Adding Contacts

• Purpose
• Creating Custom Contact Fields
• Creating Lead Sources
• Adding a Contact
• Contact Page
• Merging Contacts
• Do's and Don'ts
• FAQ

Purpose

Your Contacts will help you manage your customers as well as other individuals with whom you do business. You can manage all of the activity, attachments, tasks, and financial documents for each Contact in one place. Contacts differ from Jobs in JobNimbus. To learn more about Jobs, read our article here.

Here, we will talk about how you can add Contacts to your JobNimbus account, how you can manage the information you need, and how to navigate your Contact files.

Before we Get Into it

Plan what information you need for your customers. If your customers usually have a gated community code, make a spot in your Contact's information for that.

Custom Fields

Sometimes you will need to create custom Contact fields. These fields can help you keep track of certain information that is not included in JobNimbus's default Contact information. This will help you customize your Contact information for your company. These fields will help you with creating your reports and giving better visibility to the information you need.

To create custom Contact fields, click on your name in the top right corner and select "Settings" from the drop-down menu. In your Settings, select "Contact Fields" from the menu on the left, and click on the "Add Field" button.

This will pull up the Add Contact Field window.

In this window, you can:

1. Give your custom field a name.
2. Choose a Contact field type. The different Contact field types are as follows:
   1. Date - Add a date, or choose one from a calendar. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type across all custom fields is 30.
   2. Decimal - Add a decimal number to your Contact's information. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type and the Number type across all custom fields is 20.
   3. Number - Add a whole number to your Contact's information. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type and the Decimal type across all custom fields is 20.
   4. Text - Add a string of text containing symbols, numbers, and letters. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type and the Options List type across all custom fields is 35.
   5. Boolean - Add a checkbox to your Contact's information. A marked checkbox is true, an unmarked checkbox is false. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type across all custom fields is 20.
   6. Options List - Add a drop-down list with up to 50 options to your Contact's information. The maximum number of fields you can have with this type and the Text type across all custom fields is 35.
      
3. Mark it the Contact field required. Marking the Contact field as required means you will be required to fill the field while creating the Contact.

Each of these options will appear in your Contact's Information window. You can edit the information at any time by clicking on the three dots in your Contact's information pane and selecting "Edit" from the drop-down menu.

Lead Sources

You can create lead sources for your Contacts to track how your leads are coming in. To add lead sources to your JobNimbus account, go to your settings by clicking on your name in the top-right corner and selecting "Settings". Then select "Lead Source" in the left-side navigation menu. In your Lead Source page, click the "Add Lead Source" button.

This will bring up the Add Lead Source window where you can type in your source and add it to your list. These lead sources can be added to your Contacts when you add them to your JobNimbus account.

You can edit, hide, or delete your lead sources by using the buttons to the right of the lead source in your list. Hiding the lead source will make the lead source unavailable when adding a Contact to JobNimbus, but you will still be able to use the lead source in reports. Deleting the lead source will remove it from JobNimbus so it will no longer be available when adding to Contacts, nor in reports. You cannot delete a lead source that is associated with Contacts in your account.

Overview

JobNimbus is a Customer Relationship Management tool. Adding Contacts will help you keep track of all of your customers and the tasks and jobs you have with them.

Adding a Contact

You can add your Contacts in two different places in JobNimbus, you can either add a Contact from your Dashboard, from the Contacts page, or in the top banner. Click on the "Add Contact" button in the Contacts panel.

You can also click "Add Contact" button in the Contacts page.

After you click on "Add Contact" a new window will pop up for you to add the Contact's information.

1. Add a Photo: Upload a photo of your Contact.
2. Contact Information: Add your Contact's information, such as their name, display name, email address, phone number, and physical address.
3. Contact Type and Status: Change your Contact's Workflow Type and Status.
4. Assigned To: Assign the Contact to a Team Member or a Sales Rep and choose a Lead Source. The Sales Rep and Lead Source help with your built-in reports.
5. Related Contacts: If your Contact is related to another, enter the Contact's name in the Related Contacts field, this will share the information, such as Activity, Documents, Tasks, and Photos between the Contacts. You can check the Related checkbox at the top of each panel in a Contact's file to see the information shared between the two Contacts.
   
6. Tags: Create tags for your Contacts. Tags persist across records and are fully reportable. To create a tag, start typing in the text field and click Enter. Using tags, for instance, if a storm hits, you can filter to see a list of all your past leads and customers that were in the affected area and reach out to them for new business. To learn more about creating custom reports, read our article here.
   To remove a tag from the system, all instances of the tag must be deleted from the tags field by selecting “x” next to the tag. All instances of the tag must be removed before it will disappear as an option from the Tags drop-down menu.
7. Custom Contact Fields: Below the tag field is where you will find all of your custom Contact fields. To learn more about custom Contact fields, visit our section on Custom Fields.
8. Add a note to the Contact before creating it. To learn more about creating notes and managing your communication, check out our article here.
9. Import a list of Contacts. To learn more about importing your Contacts, check out our article here.
10. Save your Contact.

Contact Page

After you have added your Contact, you will be taken to the Contact's information page. 

On the Contact's page, you will see:

1. Contact's information: All of the information you entered when you created the Contact.
2. Contact action menu: The drop-down menu for you to change your Contact's status, edit the Contact information, merge or even duplicate the contact, create a Document for your Contact, and so much more.
   Selecting "Print" from the drop-down menu, will pull up a window for you to choose what information you want to download from the Contact. It also allows you to choose between printing the information and saving it as a PDF.
   
3. Contact tabs: The tabs for the information stored in your Contact's file.

These tabs will help you organize all of your Contact's information and attachments. These tabs include Activity, Tasks, Documents, Photos, and Financials. If you have enabled Jobs or Work Orders, a tab for each will also appear under the Contact.

Activity

The system and user activity, notes you add, and emails attached to your Contact will appear in this tab. All of the activity is kept in one, single space so you can keep track of the information you have sent to and your notes on your Contacts.

In your Activity tab, you can:

1. Change whether you view all activity, activity you created, system activity, or specific activity types by clicking on the drop-down menu to the left of the search feature and choosing which type you view.
2. Search for a specific activity, note, or email.
3. Update if you are viewing related information. If the contact is related to one or more other contacts, you can choose to view all related information or the information associated with the Contact's file you are viewing by checking the checkbox labeled "Related".
4. Open the window to send an email to your contact. To learn more about sending emails, read our article here.
5. Add a note to the activity feed in your contact's file.
6. View created documents associated with the Contact. Any documents created with the "Create Document" action from the Contact action menu will also appear in this tab.

The activity feed serves as an audit trail for your entire account. You can also see the activity feeds on your documents such as an estimate or invoice in the individual document. This will help you track changes and provides transparency and accountability. It is a source to help you understand if something went wrong. It is one of the first places you should look in the event of a problem on a particular record.

Using your activity feeds, you can create a custom report to create a full audit trail. To learn more about creating custom reports, read our article here.

Tasks

All of the tasks you create for your Contact, either in this tab, in your Calendar, or in the top banner will appear here.

In your Tasks tab, you can:

1. Change whether you view Complete, Incomplete, or Both complete and incomplete tasks using the drop-down menu to the left of the search feature.
2. Search for a specific task.
3. Update if you are viewing related information. If the Contact is related to one or more other Contacts, you can choose to view all related information or the information associated with the Contact's file you are viewing by checking the checkbox labeled "Related".

Documents

All of the documents you create for your Contact, either through Document Templates, or through uploading a PDF or other non-image file types, will be housed in your Documents tab. Clicking on a document in the list will pull up a preview of that document. Note: any .pdf file will be uploaded as a document, even if it is given a Photo attachment category type.

In your Documents tab, you can:

1. Change whether you view all attachments or just one attachment category type by clicking on the drop-down menu to the left of the search feature and choosing which type you view.
2. Search for a specific document.
3. Update if you are viewing related information. If the Contact is related to one or more other Contacts, you can choose to view all related information or the information associated with the Contact's file you are viewing by checking the checkbox labeled "Related". Note: if the document is housed in a Related Contact, you will not be able to attach the document to any of that Contact's emails, as the document is not a part of the Contact's information.
4. Add a document by clicking on the "Add Attachment" button. This will bring up a window where you can browse attachments on your device. You can add an attachment category to make it easier to organize your attachments, add a description, and mark the attachment as a private attachment. Private attachments are only available to team members with private attachments access. To learn more about Access Profiles, read in our article here.
   
   To create attachment categories, click on your name in the top right corner and select "Settings" from the drop-down menu. Then, select "Attachment Categories" from the left side navigation menu. In your Attachment Categories tab, you can add categories by clicking on the "Add Attachment Category" button in the top right corner.
5. Download all of your documents for that Contact.
   Alternatively, you can download individual documents by clicking on the 3 dots to the right of the document's title and selecting "Download" from the drop-down menu.

Photos

All of the photos you add to your Contact through uploading, will be housed in your Photos tab. Clicking on a photo in the list will pull up a preview of that photo. Note: any .pdf file will be uploaded as a document, even if it is given a Photo attachment category type.

In your Photos tab, you can:

1. Change whether you are sorting your photos by the date they were created or by the date the file in JobNimbus was created.
2. Change whether you view all attachments or just one attachment category type by clicking on the drop-down menu to the left of the search feature and choosing which type you view.
3. Search for a specific photo.
4. Update if you are viewing related information. If the Contact is related to one or more other Contacts, you can choose to view all related information or the information associated with the Contact's file you are viewing by checking the checkbox labeled "Related". Note: if the photo is housed in a Related Contact, you will not be able to attach the photo to any of that Contact's emails, as the photo is not a part of the Contact's information.
5. Add a photo by clicking on the "Add Attachment" button. This will bring up a window where you can browse files on your device. You can add an attachment category to make it easier to organize your attachments, add a description, and mark the attachment as a private attachment. Private attachments are only available to team members with private attachments access. To learn more about Access Profiles, read in our article here.
   To create attachment categories, click on your name in the top right corner and select "Settings" from the drop-down menu. Then, select "Attachment Categories" from the left side navigation menu. In your Attachment Categories tab, you can add categories by clicking on the "Add Attachment Category" button in the top right corner.
6. Download all of your photos for that Contact.
   Alternatively, you can download individual photos by clicking on the 3 dots to the right of the photo's title and selecting "Download" from the drop-down menu.

If you need to update the resizing of your images, go to your settings by clicking on your name in the top-right corner and select "Settings". This will take you to your General Settings, where you can use the "Auto-resize images" drop-down menu to update how JobNimbus resizes your images.

Financials

All of your Estimates, Invoices, Credit Memos, and Payments are housed in your Financials tab. You can also create these financial documents in your Financials tab.

In your Financials tab, you can:

1. Search for specific documents in each of the financial panes.
2. Update if you are viewing related information. If the Contact is related to one or more other Contacts, you can choose to view all related financial documents or the documents associated with the Contact's file you are viewing by checking the checkbox labeled "Related" in each of the different financial panes.

If you have Budgets enabled, your budgets will also be in your Financials tab. To read more about your Financials, read our article here.

Merging Contacts

When you create or import Contacts, you may accidentally end up with duplicates. These duplicates can end up disrupting your reports and workflows. You can fix this problem by merging your duplicated Contacts.

Fixing Duplicated Contacts

When you find a duplicated Contact, you will need to first identify which Contact you want to make the dominant one. This will be the Contact you will be merging into.

Once you have your dominant Contact pulled up, click on the 3 dots to the right of that Contact's information and select "Merge".

The merge window will pop up. In this window, type out the name of the Contact you wish to merge into your Dominant Contact. As you type, JobNimbus will pull up a list of Contacts in your JobNimbus account to help you choose.

Once you have found the contact you wish to merge, click on it. This will pull up a window describing in detail what will transpire when you merge the two Contacts. If you agree and still wish to Merge, click Merge at the bottom of the window.

Your Contacts will now be merged into one contact. If you ever end up with duplicate Jobs, you can Merge them in the same manner.

Do's and Dont's

Do

• Add as much detail to your Customer's information as you need
• Manage your Contacts using Workflow Types and Statuses

Don't

• Create multiple of the same Contact

Next, visit our article on Financials.

FAQ

• How can I associate multiple addresses with one contact?