Contacts & Organizations
Structure your customer database. The quality of your data determines the quality of your prospecting.
⏱️ TL;DR: Pipedrive distinguishes between People (individuals) and Organizations (companies). Each person should be linked to an organization. Import your data via CSV, deduplicate regularly, and enrich your profiles with the fields that matter to your business.
People vs Organizations: Understanding the Structure
In Pipedrive, you have two distinct entity types:
| Entity | What It Is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Person | An individual you interact with | John Smith, Marketing Director |
| Organization | The company or structure | Acme Corp, 50 employees, New York |
An Organization can have multiple People linked to it (the CEO, VP, buyer...). This structure lets you see all your contacts within the same company.
💡 Best Practice
Create an Organization first before creating a Person. This avoids duplicates and makes account-based analysis easier.
Creating a Contact Manually
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Create the Organization first
Menu "+" → "Organization" → Fill in company name and key info (industry, size, website)
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Add the Person
Menu "+" → "Person" → Link to the created Organization
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Fill essential fields
Name, email, phone, job title. The rest can wait.
Bulk Importing Contacts (CSV)
To import your existing database, use CSV import. It's the fastest and most reliable method.
Preparing Your CSV File
Your file should have a clear structure with columns for each field:
| Column | Example | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | Acme Corp | ✅ Yes |
| First name | John | ✅ Yes |
| Last name | Smith | ✅ Yes |
| john@acme.com | ✅ Yes | |
| Phone | +1234567890 | No |
| Job title | Marketing Director | No |
| Website | www.acme.com | No |
⚠️ Before Importing
Clean your file: remove duplicates, verify invalid emails, standardize phone formats. A dirty import = a dirty database.
Running the Import
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Access import
Menu "..." → "Import data" → "From a spreadsheet"
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Upload the file
Drag your CSV or select it. Pipedrive automatically detects columns.
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Map the fields
Associate each column in your CSV with the correct Pipedrive field. Verify mappings.
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Handle duplicates
Choose: "Skip duplicates" or "Update existing".
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Run and verify
Run the import, then check a few random profiles to validate.
Deduplicating Your Contacts
Duplicates pollute your CRM and skew your stats. Pipedrive offers an automatic detection tool.
Finding Duplicates
Go to Menu "..." → "Merge duplicates". Pipedrive searches for similar contacts based on:
- Identical email (maximum reliability)
- Identical first + last name
- Identical phone number
Merging Duplicates
For each detected pair, you can:
- Merge: keep one profile and transfer data from the other
- Ignore: these aren't duplicates (same name, different people)
💡 Automate Cleanup
Schedule a deduplication session every month. 15 minutes that save you hours of confusion.
Enriching Your Contact Profiles
A rich contact profile = better prospecting. Here's what you should fill in:
On the Person
- Email — Primary for communication
- Phone — Mobile preferred
- Job Title — To qualify the decision-maker
- LinkedIn — Useful for social selling
- Notes — Personal context (golf enthusiast, has 3 kids...)
On the Organization
- Industry — For segmentation
- Size (employees) — SMB vs Enterprise
- Website — Info source
- Address — For in-person meetings
- Revenue — If available
📊 Automatic Enrichment
Pipedrive can automatically enrich some data via the "Smart Contact Data" integration (paid). Or use tools like Clay, Clearbit, or Apollo.
Labels and Filters: Organizing Your Contacts
Use labels to categorize your contacts and find them easily.
Useful Label Examples
- 🔥 Hot lead — Hot prospect to handle first
- ❄️ Cold — To reactivate later
- 👑 VIP — Strategic account
- 🚫 Do not contact — Opt-out, GDPR
- 🤝 Partner — Non-prospect, business relationship
Creating Saved Filters
Combine multiple criteria to create custom views:
- Contacts without activity for 30 days
- Contacts in "SaaS" industry with 50+ employees
- Contacts created this month without an associated deal
Linking Contacts and Deals
A deal should always be linked to at least one contact (Person) and one Organization. This allows you to:
- See complete history by account
- Identify multiple deals on the same client
- Know who to contact when a deal stalls
⚠️ Common Mistake
Deals without an associated contact = orphans impossible to track. Enforce the association in your processes.
Exporting Your Contacts
To extract your data (backup, external mailing, analysis...):
- Go to "Contacts" view → "People" or "Organizations"
- Apply your filters if needed
- Click "..." → "Export filter results"
- Choose the fields to export
- Download the CSV
Contacts Checklist
- ☑️ Each Person is linked to an Organization
- ☑️ Email filled in for all People
- ☑️ No duplicates (monthly check)
- ☑️ Labels used for segmentation
- ☑️ Every deal has an associated contact