Centralized Contact List in Podio

Introduction

UPDATE 2015-12-10:  Podio has released a new Contact app that appears to standardize the contact-management process.  I am not currently in active use of Podio so I have not tried out this new feature.  However, it sounds like a good change and a nice progression from Podio in addressing this topic.  I assume this change will make obsolete my previous work-around (below).  Here is their blog post announcing this feature:  http://blog.podio.com/2015/12/09/better-contact-management-podio/


This blog post describes the creation and use of a centralized contact list, for an organization to use throughout Podio.
 
For those who might need it, here is a quick start guide to Podio.

Understanding Podio's Built-in Contacts

Podio uses the term "contact" for two different built-in features of Podio:

• Podio Users:  These are employees or non-employees who are invited to a Podio workspace.  In Podio, they are usually referred to as members, and sometimes as contacts.  Everyone who is invited to a workspace is called a member of that workspace.  Each Podio user also has a personal Contacts list, which contains all the members from all that user's workspaces.
• Workspace Contacts:  Each workspace can have its own separate list of contacts.  These are only accessible within that workspace.

Neither of these two types of built-in contacts is sufficient for a centralized contacts list.  The first only contains Podio users, and the second is limited to a single workspace.

Creating a Centralized Contact List

Here, we create our own Contact Relationship Management (CRM) workspace, and then our own CRM Contacts app within that workspace.  This app serves as a container for the built-in list of workspace contacts that belong to the CRM workspace.

(Note for technical folks who are new to Podio:  You can think of Podio's terminology in database terms, where (roughly) workspace = domain, app = table, building block = field.) 

Step 1:  Create a workspace called "CRM".

• This blog post recommends certain names for workspaces, apps, and building blocks for purposes of clarity, but you can use any names you wish -- there is no effect on functionality.  (More details in Note #1, below.)
• Access Settings should normally be Open, not Private.  (More details in Note #2.)

Step 2:  Create an app called "Organizations", in the CRM workspace.

• For The single item in the app, enter "Organization".
• Add a building block of type Text, call it "Name", and check the Required checkbox.
• If you wish, you can add building blocks to track other values for each organization (address, phone, URL, etc.).

Step 3:  Create an app called "CRM Contacts", in the CRM workspace.

• For The single item in the app, enter "CRM Contact". 
• Add a building block of type Contact, call it "CRM Contact", and check the Required checkbox.  For Contact types, choose Workspace contacts.
• Add a building block of type App Reference, and call it "Organization".  For Choose an app to reference, select the Organizations app in the CRM workspace.
• Typical contact information is tracked in the built-in workspace contact (which will live inside our CRM Contact).  If you wish, you can track whatever other contact information is relevant to your organization, by adding additional building blocks to this CRM Contacts app.

Accessing the Centralized Contact List from a Separate Podio Workspace

We can now create an additional workspace that references our centralized contact list.

(Technically, the new workspace will reference our custom-built CRM Contacts app, which serves as a container for our underlying workspace contact records in the CRM workspace.)

In this example, I create a simple workspace to track sales leads.  However, any other workspace can connect to our centralized contact list, using the same method.

Step 1:  Create a workspace called "Sales".

Step 2:  Create an app called "Leads".

• For The single item in the app, enter "Lead".
• Add a building block of type App Reference, and call it "CRM Contact".  For Choose an app to reference, select the CRM Contacts app in the CRM workspace.
• Add other building blocks you want to use for lead tracking.  For example, I added the following:
• "Lead Status", building block type of Category; under Names for your categories, I entered "cold", "warm", "hot", and "made sale".
• "Next Follow-up Date", building block type of Date.
• "Notes", building block type of Text.

Example Workflow

We can now use the workspaces and apps we created above, to create and track a new lead in Podio.

(This example workflow assumes the contact is not already in the centralized contacts list.)

Step 1a:  Create new CRM Organization

• If the contact for the lead does not have an organization, skip to Step 1b.
• Go to the Organizations app in the CRM workspace.  (See Note #3 at the bottom of this blog post, regarding making Quick Links for a user to jump between workspaces.)
• Click the wide green button Add Organization.
• Enter the Name of the organization.
• (If you defined other Organization values that you want to track, instructions for those building blocks would go here.)
• Click the green Save button.

Step 1b:  Create new CRM Contact

• Go to the CRM Contacts app in the CRM workspace.
• Click the wide green button Add CRM Contact.
• Type the name of the contact in the Contact field; then, press Enter, or click Add New Contact.
• A new form will pop up for Add new workspace contact, with the Name already filled in.
• Fill in all other contact fields with whatever contact information you currently have.  Note that you can click Show more fields to add additional contact information.
• Click the green Save button on the pop-up form to close the pop-up form and return to CRM Contacts.
• If you entered the contact's organization in Step 1a, select it from the Organization list.
• (If you defined other CRM Contact values that you want to track, instructions for those building blocks would go here.)
• Click the green Save button.

Step 2:  Create the Lead.

• Go to the Leads app in the Sales workspace.
• Click the wide green button Add Lead.
• Select the CRM Contact.
• Enter the appropriate Lead Status, Next Follow-up Date, and Notes.
• (If you defined other Lead values that you want to track, instructions for those building blocks would go here.)
• Click the green Save button.

The lead can now tracked, updated, used in reports, and integrated with your organization's other worflows.

If a person in a different role in your organization needs to track activity related to the same contact, they will be able to do so.  For example, after a sale is closed, a support person can create and track support tickets for the same contact.  The creation and use of a Support workspace and app would be analogous to the steps shown above for the Leads app in the Sales workspace.

Web Links That Relate to This Topic

• This thread from the Podio forums covers a number of topics relating to how contacts work in Podio.
• Podio recommends a centralized Contacts app in this thread. 
• A web design and marketing firm called Globi has created a step-by-step guide to creating a sales-oriented CRM in Podio.  Their guide does not address the centralization issue, but does cover a number of interesting and useful features that Podio brings to CRM.
• [Update 2013-05-28] I just heard from Gustav Jonsson at Podio about a guide he wrote for Doing CRM and Sales in Podio.

Comments and Questions Are Welcome

I welcome any comments and questions on this topic, or on any related Podio topics.


-Todd


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Notes 

Note #1:  Naming Conventions

Names of workspaces, apps, and building blocks can be selected based on personal or organizational preference, for the most part.  There are some usability factors, in that certain naming conventions may work better in certain situations.

For example, when a user is working in a Podio app that references the centralized contact list, having your contacts container app set up with the name CRM Contacts will allow users to choose from a list called "CRM Contacts" rather than just "Contacts" or another generic name, clarifying for the user that they are accessing the centralized contact list.


Note #2:  Open vs. Private CRM Workspace

This blog post assumes that most organizations implementing Podio will give their users permission to add new contacts to the centralized contact list.  As shown in the Example Workflow section, a user who wants to track a new sales lead must add the CRM Contact first, then the sales lead.  Therefore, this user must be invited not only to the Sales workspace, but to the CRM workspace as well.  There is also the option of setting the CRM workspace as Private, and then manually inviting all users to it who need permission to add new centralized contacts.


Note #3:  Creating Quick Links For Adding CRM Contacts

In Podio apps, such as our example sales lead tracking app, a user may be the first person interacting with each contact, and may therefore frequently need to switch to the CRM workspace to add new contacts.  To make this slightly easier, you can add a link onto a workspace's or an app's main page, that will jump the user directly to CRM Contacts or Organizations:

• Click Add Widget in the lower right-hand corner of the webpage.
• On the pop-up screen, choose Links.
• A new area will be created for the widget in the lower right-hand corner of the webpage.
• For Title, enter something like "Quick Links".
• For Enter a link name, enter "CRM Contacts".
• For Enter a link URL, open your CRM Contacts app (CRM workspace) in a new tab in your browser.  Each workspace and app in Podio has its own unique URL.  Copy the app's URL from your browser's address bar, and paste it into Enter a link URL.
• Click Add another.
• For the 2nd Enter a link name, enter "CRM Organizations".
• For the 2nd Enter a link URL, open your Organizations app (CRM workspace) in a new tab in your browser, copy the app's URL from your browser's address bar, and paste it into Enter a link URL.
• Click Save.

You can use a similar process to create Quick Links in the CRM workspace, that send the user back to (for example) the Leads app in your Sales workspace.