The Contacts section is where your team keeps customer records. A customer record connects a person or company to their cars, billing history, documents, portal access, tags, notes, and communication history.

Use Contacts whenever you need to answer questions like:

• Who owns this car?
• What is the best email or phone number for this customer?
• Has this customer been invited to the portal?
• What will this customer see after they sign in?
• Which customers are leads, active customers, or former customers?
• Which documents, invoices, and cars belong to this customer?

What you can do from Contacts

• Add a customer - create one customer record at a time.
• Import customers - bring in a spreadsheet when you are moving from another system.
• Find and filter customers - search by name, email, phone, company, status, stage, type, or source.
• View and edit customer details - update name, email, phone, address, company, birthday, notes, and CRM information.
• Link cars and documents - connect vehicles, contracts, files, billing, and history to the correct person.
• Manage additional contacts - add a spouse, assistant, bookkeeper, or vehicle manager with their own communication preferences.
• Invite a customer to the portal - send a sign-in link so the customer can view the information your team has prepared for them.
• Guide a customer through the portal - help customers sign in, find cars, review events, and understand billing or onboarding steps.

Customer journey from record to portal

Most customer portal problems start before the customer signs in. Use this simple flow to give customers a smooth first experience:

1. Prepare the record

   Add the customer, confirm the email address, link cars, and attach any documents or billing items the customer should see.

2. Invite the customer

   Send the portal invite only after the record looks ready. This helps the customer trust what they see when they sign in.

3. Help the customer get oriented

   Explain the main portal areas in simple terms: Events, Cars, Shop, Billing, Documents, and Settings.

4. Keep the record current

   When cars, documents, billing, or contact details change, update the customer record so the portal stays accurate.

Finding customers quickly

The Contacts list supports search, filters, and multiple view modes so you can find the right customer fast:

• Search — type any part of the name, email, phone number, or company name. Results update as you type.
• Table view — a sortable, column-customizable table with inline actions. Show or hide columns for phone, email, cars, CRM stage, last contact date, and more.
• Card view — a responsive grid of customer cards with profile photos, useful for visual browsing.
• Board view — a Kanban-style board grouped by CRM pipeline stage. Drag and drop customers between columns to update their stage instantly.
• Filters — narrow the list by active/inactive status, CRM stage, customer type, and CRM source.

The customer detail page

Click any customer to open their detail page. This single page is the source of truth for everything about the customer:

• Personal & Contact — name, company, email, phone, address, birthday, profile photo, and location assignment.
• CRM Information — pipeline stage, customer source (with detail), customer groups (types), and freeform tags.
• Cars — all vehicles linked to this customer, with quick actions to assign more.
• Contacts — additional people associated with the customer account (spouse, assistant, bookkeeper, etc.) with individual communication preferences and portal access.
• Documents — contracts, agreements, and uploaded files tied to the customer.
• Activity — a timeline of communications, events, and changes.
• Billing — payment methods, payment history, and fee configuration (when payments are enabled).

How-to guides

1. Add a customer

   Create a new customer record with contact details and CRM classification. Read the guide →

2. Import customers and cars from a spreadsheet

   Bring existing customer and vehicle lists into the system during onboarding. Read the guide →

3. Find and filter contacts

   Use search, filters, table view, card view, and board view to find the right record quickly. Read the guide →

4. Manage contact tags and CRM fields

   Use tags, pipeline stages, customer types, and sources to organize and segment your customer base. Read the guide →

5. Link cars and documents to a customer

   Connect vehicles, contracts, and uploaded files to the correct customer record. Read the guide →

6. Edit customer details

   Update contact information, CRM fields, notes, and account status safely. Read the guide →

7. Manage additional contacts

   Add assistants, spouses, bookkeepers, and other people who help manage the account. Read the guide →

8. Invite a customer to the portal

   Send a sign-in link so the customer can access their cars, billing, documents, and schedule from the customer portal. Read the guide →

9. Guide a customer through the portal

   Help a customer sign in, understand what they can do, and complete common portal tasks with confidence. Read the guide →

Recommended first-time setup order

If your facility is new to Car Storage Software, use this order:

1. Set up CRM fields

   Review Settings -> CRM so your stages, sources, and customer groups match your process.

2. Add or import customers

   Add one customer manually or import your spreadsheet.

3. Add or import cars

   Create the vehicles and link them to the correct customers.

4. Attach documents and contracts

   Add the paperwork customers need before they use the portal.

5. Invite customers to the portal

   Invite customers after their record looks complete.

6. Support their first sign-in

   Use Guide a customer through the portal to explain what customers see and how your team should answer common portal questions.