What Should Be in a Customer Record in My CRM?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 17, 2026

The short answer

Decide the few fields every new contact must have, check for duplicates before you add one, and record where each contact came from, who owns the follow-up, what type of contact they are, and what work you’ve done for them. Keep it short so people fill it in every time.

Why it matters

Incomplete records mean you can’t call someone back. Duplicates mean two people follow up with the same customer, or nobody does. No source means you can’t tell which marketing works. No owner means leads sit untouched. No service history means you can’t see who’s due for maintenance or a review request.

15.3.1 Required fields

What it means: the minimum information needed to create a record.

How to do it: keep it short. For most local businesses: first and last name, at least one of phone or email, source, and owner. Add service address when it matters for the job. Make these fields required in your customer relationship management (CRM) system so a record can’t be saved without them. Don’t collect more than you need (see 11.6.1 Data Minimization).

Common mistake: a long list of required fields that people fill with junk just to save the record.

15.3.2 Duplicate prevention

What it means: finding and merging records for the same person or company.

How to do it: search by phone and email before creating a new contact. Turn on your CRM’s duplicate warnings if it has them. Review possible duplicates monthly and merge them, keeping all the notes and history.

Common mistake: deleting a duplicate instead of merging, which throws away its history.

15.3.3 Source

What it means: how the contact first reached you.

How to do it: use a fixed list, like Google Business Profile, Website, Referral, Repeat customer, Paid ad, Directory, Event, and Walk-in. Fill it from the form automatically when you can. For calls, ask “How did you hear about us?” (see 15.8 Lead-Source Tracking).

Common mistake: a free-text box that ends up with “google,” “Google Maps,” “GMB,” and “internet” all meaning the same thing.

15.3.5 Owner

What it means: the person responsible for the next follow-up.

How to do it: assign an owner when the record is created. Use rules if your CRM supports them, like “website leads go to Sam.” Change the owner when the person leaves (see 16.2.1 Lead Response Ownership).

Common mistake: records owned by a former employee that nobody looks at.

15.3.6 Customer type

What it means: classifying contacts as residential, commercial, partner, vendor, or other.

How to do it: add a single-choice field with those options. It keeps vendors out of customer emails and lets you report on residential and commercial work separately.

Common mistake: sending a customer review request to a supplier.

15.3.7 Service history

What it means: completed, canceled, disputed, and recurring work on each record.

How to do it: log each job with date, service, location, and status. Mark disputes clearly. This history tells you who to ask for a review (see 14.6.1 Review Request Timing), who’s due for repeat service, and who not to contact while a complaint is open.

Common mistake: asking a customer with an open complaint for a review.

When to get help from a pro

Most owners can set this up with their CRM’s help pages. A CRM consultant helps when you have several teams or a messy existing list. Questions to ask:

How do I make fields required and set up duplicate warnings?
Can the source fill in automatically from my website forms?
Can I log jobs from my scheduling or invoicing tool onto the contact?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short note. For example, the fields you insist on for every SiteSmarty client, or how messy source data made it hard for a client to know what was working.]

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: the required fields, source list, owner rules, types, and service history setup]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: a test contact record]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

What fields should be required? Name, phone or email, source, and owner. Add service address if your work happens at the customer’s location.

How do I stop duplicate contacts? Search by phone and email before adding someone, turn on duplicate warnings, and merge duplicates monthly.

Why record where a customer came from? So you know which listings, pages, and referrals bring customers and where to spend your time.

Who should own follow-up? One named person per record, assigned when the record is created.

Audit check

Outline line	Question	Pass looks like	Fail looks like	Evidence to collect
15.3.1 Required fields	Are a few key fields required on every record?	Name, phone or email, source, owner required	Blank or junk fields	CRM field settings
15.3.2 Duplicate prevention	Are duplicates found and merged?	Monthly merge, warnings on	Many duplicates	Duplicate report
15.3.3 Source	Is a standard source recorded?	Fixed list, mostly filled	Free text or blank	Source report
15.3.5 Owner	Does every open record have a current owner?	Owners assigned, updated when staff leave	Unowned or former staff	Owner report
15.3.6 Customer type	Are contacts classified by type?	Type field used	Vendors mixed with customers	Type report
15.3.7 Service history	Is each job logged with status?	Jobs, disputes, and recurring work recorded	No history	Sample customer record

Where this fits

Do this first: 15.1 Choosing a CRM

Do this next: 15.4 CRM Custom Fields and Tags

Sources

Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google" (checked October 17, 2026)
Federal Trade Commission, "Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business" (checked October 17, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.