Custom field examples by industry

A custom field earns its place on a customer record if it changes what your team says or does, and if someone will keep it up to date. For most service businesses that means two to five fields specific to the industry: the insurance plan at a dental office, the vehicle at a repair shop, the pet at a groomer. Everything else is a note.

Field types

• Text for names and short free text.
• Number for counts and sizes.
• Date for things that recur or expire.
• Select for one choice from a fixed list.
• Multi-select for several choices from a list.
• Yes/no for a single fact.

Prefer select over text wherever the answers repeat. "Delta", "delta dental" and "DELTA" are three values in a text field and one in a select.

Examples by industry

| Industry | Fields | Types | |---|---|---| | Dental | Insurance plan, preferred hygienist, last cleaning date | Select, select, date | | Med spa | Treatments had, preferred provider | Multi-select, select | | Home services | Service address, system type, system age | Text, select, number | | Salon | Preferred stylist, colour formula on file | Select, yes/no | | Automotive | Vehicle (year, make, model), mileage at last visit | Text, number | | Veterinary | Pet name, species, vaccination due date | Text, select, date | | Pet grooming | Breed, size, temperament notes on file | Text, select, yes/no | | Legal | Matter type, conflict check done | Select, yes/no | | Accounting | Return type, filing deadline | Select, date | | Real estate | Buying or selling, target area, timeline | Select, text, select | | Fitness | Goal, membership type | Select, select | | Landscaping | Lot size, service frequency | Select, select |

The test for each field

Ask two questions. Would the answer change what someone says or books? Will someone keep it current? If either answer is no, it is a note, not a field.

Where not to use fields

Anything sensitive that you do not need: diagnoses, account numbers, Social Security numbers. If you do not need it to do the job, do not store it.

Frequently asked questions

How many custom fields is too many?

More than your team fills in. Check after a quarter; fields empty on most records should go.

Can a field hold several pets or vehicles?

A single record usually holds one value per field. For several, use a note, or a text field listing them.

Should the AI fill fields?

If your tool supports it, with a person confirming. Guessed data is worse than empty data.

What Frontiva does here

Frontiva's CRM lets you define custom fields once (text, number, date, select, multi-select or yes/no) and they appear on every contact, alongside notes, tags and a lifecycle stage. See the CRM fields a service business actually needs.