Accounts and Opportunities Usecase for Custom Objects

About This Usecase

Applies to: ONTRAPORT Pro and above.

This usecase is designed for a business to business type funnel and requires Custom Objects. This usecase includes two Custom Objects, one called “Accounts” and one called “Opportunities.” Accounts will be used to keep track of different companies you might work with and Opportunities will be used for keeping track of different quotes and projects. The Contacts Object will serve to keep track of different employees at each company (Accounts). This allows for a flawless way to keep track of your projects as well as providing a way to easily communicate with employees in the Company. A key to reduce confusion is to call Companies “Accounts” or “Employers” or “Organizations”, as there is already a contact field called “Company.”

The relationships will be set up in the following way:

Accounts Relationships:

• One-to-many with Contacts
• One to one with Contacts for a Primary Employee (optional)

Opportunities Relationship:

• one-to-many with Accounts

The Account Object is set up as the Parent Object in both relationships since there might be more than one Contact at each company, and one might have multiple quotes with each company.

Create the Accounts Object

1. Navigate to Profile Icon > Administration > Data Tab > Custom Objects
   
   
   
2. Click the + New Object button.
   
   
   
3. In the new object field, type in the new object name as “Accounts” and add in the same word in the Singular field. Subsequent fields will populate. Ensure that the names are correct.
   
   
   
4. Click the Next button in the upper right corner.
5. Step Two: Add or Create fields in the Accounts Object
   
   You will be taken to the Field Editor for the newly minted object. In the Field Editor, click on + ADD NEW SECTION button.
   
   
   
6. Click on where it says UNTITLED and rename the section to "Account Information". The section name will appear once complete.
7. Click the + Add Field link to create fields for the object. You can always return to the object's Field Editor to add more fields in the future. Add the following fields:
   • Account Name - Text Field
   • Acct City - Text Field
   • Acct State - State Field
   • Acct Zip/Postal Code - Text Field
   • Acct Region (West, East, North, South) - Dropdown Field
   
   
   
   
8. Click the Next button in the upper right hand corner to proceed.

Creating the Relationships

This is where we can relate the Accounts Object back to Contacts. This step allows us to keep track of which Contacts are in each Account. Keep in mind that the “What should we call this relationship” fields are going to be what the Relational Fields are named in the records.

1. Create a One to Many Relationship Between Accounts and Contacts. Click on + New Relationship
2. Create the Relationship between Contacts by selecting Contacts from the Accounts is related to dropdown menu. Select one to many from the Relationship Type dropdown. Set up the remaining items like this:
   
   
   • Account is related to: Indicates what object the new object related to. In this case, Contacts.
   • Relationship Type: There can be many Contacts that work for an Account. Thus, the relationship between the two is one to many, with the Account being the "one".
   • This Account is: The Account is the Parent in this case, since there will be many Contacts working for one Account.
   • Where should we put the other object in the Account's Record?: This asks where the Contacts' information will appear within the Account Object.
   • Where should we put the Account in the other other object's record?: This asks where the Account's information will appear within the Contact Object.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Account record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Account's record. In this case, you want to indicate that it's the employee or people that work for the Company.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Contact Record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Contact's record. In this case, you want to indicate that it's the Account or Company.
3. Step Four: Configure the Object Settings Create the settings for how you would like the Accounts object to display when you click on the object record. For reference, Contacts display as “[First Name] [Last Name] [Email]” but in this case you are able to choose how the label will show.
4. Click the Insert Merge Field dropdown to insert Merge Fields. We suggest setting it up something like this:
   
   
   
   If you used the above information, when clicking on an Account Object record, the dropdown field settings created above would appear like this:
   
   
   
5. In the Navigation settings panel, add the Accounts Object to the Navigation Menu. Select the icon and color associated with the object. Use the up/down arrows to move the location of the object into the desired location.
   
   
   

Optional - Create a one to one Relationship between Account and Contact Objects

There can be many Employees (Contacts) that work for a Company (Account), but sometimes you'll only want to communicate with one Primary Employee instead of everyone associated to the Account. In this case, you'll want to create an additional one to one Relationship between Accounts and Contacts.

1. Navigate to Profile Icon > Administration > Data Tab > Custom Objects.
2. Click on Accounts.
3. Click ManageRelationships.
4. Click + New Relationship.
5. Create the Relationship between Contacts and Accounts by selecting Contacts from the Account is related to dropdown menu. Select the relationship type as one to one in the second dropdown menu. Set up the remaining items like this.
   
   
   • Account is related to: Indicates what object the new object related to. In this case, Contacts.
   • Relationship Type: There will be one Primary Employee or Contact per Account, thus the relationship is one to one.
   • Where should we put the other object in the Account's Record?: This asks where the Contacts' information will appear within the Account Object.
   • Where should we put the Account in the other other object's record?: This asks where the Account's information will appear within the Contact Object.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Account record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Account's record. In this case, it will be the Primary Employee/person.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Contact Record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Contact's record. This will be called the Business Account.
   • The Relational Fields are labeled differently in order to not confuse between regular employees or Contacts and the primary Contact.

Create the Opportunities Object

After the Account Object and Relationships have been created, we will now want to repeat a similar process for creating an Opportunities Object. The definition of Opportunities will vary based on each business, but in this use-case they should be thought of as potential leads or projects.

1. Navigate to Profile Icon > Administration > Data Tab > Custom Objects
   
   
   
2. Click the + New Object button.
   
   
   
3. In the name new object field, type the new object name such as "Opportunities" and add in the same word in the Singular field. Subsequent fields will populate. Ensure the names are correct.
   
   
   
4. Click the Next button in the upper right corner.
5. You will be taken to the Field Editor for the newly minted object. In the Field Editor, click on + ADD NEW SECTION
   
   
   
6. Click on where it says UNTITLED and rename the section to "Opportunity Information".
7. Click the + Add Field link to create fields for the object. You can always return to the object's Field Editor to add more fields in the future. Add the following fields:
   • Opportunity Name (Text)
   • Amount (Price)
   • Stage (Dropdown)
   • Expected Close Date (Date)
   • Probability (Dropdown)
   • Project Type (List Selection)
   • Loss Reason (Dropdown)
   • Loss Reason Notes (Long Text)
8. Click the Next button in the upper right hand corner to proceed.

The Opportunity fields you add will vary based upon how you define an "opportunity" within your business. In the Stage drop down you may have a sales pipeline that identifies stages such as Lead, Qualified Prospect, Quoted, and Contract Sent. You may have the Probability drop down set for percentages of each one of those stages, with values such as 10%, 20%, 65% and 80%. The Drop Down and List Field types will require at least one entry when you create the field. You can return to complete them later.

Relating the Opportunities Object to the Accounts Object

Now we'll need to relate the Opportunities Object back to the Accounts Object. There will be many Opportunities per Account, so this relationship will be one to many. Keep in mind that the “What should we call this relationship..” fields are going to be what the Relational Fields are named in the records.

Step Three: Create One to Many Relationship Between Opportunities and Accounts

1. Click on + New Relationship.
2. Create the Relationship between Opportunities and Accounts by selecting Accounts from the Opportunity is realted to dropdown menu. Select one to many from the Relationship Type dropdown. Set it up the remaining items like this:
   
   
   
   
   • Opportunity is related to: Indicates what object the new object is related to. In this case, Opportunities is related to Accounts.
   • Relationship Type: There can be many Opportunities per Account. Thus, the relationship between the two is one to many, with the Account being the "one".
   • This Opportunity is: The Account is the Parent in this case, since there will be many potential Opportunities for one Account.
   • Where should we put the other object in the Opportunity's Record?: This asks where the Account's information will appear within the Opportunity Object.
   • Where should we put the Opportunity in the other other object's record?: This asks where the Opportunity's information will appear within the Account Object.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Opportunity record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Opportunity's record.
   • What should we call this relationship in the Account Record?: This asks what the header will appear as in the Account's record.
3. Step Four: Configure the Object Settings Create the settings for how you would like the Opportunities Object to display as. For reference, Contacts display as “[First Name] [Last Name] ([Email])” but in this case you are able to choose how the label will show.
4. Click the Insert Merge Field dropdown to insert Merge Fields. We suggest setting it up something like this:
   
   
   
   If you used the above information, when clicking on a Opportunity Object Record, the dropdown field settings created above would appear like this:
   
   
   
5. In the Navigation settings panel, add the Opportunity's Object to the Navigation Menu. Select the icon and color associated with the object. use the up/down arrows to move the location of the object into the desired location.
   
   
   

Where do I create my Messages?

You'll want to create the message under the specific object that you're going to be sending out information about. For instance, you'll want to create the message under Accounts if it is about the Company and you want to send to the employees. If the message is about the Opportunity and you want to send it to either the Account's Contacts, or the Account's Primary Employee, you'll create the message under Opportunities. Here's how you'd do so:

1. Hover over Opportunities and click Messages, then click New Message.
2. Choose ONTRAmail or HTML Email.
3. Draft your Message, then click Settings tab in the editor.

From here we allow you to drill into the related object fields in order to find the Contact(s) you would like to be emailing. For example, in the “Send email to” field, you can select ACCOUNT >> Employees/People >> Email and this will allow you to send the message to all Contacts associated with the Account.

To be more specific with who you email, this is where the Primary Employee/Person relationship comes in. Instead of emailing every contact in the account, select the following field in the “Send email to” field: ACCOUNT >> Primary Employee/Person >> Email

Note: Currently, you can’t see Relational Fields three layers deep like this inside of a Campaign Email Element or Sequence Email Step, so you will need to configure this directly in the Message editor.

Where do I set up my Opt-in Form?

Since Accounts and Contacts have a one to many relationship, you'll want to create your initial Form under the Contacts Object and pull in the Account Name field into the Form. This will create both the Contact and the Account Object. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Hover over Campaigns, then select Forms > New Form.
   
   
   
2. Choose ONTRAform.
3. Choose start from scratch.
4. Click + Add Block.
   
   
   
5. Choose a Smart Form block.
6. Click Edit on the Smart Form block, then click Add.
7. In the field drop-down, type in Account and click the arrow next to it.
   
   
   

From there, you can choose any of the previously created Account fields such as Account name, Account Address etc. You can also add the "Primary Employee" field onto this form. Once you've added the Account and Primary Employee fields, you can publish this form and add it onto your site. Now people will be able to fill out this form and enter in their Account (Company) information as well as choose who they'd like the Primary Employee to be between the Company and you.

Putting it all together

To recap, we've created two different objects, Accounts and Opportunities. The Accounts Object represents Companies, and the Opportunities Object represents projects or quotes that you have with that specific Company. We then created three relationships: one to many between Accounts and Contacts, one to many relationship between Accounts and Opportunities, and an optional one to one relationship between Accounts and Contacts with the relationship being around a Primary Employee.

With these relationships, you now have the ability to enter in Companies to your ONTRAPORT account, and then link them to everyone who works for that Company as well as identify the Primary person you'll be speaking to from each Company. You also have the ability to link different projects that you have going with each Company.

Articles in this section

• Introduction to Custom Objects
• Events Usecase for Custom Objects
• Testimonials and Surveys Usecase for Custom Objects
• Accounts and Opportunities Usecase for Custom Objects