When setting up your CRM, two custom fields will solve the majority of contact organization needs for sales teams:
Customer Type
Lead Status
These fields serve different purposes. Together, they give you clarity without overcomplicating your database.
1. Customer Type - “What kind of contact is this?”
Customer Type answers:
What category does this person belong to in my business model?
This field is typically a dropdown (single-select), because most contacts should only be one primary type.
Examples dropdown values by industry:
Franchise Consultant:
Candidate
Brand Contact
Vendor
Partner
Franchisor:
Prospect
Active Franchisee
Former Franchisee
Vendor
Manufacturer:
Distributor
Retailer
Vendor
Internal
General Sales Organization:
Active Prospect
Current Customer
Past Customer
Dead Lead
Partner
Best Practices:
Keep this field stable. It should not change frequently.
Avoid using this as a workflow tracker.
Think of it as structural classification, not stage movement.
Keep options limited and clearly defined.
2. Lead Status - “Where are they in the engagement process?”
Lead Status answers:
What is currently happening with this lead?
Unlike Customer Type, this field will change as you work the lead. It acts like a lightweight pipeline for contacts who may not yet be in a deal pipeline. Also like the Contact Type field, this will be a dropdown field.
Common example values for the dropdown:
New Lead
Not Contacted
Contacted
In Conversation
Qualified
Active Opportunity
Customer
Not Interested
Unresponsive
Nurturing
Do Not Contact
Best Practices:
Keep statuses mutually exclusive and clearly defined.
Avoid vague overlap like “Contacted” and “Reached Out.”
Define internally what moves someone from one status to another.
Don’t let this replace your actual Opportunity Pipeline.
Periodically audit for stale statuses.
Why You Should Separate These Two Fields
Many CRM users accidentally combine these ideas into one messy dropdown. That creates confusion like:
Is “Past Customer” a type or a status?
Is “Not Interested” permanent or temporary?
Why do I have 17 options in one field?
By separating:
Customer Type = What they are
Lead Status = What is happening
You gain:
Cleaner segmentation
Better filtering
Clearer reporting
Less long-term database chaos
Advanced Tip - When to Add More Fields
Only add additional classification fields if:
You cannot logically filter using Customer Type and Lead Status
You have a clear reporting requirement
Multiple team members agree on definitions
If you’re unsure, start simple.
CRM structure should reflect reality - not every scenario you might face someday.