Contact Management (16)

How do I add a new contact to the database?

Add any new contacts from various places in SpinOffice.  In your main menu: In Contact screens: In all cases, the following screen appears: Fill in the relevant information and go to the sub-items on the left to add more information about the contact.  In the field ‘Contact type’, you are able to indicate which type of contact you would like to add. For instance, a company, supplier, personal friend, prospect, etc. Define your contact types under the menu option Administration -> Contact types. When you add an email address to the contact, use "Link all email messages to this contact" when you want to have all emails in its archive too. Tick the checkbox and SpinOffice will collect all the emails within the database and store them in the contact's archive. When you have filled in all the contact's information, click on Save, and SpinOffice will create a new contact and add it to the database. Add multiple contacts through a mass import. At this moment, mass import from .CSV / .XLS file, Mac Contacts, Office 365, or Mailchimp is possible. Read here on how to do a mass import.

How do I adjust a contact's details?

On the Contact list screen, go to the contact you wish to edit, click on the 'hamburger' icon on the right side, and choose Edit contact details. Or click directly on the Edit icon in the contact widget.   In both cases, the contact details are shown, and you can add all relevant information. Even the data in the left sub-items: When done, just click on Save, and SpinOffice processes the changes. The pop-up will close.

What can I do with Contact types?

Use contact types to differentiate your business contacts. It allows you to: Filter your contacts On the Contact list screen, you have the Filter contacts option at the top. Use that to filter all your contacts based on any contact type. This way, you get an overview of your customers, hot prospects, or suppliers. Manage user access Go to the menu option: Administration -> User settings -> Contact types to determine which user may have access to which contact types, and thus to groups of contacts. Define which contact types to sync  Go to menu option: Administration -> User settings -> Synchronization to define which contact types should be in sync on your mobile devices. When adding new contacts, both individually and by mass import, the contact type is a required field to fill. As you can see, this is an important field in the database. Important: A contact in your database can only have one contact type.

How do I add a new Contact type?

Contact types are an important tool in SpinOffice. It allows you to differentiate your business contacts. Read this article to learn more. Add an unlimited number of contact types to the database. Go to the menu option Administration -> Contact types to see all contact types in your database. See here an example: Click on the '+' on the right side to add a new contact type.  An empty line is added at the bottom where you can add a new type. Give a name and pick a color.  Click on Save on the right side to save the entry, and it is added as a contact type.  Now you can use this for any contact. Do you now want to give a group of contacts the newly added contact type? That is easy! Perform a mass contact change on the Contact list screen.

How do I import contacts from Mac Address book?

Contacts from your Mac Address Book can easily be imported into SpinOffice. Go to the menu option Extra -> Import -> Contacts. Click on the Mac Contacts icon. SpinOffice will automatically start importing all your Mac Contacts. A progress bar is shown. Please wait approximately 10 seconds while all your Apple contacts are imported. Please note that we only give you the option to import them all, so not individual Mac contacts. All imported Mac contacts will get the contact type “Personal Contacts”. To have them in sync on your iPhone and iPad: Go to the menu option Administration -> User settings -> Synchronization and enable a CardDAV sync account. A manual on how to enable the account on your devices is instantly sent to you. Do you have many duplicates after importing your Mac contacts? Then it's better to import your Mac contacts via Excel instead of the fast import. Follow the steps here to import them without duplicates.

How do I import my contacts from Gmail?

Follow the steps below to have a successful import of your Gmail contacts: Go to your contact list in Gmail. Click on the ‘More’ button and then ‘Export’. Choose export format ‘Google CSV’ and click on ‘Export’. Your file will be downloaded to your computer. Keep in mind where it is placed. Open Microsoft Excel en choose a new sheet. Choose menu item ‘Data’ and select ‘Import external data > text’. Choose the Gmail .CSV file. As file type, you select ‘Separate’ and click on ‘Next’. As a separator, you select ‘Comma’. Click on ‘Next’ and ‘Finish’. Open the data file in Excel or Numbers. Remove errors and weird punctuation like these * :::. Save the file in a place you can remember in a minute. Open your SpinOffice. Go to Extra -> Import -> Contacts -> .CSV, XLS or .XLSX format Browse the file on your computer and select it. SpinOffice will show you what it found as data. You only have to match your columns with the SpinOffice format. We help you with the matching. To have a successful match, the fields' first name, surname, and email address have to be filled. SpinOffice guides you through the matching process and gives you a signal when you can implement the import. This way we help you, we prevent failures in your data, and you keep your database clean and up to date!

How can I export my contacts?

There are two ways to export your contacts: exporting all contacts or exporting a filtered group of contacts. We will discuss both options. Exporting all contacts Go to the contacts screen. Click on the main menu in the top left and choose the option Export contacts. All contacts will be exported to Excel, including all contact information, info fields, and labels. Exporting a filtered group of contacts First, determine the criteria by which you want to export your contacts. This can be based on a contact type, label, or contact field. Then create your filter. This can be done in several ways. Click Filter contacts at the top of the screen, or choose one of the filter options within the contact widget on the right-hand side. Whichever option you choose, SpinOffice will indicate what you want to filter by: If you choose Filter contacts, you can create your selection criteria; for example, "company name is...", or "contact type is...", or "postal code contains...". If you choose one of the filter options within the contact widget, all contacts will be filtered using the same value. Apply the desired filter. As an example, we will choose the label hot prospects to send a mailing to. All contacts will be displayed where your contacts normally appear. See below. All 12 hot prospects are shown: Then click on Mass actions at the top of the screen: Choose Export contacts. All filtered contacts will be exported to Excel, including all contact information, info fields, and labels.

How do I do a bulk action for contact changes or group mailings?

All your business contacts can be found on the Contact list screen. On this screen, you can use filters to perform mass actions such as bulk contact changes and sending group mailings. Both are based on filters. A bulk contact change can be filling in or changing the value of a field, contact type, tag, or keyword for a group of contacts. Or moving values in one field to another field, a tag or keyword. Sending a group mailing is also possible on the basis of a filter. It will be included at the bottom of this support article. Here are the steps for a bulk contact change: Click Filter contacts at the top of the screen, or choose one of the filter options within the contact widget on the right. Whichever option you choose, in all cases, SpinOffice will indicate what you want to filter on: Choose Filter contacts to pick any field in SpinOffice that you want to filter on. You can define the conditions of your choice for your selection; e.g., "company name is...", or "contact type is not...", or "zip code contains...". If you choose a field on the right by clicking on the 'filter' icon, all contacts will be filtered with the same value. Apply the desired filter (for example, by selecting on contact type, info field, tag, or keyword). All contacts are shown in the place where your contacts normally are. See an example below. We have opted for a filter on the tag 'hot prospect'. All 12 hot prospects are shown: Now you can make a bulk contact change. Click on Mass Actions at the top of the screen: The following options are displayed: Choose the desired option: Bulk contact change The following screen appears. Determine what you want to do with the filtered contacts. In our example, the 12 hot prospects. Select a field you want to be filled or changed for your filtered group. Click on "Change" to perform the action. Send group mailing Use this option to send a mailing to this filtered group of contacts. A new screen opens where you can type a message or pick an existing template to send it out to all. Learn here how to do that. Add to favorites This option will disappear soon. It allows you to add the filtered relations to a favorites group. Add a tag to contacts. An easy option is to give an existing tag to all the filtered contacts. Delete contacts Delete all filtered contacts in a snap. Be careful because this option is irreversible. After implementing the desired bulk action, the changes are immediately visible in your database. The ability to create filters and the associated possibility of mass actions are, therefore, extremely powerful features in SpinOffice.

How to move all contacts from my favorite lists to tags?

Labels are increasingly becoming the standard in SpinOffice. They work quickly, are easy to manage, and provide a clear overview. Labels are replacing the "characteristics" option in SpinOffice. We recommend transferring not only your characteristics but also your favorite lists to labels. In this article, we explain how to do this easily. Follow these steps: Go to the Contact List screen. Click on Favorites at the top. Select a favorites list and choose Filter favorite group. All contacts within the group will now be displayed as a filtered group in your contact list area. Then, click on "Mass actions" at the top of the screen. Choose the option Add label to contacts. In the text field that appears, type the desired name of the label you want to assign—this can be the same as the existing description of the favorites group. Alternatively, you can choose an existing label from the dropdown list. Click Apply to execute the action. All contacts in the favorites group will now have the desired label. Repeat these steps for all your favorite groups. Once you've completed this, send us a message, and we will deactivate the favorites group feature. Would you like to create labels in advance so you can easily use and assign them? You can! Go to the menu option Admin -> Labels and add an unlimited number of labels. In the Pro version, you also have access to label groups, allowing you to create categories and group labels.

How do tags work?

Use tags to distinguish and group your business contacts. Decide for yourself which tags you want to use for your contacts. For example, make a distinction between certain products or services, categories, a certain status, or customer characteristics. Then give the correct tag(s) to any contact in your CRM. This way, you can search, categorize, and filter your contacts even more efficiently. How do you tag your contacts? When you add or edit a contact in SpinOffice, you will find the tags as a tab on the left side of the Add contact screen. Add new or predefined tags here for this specific contact. It is also possible to add tags directly from the Contact screen: Go to the Contact screen. Find the desired contact for which you want to add tags. You will find the tags widget on the right. Add tags as you want by entering them manually. Or choose previously selected tags from a drop-down list.  All added tags are immediately shown. Go through your contacts to add your tags. You have an unlimited number of tags at your disposal. Manage all tags Go to the main menu and choose option Administration -> Tags.  Here you can add and remove an unlimited number of tags. See an example below. All tags that you have manually used for contacts are also shown in this screen. Important: In the Pro and Enterprise versions, you have access to tag groups. This offers the possibility to create categories and use different colors. Search and filter contacts based on tags: Start the search with a hashtag "#" and then enter the tag. Below is an example where we filter on the tag "hot prospect". Pressing #hot will show the tag. Click on the tag in the search list, and all contacts with the tag "hot prospect" will be filtered and displayed. Create a filter on an existing tag for a contact: First, go to a contact that has the tag you want to filter on. Then click on the 'tag' icon next to the tag shown.  Choose Apply filter. All contact with this tag is filtered and shown. Removing tags You can easily remove the tags from an individual contact:  Click on the 'tag' icon next to the displayed tag  and choose Delete.  Do you want to delete an entire tag?  Go to the menu option Administration -> Tags  and remove the tag itself.  The tag will be removed for all contacts. Watch the following short video where we explain to you how tags work in SpinOffice and what you can do with them.

How do I filter contacts for mailings?

All your business contacts can be found on the Contact list screen. On this screen, you can perform mass actions by means of filters, including sending a group mailing. Sending group mailings: First, decide your group mailing criteria. This can be based on a contact type, tag, keyword, or any contact field. Then create your filter. These are a few ways to do that.  Click Filter contacts at the top of the screen or choose one of the filter options within the Contact widget on the right. Whichever option you choose, in all cases, SpinOffice will indicate what you want to filter on: If you choose the Filter contacts option, you can create the desired conditions for your selection yourself; for example, "company name is...", or "contact type is...", or "zip code contains...". If you choose a filter option within the Contact widget, all contacts will be filtered with the same value. Apply the desired filter. As an example, we choose the label 'hot prospects' to send a mailing to. All contacts are shown in the place where your contacts normally are. See below. All 12 'hot prospects' are shown: Then click on Mass Actions at the top of the screen: The following options are displayed: Choose the Send group mailing. A new screen will open where you can type a message in the default template. Fill the template with content or choose an existing email template at the bottom. Make sure to enter a subject. That is mandatory. This is also the subject as the recipients see it. At the top, you can change your sender identity, and at the bottom, the option to send the mailing as a private message. Is your template ready to send? Then click Send at the top left. Choose Create concepts or Send. If you choose Create concepts, these can be found in the Concepts folder in your Inbox.

How do I get my contacts in sync with my mobile devices?

It is possible to synchronize all SpinOffice contacts between SpinOffice and Apple’s Contacts app on an iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Even when you do not have all Apple Contacts in SpinOffice. Go to menu option Administration -> User settings -> Synchronization to enable the sync account.  Instantly, a CardDAV account is created and the manual on how to configure this account on your iPhone or iPad is sent to you by email. Synchronization with Android devices: The sync is pretty cool in combination with the import of your Apple contacts. The ideal sequence of steps is: First, make SpinOffice the basis of all contact information. So, import your Apple Contacts from your Mac Address Book via menu option Extra -> Import -> Contacts. Import other mass contacts via Excel (also via Extra -> Import -> Contacts). Enable the CardDAV sync account via the User settings menu. Define on that screen which contact types you want to have in sync. On your iPhone / iPad, follow the steps mentioned in the manual we have sent to you by email. The CardDAV account has now been created. Open the Contacts app and go to “Groups” on the left side to activate the SpinOffice group. All contacts you have marked in SpinOffice to be in sync (based on contact type) are now in sync on all devices where you have configured the CardDAV account Let us know when you need any support with the configuration.

How to convert Mac Address Book vCards to Excel / CSV in order to import them in SpinOffice

Go to the Mac Contacts application on your local machine Select all contacts that you have there via 'Cmd+A' Drag the selection to your desktop It becomes a collective vCard file Go to this online tool: Online vCard Converter Upload the collective vCard file Select Format CSV, Comma, and tick 'Add header line' Unicode is okay Click on 'Convert' The file will be in your Downloads folder The file is now ready to import into SpinOffice. Open SpinOffice and go to the menu option Extra, Import, Contacts, CSV, XLS format, and upload the new CSV file. Start the matching process of Excel columns and SpinOffice fields, and when done, you're ready to bring them all into your CRM system!

Can I view logs of changes made to contact details?

Yes, that's possible. This is useful to see who has changed contact details and to be able to restore old data. In the Contact list screen, search for the contact for which you want to view all changes  Click on the 'hamburger' icon on the right  Choose the menu option View changes. The following screen is displayed: You can see what has changed in the past for the relevant contact, when and who made the changes. Within this screen, you have the option to filter on a specific period and a colleague/user. To revert a specific change, tick it on the left and click Restore changes to apply the change. The screen will close, and the adjustment will be made. If it is not possible to retrieve the desired information, please contact us. We may be able to help you.

How to create Parent-Child Relationships?

In SpinOffice, you can link contacts as employees to a company card. This functionality provides several advantages: Improved visibility of companies and their associated employees in your database. Centralized communication history between all employees of a company and your internal SpinOffice users. By establishing these employee/employer links, you create a “parent-child” relationship. This can be done for both existing and new contacts. Below, we outline all the possible scenarios. Add a New Contact as an Employee of an Existing Company You can directly add a new contact and associate them as an employee of an existing company. Follow these steps: Navigate to the Contacts screen. Search for the company card (main card) to which the new contact will be linked. Click the hamburger menu (☰) at the top of the contact widget. Select Add employee. The "Add New Contact" screen will appear, with the company's address fields pre-filled. Enter the contact details of the new employee and click Save. Once saved: The employee will have their contact card. The company name will appear in blue on the employee's card, indicating it is clickable. Click the company name to navigate to the company's main card, where all associated employees are listed at the bottom. Link an Existing Contact to an Existing Company To associate an existing contact with a company as an employee: Go to the Contacts screen. Search for the contact you want to link to a company. Click the hamburger menu (☰) in the contact widget. Select Link to employer. A prompt will appear asking if the company’s address should be copied to the contact. Click Yes to proceed. Search for and select the appropriate company card (main card). Click Update to confirm the link. The contact is now associated as an employee, with the company name shown in blue and clickable on their card. Add an Unknown Contact from Your Inbox as an Employee If you receive an email from an unknown contact (marked with a question mark in your Inbox), and you wish to add this person as an employee: Add the contact to your database, entering the appropriate contact type and details. Once saved, click the hamburger menu (☰) in the contact widget within your Inbox. Select Link to employer. Follow the same steps as described under "Link an Existing Contact to an Existing Company". Additional Options You can also create mutual relationship links between contacts. Or, you may choose to add a standalone contact that does not require a card or archive. Both options are available in the same menu (☰) used for the steps above. Unlink an Employee from a Company To remove an employee/company link: Open the contact card of the person you want to unlink. Click the hamburger menu (☰) in the contact widget. Select Unlink contact. The link will be removed immediately. Need Help? If you have any questions about linking or unlinking contacts, don’t hesitate to contact our support team.

How to move all keywords

Labels are becoming the new standard in SpinOffice. They are fast, easy to manage, and provide a clear overview. Labels are replacing the existing characteristics functionality for contacts. We recommend converting all the characteristics you've been using for your contacts into labels. This guide walks you through the process step by step. Why switch to labels? Labels offer a more modern and flexible way to categorize contacts. They are easy to apply and filter. In the Pro version, you can work with label groups, allowing you to organize labels into categories. Converting characteristics to labels Follow these steps for each characteristic you want to convert into a label: Go to the Contact List screen. On the right-hand side of any contact, click CONTACT INFO. Choose Characteristics. Select the first characteristic you want to convert. Filter based on that characteristic: If the contact has the characteristic checked, choose Filter on selected. If the contact does not have the characteristic checked, choose Filter excluding selected. All contacts with that characteristic will now be shown as a filtered group. At the top of the screen, click Mass actions. Select Add label to contacts. In the pop-up window: Type the name of the new label (for example, reuse the name of the old characteristic). Or choose an existing label from the dropdown list. Click Apply to complete the action. Result: All contacts with the selected characteristic now have the corresponding label. Repeat these steps for each characteristic you want to replace. Creating labels in advance Would you like to create your labels in advance so you can quickly use or apply them later? No problem! Go to Admin > Labels. Add an unlimited number of labels. (Pro version only) You can create label groups to organize labels into categories. Learn more Read more about: Creating and managing labels Using label groups in the Pro version Have questions about using labels? Feel free to contact our support team.