Managing company relationships

If you work with franchises, parent companies, or companies with multiple locations, there are a few ways that you can track those relationships between companies. The best option will depend on how you deal with each company, and how many companies you have with these types of connections. Learn how to manage relationships between companies here:

Using the relationship tool.

• A relationship will appear at the top of both linked companies.
• This option is best if you only have a few companies that are connected, or if there are other relevant details you’d like to track regarding the relationship.
• For example, if one company acquired the other or if one company has a different focus, you can enter that additional detail in the relationship to track it.
• You can add multiple relationships to a single company.
• Not sure how to create a relationship? Learn more here.

Using a custom contact link field.

• A custom contact link field will appear on the right side of the company, under the “Company info” section. You can click on the linked company to go to that record, and the original company’s name will also appear on the linked company under “Company info.”
• This option is best if you have a large number of companies that are connected. The custom field gives you one specific place to track the connected companies, though only the company name will appear.
• You can link multiple companies to another through a single contact link field.
• You can filter by whether this custom contact link field is empty or not to pull up all of the companies associated with other companies if need be.
• Not sure how to create a custom field? Learn more here.

Using a naming convention.

• If you have a single company with multiple locations, use a naming convention to track them separately. For example, instead of “Acme Co” enter “Acme Co - St. Louis” and “Acme Co - Chicago.”
• This option is best if you have a large number of franchises or companies with multiple locations.
• You can search using the main company name portion (ie, search “Acme Co”) to pull up all franchises or locations with that name.
• Learn more about managing companies that share the same name here.