Skip to main content
View Categories

Add Contacts to Your CRM and Start a Pipeline Lead

4 min read

Who this is for: Managers  |  Part 2 of 2: โ† Scan a Business Card and Save a Contact

๐Ÿ’ผ Why this matters

A CRM is only useful if it’s complete. Most contractors track their best clients in their head and lose track of everyone else. Adding contacts consistently โ€” scanning cards, importing from your phone, or typing them in โ€” turns a scattered mental list into a system you can search, sort, and act on. And once a contact is in the CRM, moving them into the pipeline takes one tap.

There are three ways to add a contact to your CRM: scan their card (covered in Part 1), import from your iPhone’s Contacts app, or enter them manually. All three land in the same place โ€” a contact record in your Clients list.


Open the CRM #

Tap Clients from the home screen. Your contact list opens under the navigation title Clients. Three buttons appear in the top-right toolbar โ€” each is a different way to add a contact.


Option A โ€” Import from your Contacts app #

Tap the person with a plus badge icon in the toolbar. Your iPhone’s native Contacts picker opens. Find the person, tap their name, and their contact information imports directly into a new CRM record โ€” no re-typing. Review the imported fields and tap save.


Option B โ€” Add manually #

Tap the + icon in the toolbar. A blank contact form opens. You can also tap Import from Contacts at the top of the form to pull in information from your phone โ€” the same picker as Option A, accessible from within the form itself.

Fill in the Contact section:

  • Name โ€” required
  • Company, Title / Role
  • Email, Website, LinkedIn URL
  • Phone โ€” with a Cell / Work type toggle; add a Second Phone (optional) if they have multiple numbers
  • Contact Type โ€” Customer, Prospect, Lead, or Networking Contact. This controls the badge color and the “since” date label on the contact record.

Set the lead source #

The How did they find you? section holds the Lead Source picker. Choose how this contact came to you: Referral, Social Media, Google, Website, Cold Outreach, Networking Event, Repeat Client, or Other. If you select Other, a text field appears โ€” Describe howโ€ฆ โ€” for a custom description.

Lead source data feeds your win/loss and conversion analytics over time. The more consistently you set it, the more clearly it shows which sources are actually generating business.


Add an address #

Tap the Address disclosure group to expand it. Enter Street, Apt / Suite, City, State, and ZIP. This section is collapsed by default โ€” tap the label to open it.


Client Metrics Dashboard โ€” on existing contacts #

When you open an existing contact to edit it, the Client Metrics Dashboard appears at the top of the form โ€” a live summary of that client’s financial history with your business. Three tiles show:

  • Open jobs value โ€” total value of all active jobs linked to this client, labeled with the count (e.g. “2 open jobs”)
  • Total paid โ€” all time โ€” all payments collected across every job linked to this contact
  • Lifetime value โ€” shown when the client has retainer or recurring jobs; reflects the ongoing value of the relationship

Below the tiles, a Follow-up row lets you set a follow-up date and tap Add to Calendar to schedule a reminder directly in your iPhone’s calendar.

The dashboard also shows a contact type badge โ€” tap it to change the type between Customer, Prospect, Lead, and Networking Contact at any time.


Add to Prospect Pipeline #

On any existing contact, scroll to the bottom of the edit form and tap Add to Prospect Pipeline. A confirmation prompt appears โ€” tap Add. A New Lead entry is created in your Prospect Pipeline linked to this contact. You can then move them through the pipeline stages as you work the lead.

๐Ÿ’ก Tip: If you scanned their card and enabled Add to Prospect Pipeline during the scan flow, the pipeline entry is already created โ€” you don’t need to do it again from the contact edit screen. Both paths create the same New Lead entry.

โœ… You’ve completed the Business Card Scanner and CRM setup.

Contacts are in the system, lead sources are tracked, and active leads are in the pipeline.

Next: Move Leads Through Your Prospect Pipeline โ†’


Related articles