
|---|---|---|
| Who they are | Someone outside | Someone on your team |
| Signs in | No | Yes |
| Sees your cases | Only their own part, by link | Whatever their permissions allow |
| Needs an invitation | No | Yes |
What is worth storing
- The person's name and their company's. A notice addressed to a person gets opened more than one addressed to "info".
- Email, and their mobile if you have it. The mobile is what saves you when email bounces.
- The language you will write to them in, if it is not yours.
Worth knowing
Asking for the mobile at first contact costs one line and saves weeks later. By the time you need it — because email bounces or there is a rush — there is nobody to ask.
›Do contacts cost anything?
No. Only what you send them consumes, not storing them.
›Can I have several contacts at the same company?
Yes, and you should: one for paperwork, another for invoicing.
›Do they know I created them?
No. Creating a contact sends nothing.
A real case
The situation
A company stores only each supplier's generic email address.
What you do
- Adds the specific person and their mobile at first contact
What you get
Notices stop dying in an inbox nobody reads and delivery rises without changing anything else.
The situation
The contact is confused with the company.
What you do
- Records the company and the people separately
What you get
Each relationship has its own contact.
The situation
One contact serves two companies.
What you do
- Keeps one record per company
What you get
The history does not mix.
The situation
A generic mailbox is stored as the contact.
What you do
- Asks for a specific person
What you get
The request reaches somebody who can act.
The situation
Nobody knows what role each contact has.
What you do
- Records their function at the company
What you get
You write to the right person.
The situation
The contact is stored with no phone number.
What you do
- Completes the record at first dealings
What you get
Changing channel is possible when needed.
This article answers
- what is a contact on the platform
- why create a contact
- difference between a contact and a user
- how do i add a supplier