Interactions and Tasks: Add Interaction/Task
- This tutorial will cover how to add interactions and tasks to contact records and to the "to do" list.
- Interactions and Tasks are a way to record the various ways that you have interacted with a contact, or tasks that you need to perform.
- To record an Interaction or Task, click on the Interactions button next to the "i" icon on the upper right corner of the screen.
- This will open the tasks/interaction screen. You can add a new task or interaction by clicking the Add Interaction button in the upper left hand corner of the screen.
- This will open up the Add Interaction/Task creation dialogue where you will start by indicating if you will be recording an Interaction or Task with the provided slider. Generally, an interaction is some form of direct contact with a person - phone call, left a message, sent a letter, a meeting, etc. Tasks are everything else. However, there is no hard and fast rules when it comes to the distinction. Generally, we tell clients to define the difference internally and then be consistent in how you record items. However, there are key distinction between tasks and interactions in CRM (see next step for details).
- While tasks and interactions are generally interchangeable, there are two key distinction between tasks and interactions in the system:
- Interactions have an Interaction Type field (and tasks do not)
- Tasks have a priority field (and interactions do not)
- Regardless if you are entering a task or interaction, start by providing a descriptive title for the interaction or task with the Title field. This is a required field. The title is for internal use/reference and can be anything you want, though generally it will be something short and descriptive like "outreach call" or "meeting follow up" or "call re: annual gala."
- In the User Name drop down to select the name of the staff member/CRM user that the task/interaction is assigned to. You can only select from those staff/volunteers who are configured as CRM users. This is a required field.
- Continue by specifying the date and time this interaction or task either took place, or is scheduled to occur with the Date Time field. You can backdate (indicate a date in the past) or post date (indicate a date in the future) the Date Time. As with all Date Time fields in CRM, you can type the date or click in the field to bring up the calendar picker. If using the calendar picker, you can use the back and forward arrows to scroll through months or you can click the black year and month bar in the top center to navigate with one click to a different month. Click the black bar (year) at the center top a second time to navigate to a different year.
- If the task or interaction is related to one or more contacts, in the Contact field, start by typing the name of a contact this interaction or task is connected to and then select the name off the list of matching names. The name will be added below the contact field/added to the task/interaction.
- If this person or organization is not in your CRM, you will have the opportunity to create/add one "on the fly" - type the name and hit Tab or Enter and the Quick Add contact box will pop up allowing you to add the new contact. Enter whatever information you have and click Save to close the Quick Add contact Pop Up and continue adding your task/interaction. The contact's name will be added below the contact field/will be added to the task/interaction.
- If an individual contact that you add to the task/interaction has work information/is affiliated with an organizational contact, you can ALSO add the task/interaction to the organizational contact's record by selecting the org from the Organization drop down on the same line as the individual contact. If you do not want to add this task/interaction to the organizational contact's record, then leave the organization field blank.
- Repeat the above steps to add as many contacts as relevant to this task/interaction.
- If you wish to remove a contact you have added to a task/interaction, click the X to the right of the contact's name.
- If you are adding an Interaction, in the Interaction Type drop-down, select the appropriate type of interaction you are recording.
- Please Note: You can configure/customize these interactions types inside CRM at Main Menu: Contacts: Configurations: Interaction Types. You can also customize these interaction types "on the fly"/from the Add Task/Interaction screen by clicking the + button to the right of the Interaction Type drop down. This will open up an "add new interaction type" field - add the name/short description of the Interaction Type and click the icon to the right of the field to add it to the list. You will receive a green "success" message and then your new interaction type will appear in the drop down list.
- The Status drop down (for both tasks and interactions) will allow you to specify the current status of this interaction or task as Open, In Progress, On Hold, or Completed.
- If this interaction or task is connected to a grant your organization is applying for, set the General/Grant toggle to Grant, otherwise leave it set to General. Please Note: if you want to tie this task/interaction to a specific grant application inside your CRM account, do NOT create the task/interaction from here/this way. Create the task/interaction from inside the Grant Application. There is no way to tie a task/interaction created from the Contact View screen or Top Menu Bar to a specific grant application.
- For Tasks, you may set a priority for the record you are creating with the Priority drop-down.
- If this interaction or task is to be performed in the future, you may set a system reminder with the Set Reminder check-box, which will pop up a reminder notification on the screen of the user assigned to this task/interaction at the specified time AS LONG AS THE USER IS LOGGED INTO CRM. Check the Set Reminder box and then specify how much time before the due date the pop up will appear.
- If you wish to have the system send an email reminder to the user this interaction or task is assigned to, mark the Send Email Notification check-box. Please Note: You can configure the e-mail text received by the assignee at Main Menu: Contacts: Notifications: Interaction.
- To record a note related to this interaction or task (such as a recap of the meeting or phone call, or details of the required task), enter the details of the note into the Notes section and click the + button to the right. You can add multiple notes to a task/interaction. Please Note: the note will ALSO show up in the contact's Special Comments field as well as on the task/interaction. Additionally, Notes are dated (in special comments) with the date/time the note was entered/saved and NOT the date/time of the task/interaction.
- Lastly, if you wish to create a follow up interaction or task, check the Follow Up checkbox at the top of the right hand section, and fill in all appropriate details for that interaction or task.
- When you have finished configuring your interaction or task, click the Save button in the lower right.
- The task/interaction will appear on the To Do list (red square/box in the upper left hand corner of your screen).
- It will also appear on the Timeline of the contact(s) record.
- Any notes you entered in the task/interaction will also appear when you click the particular task/interaction in the Time line of the contact record. As noted above, the date/time stamp on the note in special comments will be the date/time the note was created, NOT the date/time of the task/interaction.
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