Customising Your CRM Smart Lists and Filters
Customising Your CRM Smart Lists and Filters
Your CRM should offer immediate clarity on who your clients are, where they came from, and what they need. Smart Lists are dynamic, automatically updating groups that segment your contacts, allowing you to execute highly targeted campaigns without ever missing a beat.
I. Understanding Smart Lists and Their Value
A Smart List is essentially a saved filter applied to your contact database. Once created, it runs continuously, ensuring any new contact that meets the specified criteria is automatically added, providing a live, accurate segment.
Typical Use Cases
Targeted Outreach: Send a specific email campaign only to contacts who have reached a certain status (e.g., 'Proposal Sent').
Workflow Triggering: Use the list as a secondary condition within a Workflow to trigger tailored automations.
Sales Focus: Provide sales staff with a filtered list of only 'Hot Leads' or contacts assigned specifically to them.
Segment by Engagement: Filter contacts based on email open rates or last activity date to re-engage colder leads.
II. Creating Your First Smart List
The creation process starts in the main Contacts view and relies on accurate filtering.
Navigate to Contacts: Go to the main Contacts tab.
Apply Filters: Click the Filter icon above the contact list.
Define Your Criteria: Select the contact attributes you wish to segment by. You can combine multiple filters using AND logic (must meet all criteria) or OR logic (must meet any one of the criteria).
Example Filter Criteria
By Tag: Tag $\rightarrow$ includes $\rightarrow$ 'Course A - Purchased'.
By Pipeline Stage: Opportunity Status $\rightarrow$ is $\rightarrow$ 'Nurturing'.
By Custom Field: Custom Field $\rightarrow$ is greater than $\rightarrow$ 'Lead Score 7'.
By Source: Source $\rightarrow$ contains $\rightarrow$ 'Facebook'.
Save as a Smart List: Once your filters are active and displaying the correct segment, click the Save Smart List button.
Name the List: Give it a clear, descriptive name that reflects its function (e.g., "Hot Leads - Facebook" or "Past Clients - Email Nurture").
III. Managing Your Segments and Bulk Actions
1. Accessing Lists
Your saved Smart Lists will appear in the left-hand sidebar under the main Contacts menu. Clicking a list instantly shows you the live, updated segment of contacts.
2. Performing Bulk Actions
Smart Lists are perfect for efficiency. Once you have filtered your list, you can select all contacts and perform a bulk action:
Bulk Tagging: Add a new tag to every contact in the list.
Bulk Email: Send a mass communication to the entire segment.
Bulk Delete/DND: Apply a 'Do Not Disturb' status or remove contacts entirely.
Tip: Always verify the number of contacts in the Smart List before executing a potentially destructive bulk action (like deletion) to prevent accidental mass changes.
3. Understanding the List View
The CRM also offers a Revamped List View. This view allows you to see more columns of data (including custom fields) at once and quickly sort the entire database, improving clarity when auditing large client sets.
We have now covered several core priority documents. Since you prefer to skip 'Onboarding New Staff', we should pivot to another high-priority, foundational technical guide.
