How to Use Contact Types to Segment Contacts

Contact Type is a built-in dropdown on every Sparkforge contact record. Use it to mark relationship stage — Lead, Client, Prospect, whatever your business needs.

What Contact Type does

It's a customizable, single-select dropdown that defines a contact's role or lifecycle status. Required when creating a new contact. Each contact has exactly one Contact Type at a time, which makes it ideal for high-level segmentation. For multi-label scenarios, use Tags instead.

Set Up Contact Types

1. Go to Settings > Custom Fields.
2. Find the Contact Type custom field.
3. Check the box, click Bulk Actions, choose Edit.
4. Add, rename, or delete options (Lead, Client, Cold Prospect, etc.).

Assign a Contact Type

Manually

1. Open Contacts.
2. Click the contact.
3. Pick a value from the Contact Type dropdown.

Via workflow

1. Add an Update Contact Field action.
2. Select the Contact Type field.
3. Pick the desired value.

Filter Contacts by Type

1. Go to Contacts > Smart Lists.
2. Click More Filters → Type.
3. Pick the Contact Type to filter on.

Save the Smart List and use it for targeted campaigns, automation, and reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a contact have multiple Contact Types?

No. It's a single-select field. Use Tags for multi-label scenarios.

Can Contact Type changes trigger workflows?

Yes. Use the Contact Changed trigger and watch the Contact Type field.

Can I rename or delete a Contact Type that's already in use?

Yes. Renaming updates every contact using that value. Deleting clears it from those contacts.

Can I bulk update Contact Types?

Yes. Select contacts in a Smart List, run the Update Contact Field bulk action, and set the new value.