Creating Custom Fields

Membrain comes with a number of preconfigured data fields where you capture important information. For example, Company Name, address, Sales Project Name, or value. These fields are necessary for the basic functionality of Membrain and can not be edited or removed. We call these System Fields.

But Membrain is also very customizable, thanks to what we call Custom Fields. These are the fields that you create to track information that is important uniquely to your organization.

The benefits

With Custom Fields, you have the opportunity to add just the fields your company needs - allowing you to plan and build your Membrain account according to your company's unique requirements. An example of a custom field might be Number of Offices, list of Competitors, Project Go Live Date, etc... the possibilities are endless!

Additionally, you can assign who has permission to edit the information in a custom field in a Project. You can select to give 'everyone' access, select teams, specific permission groups, individual users, or only your API Users (i.e., from tools that are integrated with Membrain).

This level of customization is what makes Membrain so flexible to work with, giving you the tailor-made system that suits your business.

Custom fields throughout Membrain

Custom fields can be used in various areas throughout Membrain with a different concept and use behind each one. Learn more about Managing Custom Fields for each area in Membrain.

Process Custom Fields

Only to be used to capture data that is relevant to a Prospect, Sales Project or Account Growth Project. This is important, as this information will be captured for each individual Project, even if it's for a company that has had multiple Projects in the past. For example, Expected Delivery Date, Competitors, Pain Quantified.

When viewing all Prospects/Sales Process/Account Growth Process custom fields, you have the option to filter by Sales Process, which only shows you the Custom Fields in use in that Process or Campaigns. It's also possible to filter by type of custom field.

Company Custom Fields

These fields are used solely for the purpose of capturing Company-specific information, such as Industry, Number of Employees, Annual Revenue, etc.

Contact Custom Fields

Used purely to capture information about the contact itself, for example, Birthday, Favorite Sport, LinkedIn invite accepted?

Activity Custom Fields

These can be used as part of an activity to help capture and track information that is important to the activity type. For example, you could create an appointment custom field to track the meeting outcome or next steps after a customer meeting.

Content Hub Custom Fields

Fields for the Content Hub can help you with managing and segmenting content into categories that make sense to your organization. For example, Training Videos, or Blog Posts. They can give you an extra layer to add context to and help you segment your content the way you want to.

User Custom Fields

User Custom Fields can be useful to help coach your Sales teams based on certain criteria. For example, experience levels. This information could then be used in a playbook in the process to give more or less coaching advice based on this information.

Custom Field Types

Custom Fields are added by a Membrain administrator in two ways:

1. From System Setup - Custom Fields - Select where this information belongs, i.e., Company level, Contact level, Process level (custom fields specifically for Prospect, Sales Project and Account Growth processes), Activity level, User level etc.
2. Or, in the Prospecting, Sales, or Account Growth process editor, by clicking on New Custom Field and choosing from the options presented, below.

When planning to add a Custom Field, you first need to choose the type of Custom Field you would like to create, based on the type of information you wish to capture.
Below you will find a description of each type of custom field available, and when it can be used.

Text

This custom field allows you to capture free-form information. For example: “Describe Client Concerns” or “Clients Decision Process?”

Note: Data in this field is not accessible from the Sales Analysis or Win/Loss reporting areas of Membrain.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

Number

This field allows you to easily capture a number, e.g., budget, number of products required, percentage etc. This number can be visualized with as many as four decimals.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

Single-select list

This choice allows you to create a list of options, where the sales professional can select ONLY ONE option. E.g., the source of the sales project or the actual product this Sales Project is related to.

1. Click on this option and add a Name and Description.
2. On the right-hand side, click on the blue “+Add” link to add a list of options you want to have available to choose from.
3. Apply a specific color to the options, if you wish. If you leave options with no specific color applied, Membrain will apply standardized colors to Dashboard Graphs automatically.
4. Choose between Auto Sort Options to alphabetize your list, use the first option as the default value, or enable the option to show your specified colors in various other views outside of the Dashboard.
5. Click Save & Publish Field when you're happy with your list.

Multi-select list

Here you can create a list of options, where the sales professional can select any number of options. E.g., a list of Competitors or other Products the client may also be interested in.

1. Click on this option and add a Name and Description.
2. On the right-hand side, click on the blue “+Add” link to add a list of options you want to have available to choose from.
3. Apply a specific color to the options, if you wish. If you leave options with no specific color applied, Membrain will apply standardized colors to Dashboard Graphs automatically.
4. Choose between Auto Sort Options to alphabetize your list, use the first option as the default value, or enable the option to show your specified colors in various other views outside of the Dashboard.
5. Click Save & Publish Field when you're happy with your list.

Date

This field allows you to save an important date for the Project, e.g., required by date or proposal deadline.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

Link

Use this option to create a field where a website link or resource outside Membrain can be added.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

File

Creates a field where you can upload a document to. The file will be stored in the Sales Project itself and will be accessible in the Activity Stream.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

Score Card

This option allows you to set up a series of questions that result in a numerical score for your Sales Project. More information on Scorecards can be found here Scorecards.

Requires the Add-on Dynamic Process Tools.

Calculation

Calculation Fields allow you to take values from two or more fields, and perform a calculation on them, to produce a new value. This can be done on numeric fields, scorecards, and even date fields. Learn more about Calculation Fields here Calculation Fields.

Relationship Fields

Relationship fields create a relationship reference from one item to another. The result is a single select or Multi-Select dropdown list with options to choose from, which are pre-determined from the use of a filter. Learn more about Relationship Fields here Relationship Fields.

Currency Fields

Currency Fields allow you to track an item, service, or product you're offering and see its value in monetary terms. Add a currency field to a step in the process and use this data to track the value of these items as a separate value to the overall value of the Sales Project. These fields can be used with Calculation fields, and also in Graphs for the Dashboard. Read more about Currency Fields.

Rich Text Fields

Creates a text field that you can apply rich text to, like Bold, Italic, Underlined, text or background color, bullet point or numeric lists, separators and info panels. You can also insert images and links in this field.

1. Click on this option
2. Add a Name and Description and,
3. Click Save & Publish Field when completed.

Note: Rich Text field data is only available inside of Membrain. There is no way to import or sync data into Rich Text fields. The data can only be exported as text.

Additional Information

For more information on how to manage and maintain your Custom Fields in Membrain, read this article Managing Custom Fields