Support Center›Setup Checklist›Step 7
Custom Fields Setup
Capture the data your business actually uses
Before you begin
- Estimated time
- 20–30 minutes
- Have ready
- A list of the questions you ask every new client, and a sense of what you want to segment on later.
Fields must exist before you import contacts, or the data in your spreadsheet has nowhere to go. If you have already imported, create the fields now and reimport just the affected columns.
Why this matters
Done properly
- Automation that references real client details
- Segmentation by service, source, or status
- Forms that capture what you actually need
- Follow-up triggered by dates that matter
Skipped or rushed
- Generic automation that could be from anyone
- No way to filter your list meaningfully
- Details living in your head instead of your system
- Manual reminders you have to remember
How to set it up
List the questions you ask every client
Write them out before you touch the platform. What do you ask on a first call? What do you need to know before you can quote? What would a new team member need to look up?
Those questions are your custom fields.
List what you want to filter on later
Think about the segments you will want: everyone who booked a particular service, everyone whose renewal is next month, everyone who came from referrals. Each of those needs a field behind it.
Create each field with the right type
Go to Settings → Custom Fields and create each one. The type matters more than people expect:
- Dropdown — for fixed choices. Use this wherever you can.
- Date — for anything you will trigger automation from
- Number — for values you will sort or calculate on
- Text — only where the answer is genuinely freeform
- Checkbox — for yes/no facts
Name them clearly and consistently
Use plain names a human would recognise:
Service Interest, notsvc1. Pick one convention — title case with spaces — and stick to it across every field.Renaming a field after you have built workflows referencing it can break those workflows. Name it properly now.
Add them to your intake forms
A field nobody fills in is useless. Add each one to the relevant form so it populates automatically when someone submits.
Not every field belongs on every form. A first-touch lead form should be short; a client onboarding form can be longer.
Test with a real submission
Fill in your own form as a client would, submit it, then open the resulting contact record. Confirm every field populated with what you entered.
A free text source field produces referral, Referral, ref, and friend told me — four values meaning one thing, and none of them segmentable. A dropdown produces one clean value you can filter on forever.
Start with the ones you will genuinely act on. Every unused field is clutter on every form and every record. Add more when a real need appears.
A renewal date field lets you trigger a follow-up sequence 30 days before renewal, automatically, forever. That is the difference between a database and a system.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| Field not appearing on a form | It has to be added to each form individually. Creating the field does not add it anywhere. |
| Dropdown options are wrong after import | Imported values that do not exactly match an existing option may be rejected or create new ones. Standardise in the spreadsheet first. |
| Workflow cannot find a field | Check whether the field was renamed after the workflow was built. |
| Personalisation shows a blank | The field is empty for that contact. Always set a fallback value in your message templates. |
FAQ
How many custom fields should I have?
Most service businesses run well on eight to fifteen. If you are past thirty, you are probably capturing things you never look at.
Can I change a field type later?
Changing type can lose existing data — converting text to dropdown, for example. Choose carefully now.
What is the difference between a field and a tag?
A field holds a value: their renewal date is March 3rd. A tag marks membership: they are a past client. Use fields for data, tags for grouping.
Can I make a field required?
On a form, yes. Be sparing — every required field costs you submissions.
✅Done when
- Your essential fields exist with appropriate types
- Names follow one consistent convention
- They appear on the relevant intake forms
- A test submission populated every one