Factor's CRM (Customer Relationship Management) area is accessed from CRM in the main navigation and includes two primary features: Contacts and Opportunities.
Contacts
The Contacts area lets you maintain a database of the people your firm works with. Contacts are individual people associated with companies. You can:
Create and organize contacts, grouped by company
Search and filter by name, company, email, or classification fields
Record details like email, phone, title, and other attributes
View projects and opportunities associated with each contact
Companies
Companies are the organizations your firm works with. A company can be categorized as a client (associated with projects and invoices), a vendor (for expense budgets), or another type of organization linked to contacts. A company becomes a client when it is associated with a project.
Opportunities
The Opportunities area is where you track sales leads and potential projects. You can:
Create opportunities and record a proposed value, win probability, and expected close date
Assign a follow-up date and next action to keep your pipeline moving
Link opportunities to specific contacts and companies
Track a weighted value (proposed value × win probability) for pipeline forecasting
Move opportunities through pipeline stages on a board or list view
Record won/lost reasons when closing an opportunity from the board view (dragging to a Won/Lost status prompts for this)
Convert a won opportunity into a Factor project to begin budgeting, scheduling, and billing
How CRM Connects to the Rest of Factor
When a company is associated with a project, it becomes a client - the bridge between CRM and project management
Converting a won opportunity to a project carries contact and company information into the project
Projects associated with a client appear on the client's record in CRM
Opportunities can be linked to existing projects under PROJECTS
Setup
Contact Classification Lists
Contact classification fields (contact type, contact title, sales territory, etc.) use configurable lists managed under SETTINGS > Lists. Plan your contact types carefully - accurate categorization helps with filtering and reporting across both CRM and projects.
Opportunity Statuses
Opportunity statuses define the stages in your pipeline board and list views. Configure these under SETTINGS > Lists in the opportunity statuses section. You can:
Add new statuses
Change names, sequence order, and colors
Disable statuses you no longer use
Won/Lost Reasons
Under SETTINGS > Lists, you can define the reasons why an opportunity was won or lost. These are prompted when an opportunity is moved to a Won or Lost status and provide useful data for understanding your sales pipeline over time.
Permissions
CRM access is controlled by user permissions. There are separate permissions for viewing and modifying contacts and opportunities. Permissions are managed under SETTINGS > Your Team by selecting a user and editing their permission set.
Troubleshooting
Can't Add or Edit Contacts or Opportunities
Verify you have the correct CRM permissions. By default, not all roles have access to modify CRM records. Contact your administrator to review your permission set under SETTINGS > Your Team.
Opportunity Not Showing in Expected Stage
Check that the opportunity's status is set correctly. Opportunities are grouped by status on both the board and list views - if the status was changed accidentally, it will appear in a different column or group.
Can't Convert Opportunity to Project
Ensure the opportunity is in a Won status before converting. If the option isn't available, verify you have the necessary project creation permissions.