Think of an Entity as a core building block in Smackdab. It represents a specific type of essential business information, acting as a container for all its related details (which are stored in fields).
Common Examples of Entities You'll Use Every Day:
Deal: A sales opportunity with a potential customer who is interested in your products or services.
Contact: An individual person you're communicating with, like a lead or a client.
Company: An organization or business that your contacts are associated with.
Activity: A recorded action you've taken, such as a call, meeting, or email.
Product: An item or service your business sells.
Entities are the foundation that allows you to efficiently track, organize, and manage all your business activities in one place.
Modules vs. Entity Lists: What's the Difference?
While both help organize your CRM data, they serve two distinct and complementary purposes. Think of it this way: a Module is like a major department in your company, while an Entity is the detailed roster of everything happening within that department.
Modules:
Modules are the high-level sections within your CRM that group together related information and tools. They represent the primary functions of your business.
Key Characteristics:
Represent major business areas like Sales, Marketing, or Support.
Provide a big-picture view of your business operations.
House various related entities and workflows.
Examples of Modules:
Sales Module: This is home to your Deals, Contacts, and Companies.
Marketing Module: Here you'll find Campaigns, Email Lists, and performance reports.
Support Module: This contains things like support Tickets and your Knowledge Base.
Entity:
An Entity is a detailed, spreadsheet-style view of all the individual records for a specific entity. This is your hands-on view where you can manage and interact with your data.
Key Characteristics:
Focuses on one single type of information at a time (like a list of all your Contacts).
Presented in a clean, table-like format that's easy to read.
Lets you easily sort, filter, and search your records.
Perfect for making quick updates or managing many records at once.
Examples of an Entity:
A Deals list showing all your open opportunities, with columns for Deal Name, Value, Stage, and Expected Close Date.
A Contacts list displaying all your individual contacts, with columns for Name, Email, Phone Number, and Company.
In short, Modules provide the broad framework and structure for your work, while an Entity gives you the detailed, actionable views you need to get things done within those modules.
How They Work Together Seamlessly
It's a simple and effective partnership: Modules divide your CRM into clear, functional departments (like the Sales module). Within that module, you use an Entity to work with your specific data (like your Deals list or Contacts list).
This means you get the best of both worlds: the module provides the overarching context and powerful tools for a business function, while the entity lists give you the focused, actionable space to manage your day-to-day records efficiently.