Managing groups and rosters

Before you start

You'll need:

1. CRM enabled on your account.
2. Contacts in Patch — either already synced from your POS/booking system or imported via CSV.

Creating a group

1. Go to CRM → Groups.
2. Click New Group.
3. Enter a name (e.g. "Lincoln Elementary 5th Grade").
4. Choose a type from the picker:
   • Church
   • School
   • Sorority / Fraternity
   • Corporate
   • Sports Team
   • Non-profit
   • Community Group
   • Other
5. Click Save.

You can also create a group inline when adding contacts to a group from the Contacts list.

Adding contacts to a group

One at a time

Open a contact record → set their CRM Groups field.

From the Contacts list

1. Go to Contacts.
2. Filter or search to find the people you want.
3. Select them (checkboxes).
4. Click Add n contacts to a group from the batch actions menu.
5. Pick an existing group or create one inline.

Bulk import a roster

For large rosters (a school class, a team roster), use a two-step process:

1. Import the contacts via Settings → Imports — a normal CSV import, nothing special about CRM.
2. Filter the Contacts list to that import (use the import filter).
3. Select all matching contacts.
4. Click Add n contacts to a group and pick or create the group.

Why two steps? Group membership is managed through CRM groups, not through the contact import directly. This keeps member counts accurate and prevents a CSV column from accidentally rewriting group membership.

Re-running the association is safe — adding the same contacts again won't create duplicates.

Group types

Every group has a type. Types help you filter and report:

• Filter the Groups tab by type to see all schools, all churches, etc.
• Click View all type contacts to see every contact across all groups of that type — useful for "email all the schools."

Types are suggestions, not a fixed list. If your account uses a custom type, it stays in the picker for future groups.

Updating everyone in a group

1. Go to CRM → Groups → click a group → View contacts (or filter Contacts by CRM Groups).
2. Select all contacts.
3. Click Bulk Edit to update fields across the group.

This uses the standard Patch bulk-edit flow — no CRM-specific steps.

Removing contacts from a group

Remove a contact from a group on their individual contact record (edit the CRM Groups field). There is no batch-remove action in the UI yet.

Groups and deals

Groups and deals are separate concepts:

• A group is an organization (the school, the company).
• A deal is a specific booking enquiry (the Lincoln Elementary field trip on March 15).

A contact can belong to multiple groups and have multiple deals. Use groups for segmentation and reporting; use deals for tracking the sales pipeline.

Troubleshooting