Manage your CRM database

Last updated: December 16, 2024

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The foundation of your HubSpot account is a database of your business relationships and processes, called the CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Below, learn more about the main components of the CRM, as well as how to get started managing a CRM database in HubSpot.

Before getting started, make sure you’re logged in to your account. Learn more about logging in to HubSpot.

For in-depth video training, check out Set Up Your HubSpot CRM for Growth in the HubSpot Academy.

Understand objects, records, and properties

The main components of the HubSpot CRM are objects, records, and properties.

Objects: represent the different types of relationships and processes your business has. All HubSpot accounts have four standard objects: contacts, companies, deals, and tickets. There are additional objects, such as appointments and services, which can be activated from the object library or if you have an Enterprise account, you can create custom objects. Depending on your use case and HubSpot subscription, there are other objects with unique functionality, such as conversations, products, quotes, calls, and payments. All objects use the same framework, which enables you to segment or report on them.
Record: a single instance of an object, where you can store information in properties and track interactions. You can associate records between objects to understand how they are related.
Properties: the different fields where you can store information on a record. There are default properties included in your account for each object, but you can also create custom properties based on your business needs.

For example, John Doe is a contact record and his email address, johndoe@email.com is stored in the Email contact property. His company, Orange Inc., is a company record, which is associated with the John Doe contact record. As John interacts with your sales and support teams, you can create and associate deals and tickets with both John and his company. You can also log any interactions you’ve had with John, such as emails and calls, on the records.

To better understand your existing object relationships and data, learn how to view an overview of your data model.

Create and import records

Records can be added to HubSpot in multiple ways. You can manually create them or import them in bulk from other systems. When importing, you can import records from a single object (e.g., contacts) or import and associate records from multiple objects (e.g., contacts and companies). You can also use HubSpot data sync to set up a two-way data sync between HubSpot and a variety of other platforms.

Manually create records: Contacts | Companies | Deals | Tickets | Custom objects
Understand the import tool
Set up your import files
Import records and activites
Connect and use HubSpot data sync

Manage properties

Properties allow you to store all the different types of information you collect about your records in HubSpot. This information allows you to segment, track, and report on your HubSpot database. Each of HubSpot's standard objects has its own set of default properties, which apply to all records within that object. You can also create custom properties to store additional types of information about your records.

Default properties: Contacts | Companies | Deals | Tickets
Create and edit properties
Organize, export, or delete properties
Property field types in HubSpot

View and segment records

Each object in HubSpot has an index page where you can see all of the records within that object. On each index page, you can filter records based on the information stored in their property values, and save the filters as a view that you can revisit. For example, you can filter the contacts index page to show all contacts who have not been contacted in the past 90 days. Using the lists tool, you can filter contacts and companies based on property values as well as additional criteria options.

Edit records and log activities

For each record, you can view and edit the information stored in each property. Records have sidebars and preview cards that you can customize to choose which properties are shown on a record. You can also view a timeline of all activities, including calls, meetings, emails, tasks, notes, and more. Certain properties and activities in HubSpot are updated and logged automatically, but you can also edit property values and add activities manually.

Associate records

Associating records allows you to track the relationships between records across different objects. For example, if you have multiple contacts at one company, you can associate all of them to that company. If your account has a Professional or Enterprise subscription, you can also create association labels to define the relationships between your records.

Associate records
Automatic logging of activities between associated records
Create and use association labels (Professional and Enterprise only)

Customize records

On each record, there are sections that display property information, associated records, and how the record is used in other tools, such as lists or reports. To help your account's users access the most useful information, you can customize which properties, associations, and tools are shown on records for each object. If your account has teams, you can also customize record views for specific teams.

Join the HubSpot Community

To engage with other users and get more out of your HubSpot tools, join the HubSpot Community. You can see examples from peers, get tips and advice from experts, learn how to troubleshoot common issues, and submit feedback to the Product team.

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