Contacts

1. Overview

The Contacts area is your central place for storing and managing the people and organisations you work with.

Use it to keep all key details in one place, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, companies, categories, statuses, notes, documents, activity history, emails, related contacts and linked work from other GatherCRM modules.

Depending on your GatherCRM setup, this area may be labelled Contacts, Customers, Clients or another term chosen in your settings.

The Contacts area helps you:

• Keep a clean database of people and companies

• Search, filter and sort contacts quickly

• Add custom fields that match the way your business works

• Track calls, emails, meetings, messages and notes

• Send onboarding forms to collect missing information

• Store documents against a contact

• Link contacts to projects, tasks, invoices and related records

• Import and export contact data using CSV files

• Archive old contacts without permanently deleting them

  
  

 2. How to use it

Viewing your contacts

Open the Contacts area from the main GatherCRM menu.

At the top of the page, you will see a simple overview of your contact database, including things like total contacts, new contacts this month, companies and active contacts.

Use the search box to quickly find a contact by name, email, company or any searchable field.

You can also build custom filters to narrow the list by category, status or custom category fields. Within the field builder tab, create a drop down, for example “Client type” or “Relationship Manager” and tick the checkbox “show as filter in contact list.”

Adding a new contact

Click Add Contact.

Fill in the main details, such as first name, last name, email, phone and company.

The exact fields you see may vary depending on how your GatherCRM has been set up. Some fields may be required, and some may be grouped into sections such as Core, Details, Secure or other custom sections.

Click Save when finished.

Editing a contact

Open a contact from the list to view or update their record.

From the contact screen, you can:

• Update contact details

• Set a contact status

• Add or remove categories

• Upload documents

• View email history

• Add activity notes

• Create follow-up tasks

• View linked projects, tasks or invoices where those modules are active

• Add related people or linked records

• On mobile, quick action buttons may appear for common actions such as calling, emailing, adding notes or creating tasks.

Using statuses

Statuses help you understand where a contact currently sits.

Default examples include:

• Onboarding

• Active

• Inactive

• Past

• Archived

You can change a contact’s status from their record. Admin users can also manage the available statuses, colours and order from the settings area.

Archived contacts are hidden from the main list but can still be viewed by filtering for the Archived status. Permanently deleting is only available from the archived view and should be used carefully.

Using categories

Categories help you group contacts into useful segments.

For example, you might use categories such as:

• Client

• Supplier

• Prospect

• Partner

• VIP

• Newsletter

• Web Design

• SEO

You can manage categories from Contact Settings → Categories.

Categories are useful for filtering your database and keeping your contact list tidy.

Using the Field Builder

The Field Builder lets you customise what information you store against contacts.

You can add fields such as:

• Text fields

• Long text field

• Numbers

• Dates

• Dropdowns

• Checkboxes

• Phone numbers

• Email addresses

• Website URLs

• Category-style fields

• File upload sections

• Reminder fields

• Relationship fields

• Staff member fields

  
  

For each field, you can choose whether it should be searchable, shown in the contact list, shown in the stats bar, included on the onboarding form or made available as an email merge tag.

You can also organise fields into sections and drag them into the order you want.

Using secure sections

Sections named Secure, Private or Sensitive can be protected behind a 4-digit PIN.

This is useful for information that should not be visible immediately when opening a contact record.

Admin users can set or update the PIN from the Secure PIN settings page. Once unlocked, the section will lock again when the page is reloaded.

Logging activity

Each contact includes an Activity Timeline.

Use this to record things like:

• Phone calls

• Emails

• Video calls

• Meetings

• WhatsApp or messages

• General notes

You can add a short note, date and time. Where the Tasks module is active, you can also create a follow-up task from the activity logger.

This gives everyone a clear history of what has happened with that contact.

Sending emails

Contacts can be emailed directly from their record or selected in bulk from the contact list.

Email history is stored against the contact, so you can see previous messages that have been sent.

If Email Hub is active, custom fields marked as merge tags in the Field Builder can be used in emails.

Using onboarding forms

The onboarding form lets you collect information from a contact using a public form.

From the Onboarding area, you can:

• Turn the form on or off

• Edit the form title

• Add intro text

• Set a success message

• Password protect the form

• Copy the public form link

• Copy iframe embed code

• Preview the form

Only fields marked as Add to onboarding form in the Field Builder will appear on the form.

You can also send a contact their own onboarding link from their contact record. When they submit the form, their existing record is updated.

Importing contacts

Use Contact Settings → Import to upload a CSV file.

The import process lets you:

1. Upload a CSV file

2. Match each CSV column to a GatherCRM contact field

3. Skip columns you do not need

4. Import contacts into the database

You can also download a template CSV if you need a starting point.

Exporting contacts

Admin users can export contacts as a CSV file.

You can export the full active contact list or select specific contacts and choose Export Selected.

Secure fields are protected and are not exported as plain data.

3. Top Tips for getting the most out of it

1. Keep your contact fields simple. Only add fields your team will actually use. A clean contact record is much easier to maintain than an overloaded one.
2. Use statuses for workflow and categories for grouping. For example, a status might be Active, while a category might be SEO Client or Partner.
3. Make important fields searchable. This makes the main search much more useful when your database grows.
4. Use list columns carefully. Show only the fields people need at a glance, such as name, email, phone, company, category or status.
5. Use the Activity Timeline after every meaningful interaction. A short note after a call or meeting can save a lot of confusion later.
6. Use onboarding forms to collect missing information instead of chasing details by email. Send the link, let the contact fill it in, and keep the record updated automatically.
7. Archive old contacts instead of deleting them. This keeps your main list tidy while preserving useful history.
8. Use secure sections for sensitive information. Keep private details protected behind a PIN rather than visible on the main record.
9. Use additional people for extra contacts at the same company. This keeps the main list clean while still allowing those people to receive emails.
10. Review your Field Builder every so often. Remove unused fields, tidy sections and make sure the order still matches how your team works.
11. Use imports carefully. Always check your CSV headings and map the columns properly before importing.
12. Export your contacts before making major database changes. It gives you a clean backup of the current data.