# Manage Customer Relationships

Keep customer work in Sistava's built-in CRM, or connect the CRM your team already uses.

## TL;DR

Sistava includes a CRM for contacts, companies, deals, notes, and a sales pipeline. If your business already uses a CRM, connect it from the same CRM workspace and let employees work in that system. Open **CRM** in the company workspace, then choose the built-in records or **Use your existing CRM**.

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## How It Works

The built-in CRM is a shared customer record for your whole company. Contacts, companies, deals, notes, and related work stay together, so an employee can act with the context your team already has.

You can also keep your current CRM. The CRM workspace gives you a direct path to connect HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Close, or another CRM app. Your employees can then use the connected tool as part of their work rather than forcing you to move your business into a separate system.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  Customer[Contact or company] --> Choice{Where does this record live?}
  Choice --> BuiltIn[Built-in CRM]
  Choice --> Existing[Your connected CRM]
  BuiltIn --> Work[Employee follow-up and tasks]
  Existing --> Work
  Work --> Update[Current customer context]
```

## What It Can Do

| Need                   | Built-in CRM                                       | Connected CRM                                             |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Keep customer records  | Create and edit contacts, companies, and notes     | Let employees use the CRM your business already runs      |
| Run sales work         | Create deals and move them through pipeline stages | Keep sales work inside your existing sales stack          |
| Find the right record  | Search, filter, and sort contacts                  | Connect the provider your team already knows              |
| Share customer context | Every employee sees the same company record        | Give the right employees access to the connected CRM tool |
| Take data with you     | Export contacts to a spreadsheet                   | Keep your existing CRM as your system of record           |

The built-in CRM has separate **Contacts**, **Companies**, and **Deals** views. Contacts include the useful customer details, including email, phone, job title, LinkedIn, and notes. Deals appear as cards on a pipeline, with their stage, value, company, and next work visible in one place.

## How to Set It Up

### Use Sistava's Built-in CRM

1. Open the company workspace and select **CRM**.
2. Add a contact manually, or give an employee the customer context it needs to create and maintain the record.
3. Use **Companies** to group the people who work together.
4. Open **Deals** to create an opportunity, set its stage and value, and keep the next action clear.
5. Search, filter, sort, or export contacts when you need a working list outside Sistava.

### Connect Your Existing CRM

1. Open **CRM** in the company workspace.
2. Select **Use your existing CRM**.
3. Choose HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Close, or **Browse other CRM apps**.
4. Connect or configure the app when prompted, then assign the CRM tool to the employees who need it.
5. Give the employee work that needs customer context, such as researching an account, preparing a follow-up, or moving a deal forward.

## Tips & Tricks

- Use the built-in CRM when you want a shared customer record without another CRM subscription.
- Connect your existing CRM when it is already the source of truth for your sales team.
- Keep a deal's stage, value, and next action current. The pipeline is only useful when it reflects what happens after the last conversation.
- Give an employee the relevant contact or deal context with its task. It can make the follow-up specific instead of starting from a blank prompt.

## Good to Know

The built-in CRM and a connected CRM are choices, not a forced migration. Sistava's CRM remains available even when you connect another provider. The employee tools you assign determine which connected system an employee can use.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Do I have to move from my current CRM to Sistava?

No. Open **CRM**, choose **Use your existing CRM**, and connect the provider your team already uses. The built-in CRM remains available if you also want a native company record in Sistava.

### Which CRMs can I connect?

The CRM workspace presents HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Close first. Use **Browse other CRM apps** to find additional supported CRM and sales tools.

### What is included in the built-in CRM?

Contacts, companies, notes, and a deal pipeline are included. You can search, filter, sort, edit, and export contacts, then use deals to track an opportunity through its stages.

### Can an employee maintain CRM records?

Yes. Give an employee customer or deal context together with its task. It can use the CRM tools assigned to it while it researches, follows up, and moves work forward.