How to handle spouses? Client Group? Organization? Other option?

  • 21 October 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 248 views

Userlevel 7
Badge +19
  • Sr. Karbon Community Guide
  • 1114 replies

I’m working at automating and standardizing our client on-boarding process.

When we have a new client, we kick of a simple work item that sends the new client a Karbon client task with a Calendly link to schedule an on-boarding phone call.

Once on the call, someone from our staff will go through a form that collects all the necessary information to set the client up in Karbon.

Zapier takes the info from the form and creates the contacts in Karbon. For spouses, we have been creating contact groups, but that hasn’t been working too well because you cannot nest them, nor can you create a contact group via Zapier, so I’m thinking about making spouses an organization.

Nancy & Frank Garfield - Organization - Client Type: Client - Tier 2

Nancy Garfield - Person - Client Type: Client Contact - Signer

Frank Garfield - Person - Client Type: Client Contact - Signer

Has anyone else thought through this and can help me see if this is a good way to handle it or if there’s a different way to handle it?

 


4 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

We make each person a contact and if they are married, we make the couple an organization. Each spouse is then tagged to the organization.  You can label Husband or Wife.  We also designate if they have a preference for the main contact, so Husband - main contact .  This information is stored on the individual contact as a contact card.  You can also add the information to the organization contact details area.

Contact one - John Smith

Contact two - Jane Smith

Organization - Smith, John & Jane 

Each spouse has a role listed in the details tab for the organization.  The accounting details are also added individually to each contact and then for both to the organization.  Work items are usually listed under the organization.  Having it this way really helps if there is a death or divorce.  Work can be moved to the single contact and the organization contact becomes inactive.  You still have all the information for activity to the couple without having to move it.

Userlevel 2
Badge +4

Great idea to use the Organisation.  Never thought of that.  We have a group for the couple and then have individual contacts as group members for the husband/wife and any other related entites, trusts, companies etc.

Userlevel 6
Badge +10

@max We have our married couples set up basically just like how you have suggested above.

For the Client Type - we have the organization as “Client - Joint”

We then associate the Person contact with the joint couple Organization.

If there is a business involved, we then have a Group that we associate the business organization, the joint couple organization, and the individual person contacts to.

I really like how you have the Client Type as - Signer for the Person contacts.  That’s brilliant.

We struggle with the onboarding task and Zapier.  Instead we have an onboarding work item with tasks to make sure the spouse Person contact gets created, as well as the joint organization, client group (if needed) and then a task to make sure everyone is associated to the correct places.

But we are definitely on the look out for ways to streamline this!

Userlevel 7
Badge +19
Client - 1040 Only
Client - Lost
Client - Needs Categorization
Client - Prospect
Client - Prospect Lost
Client - Terminated
Client - Tier 1
Client - Tier 2
Client - Tier 3
Client Contact - Owner
Client Contact - Signer
Client Contact - Staff
Client Contact - Vendor
Firm - Department
Firm - Development
Firm - Internal
Firm - Vendor
Frim - Applicant
 
Here are our contact types. I’d love to see how other people are dividing up their contacts in Karbon.

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