Contacts & Profiles — Workflows: step-by-step

This page collects the common end-to-end workflows for Contacts. Each is a complete, ordered procedure.

A. Create People and Organisations

1. Click the + in the top-right of the screen to open the Create panel.
2. Choose Add Person or Scan Business Card, Add Organisation, or Import Data (if you have import permission).
3. Enter or review the details and save. When adding a person you can scan a business card by dropping an image into the Business Card area to pre-fill the fields.
4. Alternatively, publish a Form with an Add/Update Contact block — submissions match on First name + Last name + Email to update an existing Person or create a new one.

B. Search and open a contact

1. Click Swift Search in the top-right.
2. Type a name, email, phone, address, or any custom field enabled for Swift Search.
3. Choose a result from People or Organisations.

C. Customise the business card (global)

1. Open a contact and choose the Customise card quick action.
2. Drag a Business Field into the card and choose which custom fields to surface.
3. Save — this updates the card layout for all People or all Organisations.

D. Manage custom fields and sections

1. Go to Profile → Custom Fields → Manage.
2. Add section and name it, then Add field of the required type.
3. For a Financial Summary field, choose Total or Count, then Configure filters (amount, date, effective date, subscription category, payment method, line types, financial year, and so on).
4. For a Record field, set the allowed record type(s) and whether multiple values are allowed.
5. For a Linked field, choose the Source (Record field) and Target (field to pull); ensure the source Record field is single-type and single-value.
6. Reorder sections (section drag handle) and fields (Reorder fields).
7. Edit values per-contact; Linked fields stay read-only.
8. Save — changes appear in the Activity Log.

E. Add or manage contact details and unsubscribe

1. Go to the Contacts and Roles tab, then open the contact's card ⋯ menu and choose Edit.
2. Use Add Contact to enter email, mobile, website or socials.
3. Click the icon on the left of a row to change its type.
4. Click the ⋯ next to an email to Unsubscribe or Subscribe it; use the message icon by a phone number to unsubscribe from Text messages.
5. Optionally set sharing permissions on a specific detail. Save.

F. Add addresses (including international) and check geocoding

1. In Contacts and Roles, click Add address and search within your account's default country; pick the suggested result.
2. Check the right-side geocoding icon: bullseye = geocoded; circle / slash = not geocoded.
3. For international or external addresses, click "can't find your address" → Enter manually, choose the country, and set Street vs Postal via the left icon.
4. Save — geocoded addresses unlock mapping and list cuts by boundaries and electorates.

G. Create and manage roles (relationships)

1. On a Person, go to the Contacts and Roles tab and click Add relationship.
2. Choose the Organisation and assign the Role / Title, Relationship dates, Workplace and other role details.
3. Save — the relationship appears on both the Person and the Organisation (two-way).
4. To change or end it, use the ⋯ on the role card → Edit or End role; ended roles appear under Historic.

H. Quick actions from a profile

1. Send email — choose plain text, a template, or the full builder.
2. Send text — send and view the full two-way history (ensure a number exists in your Text messages settings).
3. Create task — create a task tagged to this contact.
4. Generate document — produce a Word document via the plugin using mail merge.
5. Make call — pick your outbound number, the contact number to dial, and the form to complete during the call.
6. Complete survey — select a survey and submit on behalf; Add/Update Contact blocks update the profile.
7. Use Customise card, Set permissions, Merge profile, View activity log and Guest access as needed.

I. Merge duplicate profiles

1. Open the record and choose the Merge profile quick action (requires merge/delete permissions).
2. In the drawer, search and set the Primary (keep) and Duplicate (delete/transfer).
3. If you mixed them up, click the double-arrow to swap.
4. Confirm — all data (posts, financials, contact details) moves to the Primary; the Duplicate is permanently deleted; on custom-field conflicts the Primary's values are kept; a merge post is generated on the Primary.

J. Organisation Record Count field

1. On an Organisation profile → Manage → Add field → Record Count.
2. Name the field → Configure filters (mini List Builder: custom fields, category, type, subscription info, and so on).
3. Save — the field displays the live count of associated People matching the filters and updates automatically.

K. Insights and exports

1. Open Insights to review email metrics and event RSVP distribution over the contact's history.
2. Switch to Detailed stats for table views of emails and events.
3. Export the contact's event history if needed.