Overview: Standard/Custom Objects

The Objects feature in Wind Solutions allows businesses to manage their data efficiently using both standard and custom objects. This functionality empowers organizations to create tailored data structures, connect different datasets, and automate workflows. Whether you're managing contacts, companies, or unique data entries specific to your business, the Objects feature provides a versatile framework to streamline operations.

Key Features

Standard Objects

Standard objects, such as Companies and Contacts, are pre-configured entities that come built-in with the system. These are designed to handle essential business data, including:

• Contacts: Store details of leads, clients, and partners.
• Companies: Manage organizational information and associate it with contacts and opportunities.

 

 

Custom Objects

Custom objects provide flexibility to design unique data models tailored to your business needs. With custom objects, you can:

• Define Custom Fields: Choose from a variety of field types, such as text, numbers, or dropdowns.
• Create Associations: Link custom objects to standard objects or other custom objects.
• Integrate with Workflows: Use custom objects in triggers and actions within automation workflows.
• Customize Icons and Descriptions: Make data intuitive and visually distinct.

 

 

Associations

Associations enable the creation of meaningful relationships between objects, such as linking contacts to companies or custom entities. This feature supports:

• One-to-Many Relationships: For instance, a company linked to multiple contacts. (We are working on implementing the custom relationship option to integrate one to many relationships)
• Many-to-Many Relationships: For complex scenarios like projects involving multiple stakeholders and teams. (Default for now)

 

 

Automation Integration

Custom objects can be seamlessly integrated into automation workflows to trigger actions based on data updates, such as sending notifications or updating records.

 

 

Navigating the Object Feature

To access and manage the Objects feature, navigate to Settings > Objects. This section provides a centralized hub to manage standard and custom objects within your system. As shown in the first image, you can explore standard objects like Companies and Contacts, or start creating custom objects tailored to your business needs by clicking on the Add Custom Object button. This feature ensures flexibility for structuring your data effectively.

Companies

The Companies section allows you to manage organizational data and associate it with other objects like Contacts. To navigate here, select Companies from the Objects screen. In this section, you can:

• Add custom fields to enrich the data structure.
• View and create associations (The create associations for Companies Feature will come soon) between Companies and other objects, such as Contacts, using the Associations tab. The image illustrates how associations like a "Primary Company" relationship between a Company and multiple Contacts can be managed.

 

 

Contacts

In the Contacts section, you can maintain and manage individual client or lead details. Access this by selecting Contacts under Objects. You can:

• Add custom fields for personalized contact data tracking.
• View existing associations or create new ones by clicking on the Create Association button. For example, you can create many-to-many relationships between Contacts and Opportunities (this is existing by default), ensuring a flexible data structure. The image shows an example of how to configure these associations using the simple interface.

The Create Association functionality enables you to define meaningful relationships between objects. As seen in the example image, you can:

1. Select the objects to associate (e.g., Contacts).
2. Name the association label (e.g., "Owner") and switch between one and a par of labels.
3. Choose the relationship type many-to-many (this is default by now - we are working on adding custom relationships in the near future).
4. Preview the relationship before saving.

This feature helps streamline data connections and enables better organization of relationships across your CRM system.

 

 

To create a custom object, click on Add Custom Object in the Objects menu. As illustrated, you will need to:

• Define a singular and plural name for the object (e.g., Car and Cars).
• Set the primary display field and field type, such as Single Line Text Field for key identifiers like a VIN number.
• Add an optional icon and description for better clarity.

Custom objects provide the flexibility to store and manage specialized data that doesn’t fit into standard objects. This feature is ideal for businesses with unique data requirements. After configuration, custom objects can be associated with workflows and other CRM elements for seamless integration.

Setting up Custom Objects

In this Demonstration we will create a Custom Object named “Pet” as example of Vet use case who needs to save Data of Patients.

Create Custom Object

To set up a custom object, navigate to Settings > Objects and click on the Add Custom Object button. In this example, we are creating a custom object named Pet to manage veterinary data such as animal type, breed, and weight.

Enter Object Details: Provide singular and plural names for the object, such as "Pet" and "Pets."

Primary Display Field: Define the primary field, such as "Pet Name," and choose a suitable field type (e.g., Single Line Text Field).

Add Description: Include a brief description of the object to clarify its purpose, for example: “This is an object for a veterinary scenario to store data like animal type, breed, and weight.”

Create Custom Fields: Click on Create and Add Custom Field to add specific attributes to your object, like dropdowns for animal type or text fields for breed.

Now you can click on “Create and add Custom Field” to create the Object and directly get transferred to the Custom Fields Settings.

Create Custom Fields for Custom Object

Once the object is created, you can add custom fields to capture more specific details:

1. Navigate to Settings and the Custom Fields section.
2. Click on Add Field and choose a field type, such as dropdown, text box, or number field.
3. Configure the field settings, such as adding dropdown options for Animal Type (e.g., Dog, Cat, Horse, Rat).
4. Add additional fields like Breed and Weight to further structure the data.

These fields will now appear under the object and allow for precise data collection.

As you can see in the following Image our Object “Pets” is already active and located directly under the Opportunities Feature. We created 2 more custom fields for the Pet Object as you can see in the following List - “Breed” and “Weight”.

Manage Custom Object and create Owner Association

Under Settings > Objects, locate the custom object (e.g., Pets) and click the options menu to edit details or add more fields. The object includes two tabs:

1. Details: View or modify the object’s settings, such as its name, primary display field, and description.
2. Associations: Create relationships between the custom object and other objects like Contacts

Create Association

To add an association, navigate to the Associations tab and click Create Association. For example, to link Pets with Contacts:

1. Choose the associated object (e.g., Contacts).
2. Choose either a single label or a pair of label and name the association (in our case a Owner-Pet relationship).
3. Define the relationship type, such as Many Contacts to Many Pets (As of now this is Default and cannot be changed). 
4. Preview the association and click Save.

This enables seamless linking of owners with their pets within the system.

After saving you will see your Association here within the Pets Object - here you can also edit existing ones, delete and create new ones.

Manage Object Data

Once the custom object and fields are set up, navigate to the Pets section in the left menu. Here, you can:

• View and manage existing records.
• Add new entries by clicking on Add Pet, where fields like Pet Name, Animal Type, Breed, and Weight can be filled.

This section serves as the central hub for managing object data efficiently.

Advanced Filters / Manage Fields

As of now you can only create temporary Advanced filters and not save them as Smart Lists, as you can see in the image below the “+List” Button is already there - this i because we are currently working on extending the Custom Object Feature so stay tuned!

The Advanced Filters feature allows you to filter records within the custom object:

1. Click on Advanced Filters and select the criteria, such as filtering pets by Animal Type (e.g., Dog).
2. Apply multiple conditions using the Add Filter button for complex queries.

Under the Manage Fields option, you can:

• Rearrange fields visible in the table.
• Add or remove fields from the view for better data customization.

Add Object Data

To create a new record, such as adding a pet, navigate to the Pets section and click the Add Pet button.

Enter the required fields, such as Pet Name, which is mandatory, and save the record. Once saved, additional details like Animal Type, Breed, and Weight can be filled out under the pet’s profile.

Note that the Owner field here is a standard option that functions similarly to assigning a "Product Owner." This means the Owner represents an employee or individual responsible for a specific record, such as a contact or lead. For example, in a veterinary clinic, the Owner could be a vet who is dedicated to specific Patients. In contrast, the Contacts object manages the actual pet owners or clients.

In this case, the Owner field is linked to the employee managing the record, while associations will later connect the pet to its actual owner from the Contacts object. This Owner(Contact)-Pet relationship will be created in the next steps.

Within the Object(Pet) Details section you can also copy the Record ID and delete the selected Record using the three dot icon in the top.

To associate a contact with a pet, navigate to the Related Objects section under the pet's profile and click Associate New Contact. 

A list of available contacts will appear. Select the relevant contacts, such as Felix Schmidt and Hannah Testfrau, and assign their roles, like "Pet Owner."

After saving, the associated contacts will appear in the pet’s profile. You can manage these relationships by:

• Viewing the contact details.
• Editing the label for the relationship.
• Removing the contact from the association.

In the Contacts section, you can see the associations linked to a specific contact. For instance, under Hannah Testfrau’s profile, the associated pet "Sammy" is displayed. This provides a holistic view of relationships and connected data.

Edit Object Data

Click on the “Pet Name” as highlighted within the Image below to edit a record. Here you can switch between Record Details and Record Associations as you have seen before.

Automation/Workflow Integration - Objects

Navigate to “Automation” in the left Feature Sidebar to access the Workflow Feature. The Workflow List provides a centralized view of all workflows created within the sub-account. Users can create new workflows by selecting a predefined recipe or starting from scratch. When integrating custom objects into workflows, users can use specific triggers and actions related to those objects, offering enhanced flexibility to address unique business needs.

To use Objects related automation workflows you need to create a Custom Object first, which is covered in the headlines above this one. After creating a Object, in our case the “Pet” Object, if we click on create Workflow we can see the option “Pets based workflow (beta)”. This means that for each object created you will find another “Workflow Type” visible here.

Click on the Create Workflow button and choose the appropriate starting point. For instance, selecting the “Pet-Based Workflow” allows you to directly incorporate custom object data like “Pet Created” or “Pet Updated” into the workflow logic.

Workflow triggers initiate actions when specific events occur within the system. Custom objects add a layer of versatility to these triggers. For example, triggers can be set for events such as:

• Pet Created: Automatically respond when a new custom object record is added.
• Pet Updated: Trigger updates or communications when an existing record is modified.

This allows businesses to create dynamic workflows that adapt in real-time to changes in data.

Custom objects expand the possibilities for actions within workflows. Some of the available actions include:

• Create or Update Records: Add or modify custom object entries, such as creating a new pet profile or updating an existing record.
• Clear Fields: Reset specific fields in custom objects to maintain data accuracy.

Additional workflow actions allow integration with external tools like Google Sheets, enabling seamless data sharing. Internal workflow tools such as conditional logic (If/Else), timers (Wait), and formatters (Date/Time Formatter) further enhance workflow complexity and precision.

When to Use Custom Objects vs. Standard CRM Objects

When Should You Consider Using Custom Objects?

Custom objects are beneficial in the following scenarios:

• Your business has unique relationships or processes: If your data doesn't fit within existing objects like Contacts, Companies, or Opportunities, custom objects let you define structures tailored to your specific needs.
• You need to track data beyond standard CRM objects: For example, managing event registrations, properties, inventory, or any specialized information requiring a structured CRM approach.
• You want to extend CRM functionality: Custom objects can be linked to standard CRM objects, enabling you to build complex relationships and workflows within your CRM system.

When to Stick with Standard CRM Objects

While custom objects are powerful, they may not always be necessary. Consider the following:

• Can standard CRM objects meet your needs? Many businesses effectively manage their data using Contacts, Companies, and Opportunities. Custom objects are only necessary if existing structures fall short.
• Will you lose access to specific CRM features? Some features, such as bulk email campaigns, may only be available with standard objects like Contacts.
• Is there a risk of data duplication? Ensure custom objects do not overlap with standard objects to avoid inconsistencies and confusion.

Examples of When to Use or Avoid Custom Objects

Use Case 1: Real Estate (Homes)
A property management business can create a custom object for "Homes" to track specific property data, such as location, size, availability, status, and maintenance. This information can then be associated with standard objects like Contacts (tenants or buyers) and Opportunities (sales or rental agreements).

Use Case 2: Pets & Veterinary Care
A veterinary clinic could use a custom object for "Pets" to record data like medical history, owner information, treatments, and vaccination schedules, all within one system.

When Not to Use: Event Attendees
If organizing an event and needing to send invitations or collect survey responses, standard objects like Contacts are more efficient than creating a custom object for "Event Attendees." Using Contacts ensures compatibility with marketing and automation features.

When Not to Use: Client Communications for Law Firms
If your law firm already uses Opportunities to track cases and interactions, adding a custom object for "Client Communications" may lead to overlap and redundancy. Instead, continue using Opportunities to centralize relevant details.

Best Practices

Plan Your Data Structure: Before creating custom objects, outline the data fields and relationships you need. You can do this using ER-Models - If you need help Modeling your required Data Structure you can Contact us for additional help.

Use Descriptive Names: Name custom objects and fields clearly to avoid confusion.

Leverage Associations: Create meaningful links between objects to improve data navigation and reporting.

Test in a Sandbox: Experiment with new objects and workflows in a test environment to ensure accuracy.

Regularly Audit Your Objects: Review and update custom objects to keep them relevant to your business processes.

Combine the Objects and Custom Fields Features: Create Custom Objects with custom Fields which you can associate with different Objects such as Contacts.

FAQs

What are “Custom Fields” within Wind Solutions?

Custom fields in Wind Solutions allow you to capture specific information beyond the default CRM fields. These fields can be associated with objects like Contacts, Companies, or Opportunities. Users can configure data input types such as text, dropdowns, checkboxes, or file uploads. Each custom field is assigned a unique key, enabling its integration into automation and personalization processes.

 

 

What are Custom “Objects” within Wind Solutions?

Custom objects enable businesses to create entirely new data structures tailored to their needs. These objects can represent entities such as products, projects, or specialized records not covered by standard CRM features. They allow for associations, such as linking contacts to opportunities or companies, with configurations like “many-to-many” or “one-to-many” relationships. This feature provides advanced customization for business workflows.

 

 

What are “Custom Values” within Wind Solutions?

Custom values are reusable variables that can hold static data, such as URLs, promotional codes, or standard text snippets. These values can be referenced in automations, email templates, and workflows using their unique key (e.g., {{custom_values.promotion_name}}). They streamline processes by ensuring consistency and reducing manual updates.

 

 

Conclusion

The Objects feature in Wind Solutions offers unparalleled flexibility for managing and organizing your business data. By leveraging both standard and custom objects, along with associations and workflow integrations, you can create a streamlined, automated environment tailored to your unique needs. Start planning your object structure today and unlock the full potential of your data management system.