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How to create a contact in Exterio


Contacts are the people records in your CRM — homeowners, leads, suppliers, business partners, referral sources. Creating a contact puts that person in your database so you can search them, communicate with them, and attach projects to them later.

This article covers the browser version of Exterio (desktop or tablet).

When you'd use it

  • A call comes in and you want the person recorded before you know whether it's a real job
  • You're adding a supplier, adjuster, or referral partner you'll work with across many projects
  • You're starting a new project and the homeowner isn't in your database yet

Before you start

  • Contact Type and Contact Status are customizable lists your account admin controls. If the option you need isn't in the dropdown, an admin can add it in settings.
  • Your account may have custom fields beyond the standard ones, and your admin can set any of them to required. If you're seeing fields this article doesn't mention, that's why.
  • Get consent before you check the opt-in boxes. See the gotchas below.



Option 1: Create a contact on its own

Use this when the person isn't tied to a job yet.

  1. Click the New button under the Exterio logo, then click New Contact.
    Alternatively: go to the Contacts page and click New Contact in the top right. Both open the same form.
  2. Fill in the required fields: First Name, Last Name, Contact Type, and Contact Status.
    • Contact Type is what the person is to your business — customer, lead, supplier, business partner.
    • Contact Status is where they stand within that type.
  3. Add phone numbers as needed. You can store mobile, work, and main numbers separately.
  4. Add the email address.
  5. Set the Contact Owner. This person is responsible for any automated communication sent to the contact until a project exists.
  6. Enter address information. This can match the project address or be different — useful for absentee owners, property managers, and commercial contacts.
  7. If you've gathered consent, check the SMS/call opt-in and email opt-in boxes.
  8. Save.

Option 2: Create a contact while creating a project

Use this when the call is already a job, or when your process is to create every project with a contact attached.

  1. Click New Project.
  2. Search for the contact by name.
    • If they exist, select them and they become the main contact on the project.
    • If they don't, choose to add a new contact. You'll get the same contact form inline, and the contact and project are created in one step.

This saves you from creating a contact and then separately creating a project for them.



After the contact is created

The contact appears in your Contacts list. You can search by name, email address, phone number, address, or any other stored information.

Click the contact to open the contact card, which shows:

  • Everything captured on the form
  • Communication history
  • Campaigns they're part of
  • Contact notes
  • Projects
  • Locations
  • Recent activity

You can email, call, and text directly from the contact card once consent has been gathered.



Tips and gotchas

Search before you create. In Option 2, always search first. Creating a project with a new contact who already exists in your database leaves you with duplicates and split communication history.

Opt-in consent isn't optional paperwork — it's what turns on your automation. If the SMS and email opt-in boxes aren't checked, that contact won't receive automated campaign messages, and your team may not be able to text or email from the contact card. This is the most common reason a contact "isn't getting the automated follow-ups."

Only check these boxes when the customer has actually given consent. Backfilling consent you didn't collect creates real compliance exposure under TCPA and CAN-SPAM.

Contact Owner drives early automation. Until a project exists, automated communication to this contact runs under the Contact Owner. If a lead is going to be handed to a different rep, set the owner correctly at creation rather than after the first automated message has already gone out.

Contact address vs. project address. They don't have to match. Set the contact address to where the person is, and the project address to where the work happens.

Contact Type is a business decision, not a data entry choice. Decide as a team what your types and statuses mean before your crew starts entering records — these lists drive your filtering, reporting, and campaign targeting later.