What Custom Fields and Tags Should a Small Business Use in a CRM?
By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 17, 2026
The short answer
Section titled “The short answer”Add a few custom fields with fixed choices: the service the person wants, their location, how urgent it is, lead quality, customer status, risk flags, and source. Use drop-down choices instead of free text so you can sort and report on them. Fewer, cleaner fields beat many messy ones.
Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”Without set fields, every record is a pile of notes. You can’t answer simple questions like “How many water heater leads did we get from Maplewood last month?” or “Who should never get a marketing email?” Fixed fields make your customer relationship management (CRM) system useful for decisions and automation.
15.4.1 Service interest
Section titled “15.4.1 Service interest”What it means: the product or service the person asked about.
How to do it: use a drop-down that matches your service list, ideally the same names you use on your website and GBP (see 14.1.7 Services and 13.4.2 Service Pages). Allow more than one choice if people often want several services.
Common mistake: service names in the CRM that don’t match your website, so reports and pages never line up.
15.4.2 Location
Section titled “15.4.2 Location”What it means: where the work happens.
How to do it: record the service address, and add a field for city or service zone from a fixed list that matches your service area (see 14.1.3 Service Area). This shows which areas bring jobs and where to build location pages (see 13.4.6 Location Pages).
Common mistake: only storing the billing address, which may not be where the work is.
15.4.3 Urgency
Section titled “15.4.3 Urgency”What it means: emergency, immediate, planned, recurring, or future need.
How to do it: add those five choices and set the field during intake. Use it to decide who calls back first (see 16.2.5 Lead Escalation).
Common mistake: treating every lead as urgent, which means none are.
15.4.4 Lead quality
Section titled “15.4.4 Lead quality”What it means: qualified, unqualified, pending, or referral.
How to do it: set this after a first conversation using your qualification rules (see 16.3 Lead Qualification). Add a short reason for “unqualified,” like “outside service area” or “service we don’t offer.”
Common mistake: never marking leads unqualified, so reports look better than reality.
15.4.5 Customer status
Section titled “15.4.5 Customer status”What it means: lead, prospect, customer, inactive, former, or do-not-contact.
How to do it: use these as fixed choices and keep them current. “Do-not-contact” must block every marketing tool (see 12.6 Communication Consent Records). The detailed stages live in 15.6 Customer Lifecycle Stages.
Common mistake: a do-not-contact status that only lives in one tool.
15.4.6 Risk flags
Section titled “15.4.6 Risk flags”What it means: notes about safety, payment, access, complaint, or capacity concerns.
How to do it: add a multi-choice field for these five, plus a short note. Examples: aggressive dog, gate code needed, past late payment, open complaint. Keep notes factual and respectful, since customers may ask to see their data. Don’t record sensitive personal details here (see 11.6.2 Sensitive Information).
Common mistake: opinions about a customer written as flags.
15.4.7 Source tags
Section titled “15.4.7 Source tags”What it means: search, referral, listing, advertisement, website, event, or direct contact.
How to do it: use these as a fixed list. Be specific where it helps, for example separate “Google Business Profile” from “Google organic search” and “Paid search ad.” Full source tracking is on 15.8 Lead-Source Tracking.
Common mistake: “Google” as one source, which hides whether your profile or your ads brought the lead.
When to get help from a pro
Section titled “When to get help from a pro”A CRM consultant can set up fields and reports if your system is complex. Questions to ask:
- Can these fields be drop-downs with fixed choices?
- Can do-not-contact status sync to my email and texting tools?
- Can I build a monthly report of leads by service, location, and source?
Bill’s note
Section titled “Bill’s note”[Bill: add a short note. For example, how service and location data from a client’s CRM changed which services and pages you added to their profile and website.]
How I did this for SiteSmarty
Section titled “How I did this for SiteSmarty”- [Date I did this:]
- [What I actually did, step by step: the SiteSmarty fields and the choices in each]
- [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: the custom field settings]
- [Result so far:]
Questions people ask
Section titled “Questions people ask”What is the difference between a field and a tag? A field holds one kind of answer, like status. A tag is a free label you can add many of. Fields with fixed choices give cleaner reports.
How do I track which service a lead wants? Add a service drop-down that matches the services on your website and profile.
How do I mark do-not-contact customers? Use a status choice that blocks every marketing tool, and keep it on your suppression list.
What are risk flags? Short, factual notes about safety, payment, access, complaints, or capacity that your team needs to know.
Audit check
Section titled “Audit check”| Outline line | Question | Pass looks like | Fail looks like | Evidence to collect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.4.1 Service interest | Is the requested service recorded from a fixed list? | Drop-down matches website and profile services | Free text or blank | Field settings and report |
| 15.4.2 Location | Is the service location recorded? | Service address and zone filled | Billing address only | Sample records |
| 15.4.3 Urgency | Is urgency set at intake? | Five fixed choices used | Not used | Field report |
| 15.4.4 Lead quality | Is lead quality set with reasons? | Qualified and unqualified marked | All leads pending | Field report |
| 15.4.5 Customer status | Is status current, and does do-not-contact block marketing? | Status kept current, synced | Do-not-contact ignored by tools | Status report and tool settings |
| 15.4.6 Risk flags | Are risk flags factual and used? | Short, factual flags | Opinions or sensitive details | Sample flagged records |
| 15.4.7 Source tags | Is source recorded from a fixed list? | Specific, consistent sources | “Google” or blank | Source report |
Where this fits
Do this first: 15.3 Contact and Company Records
Do this next: 15.5 Importing and Cleaning Records
Related pages: 14.1.7 Services, 14.1.3 Service Area, 13.4.2 Service Pages, 13.4.6 Location Pages, 16.3 Lead Qualification, 15.6 Customer Lifecycle Stages, 15.8 Lead-Source Tracking, 12.6 Communication Consent Records
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.