Setting Up a Personal CRM in Notion to Manage

• Your Contacts Managing relationships and networking is crucial, but keeping track of all your contacts can be overwhelming.
• Using Notion as a Personal CRM (Customer/Contact Relationship Management tool) lets you have one flexible system for your contacts, notes, and follow-up reminders.
• In Notion, you can build a contact manager that works exactly how you want.

Your Contacts

Managing relationships and networking is crucial, but keeping track of all your contacts can be overwhelming. Using Notion as a Personal CRM (Customer/Contact Relationship Management tool) lets you have one flexible system for your contacts, notes, and follow-up reminders. In Notion, you can build a contact manager that works exactly how you want. Instead of multiple apps or messy spreadsheets, you create a custom database. For example, you might start by creating a Contacts database with properties like Name , Company , Email , Phone , Last Contacted , and Tags (like friend, coworker , or lead). You can also add a Reminder Date field so Notion will remind you to follow up .

Why Use Notion as a CRM?

Notion isn’t a dedicated CRM out of the box, but it has all the building blocks. It has databases, reminders, and a mobile app, making it surprisingly powerful for relationship management . As one guide notes, Notion “can track contacts and deals with templates” and is great for networking . The flexibility means you can include exactly the fields you need (like birthdays or referral source) and create different “views” of your data (for example, list view, table view, or even Kanban board).

With Notion’s different views, you can see your contacts in whichever way helps you most . Notion also has reminders and mobile access, so you won’t miss checking in with people. You can type a date (e.g. “@Mar 10, 2025 10:00”) in a date property to set a reminder , so Notion pings you to reach out . Because Notion syncs across devices, you can add a note or a new contact on your phone as easily as on desktop.

In fact, one user points out that Notion’s mobile app is “easy to use”, so logging a new contact or checking who you’re overdue to message is simple on the go . Key Benefit: All your contact info and networking notes live together . You can link a contact to projects, tasks, or meeting notes within Notion. Unlike spreadsheets, Notion is optimized for writing notes and adding details. As one user said, when organizing relationships in Notion, it became “easy to build valuable habits” of staying in touch .

Step-by-Step: Building Your Notion CRM

Create a “Contacts” Database. In a new Notion page, choose to add a Table - Full Page database. Rename it "Contacts." Add columns (properties) such as: Name (Title), Company (Text), Phone (Phone), Email (Email), Last Contacted (Date), Next Follow-Up (Date), Tags (Multi-select for categories like “Networking”, “Personal”, “Mentor”, etc.), and Notes (Text). You can customize as needed – for example, an “Industry” or “Location” field. As a source advises, start with a template if you like, then “add contact and deal fields, set follow-up dates, link notes and tasks, and create pipeline views” .1

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Add Some Contacts. Fill in a few contacts to test it. Each contact’s page (opened by clicking their name) can hold more info: add details like where you met, what you talked about, or even attach their LinkedIn profile link or resume.

Use Different Views. Create multiple views of your Contacts database

Table View: Shows all contacts in rows (like a spreadsheet). Good for scrolling through everything. Kanban Board View: For example, set “Tags” or a “Stage” property and make a Kanban view. You could track relationship stage (e.g. To Connect, In Touch, Just Met, Longtime Friend) as columns. A Kanban board is “ideal for organizing tasks within each phase” of your networking process , giving you a visual pipeline of contacts.

Calendar or Timeline View: If you add a Next Follow-Up date property, a calendar view can show upcoming follow-ups and birthdays. Custom Views: Filter by tag (e.g., show only professional contacts) or sort by Last Contacted to see who you haven’t spoken to in a while. Notion’s database views make it easy to organize your contacts “in a variety of formats” . Set Reminders and Tasks. Use the @Date feature or an actual Date property to remind you when to reach out.

For instance, if you want to send an email in two weeks, set Next Follow-Up to that date and add a note. Notion will surface that as a reminder . You can also link a contact to a Task database (if you have one) so you can create follow-up tasks like “Check in with Alice about her new job.” Maintain Notes. Each contact’s page can include detailed notes. Maybe you add a “Discussion” section for the last conversation summary, or a “Interests/Topics” list. This centralizes your relationship context.

As one writer found, with Notion’s flexibility, they could switch from Excel sheets to a Notion database and include notes easily . Review and Update. Make it a habit: weekly or monthly, review your CRM. Sort by Last Contacted to find people you haven’t talked to in months. Use Notion’s built-in filter to highlight contacts where Next Follow-Up is due or past due. Because Notion can sort and filter your data, you won’t accidentally “neglect” someone .

Pro Tip: You can link other pages (like projects or meeting notes) to contacts. For example, if you collaborated with a contact on a project, link that project page to the contact’s entry. Over time, your Notion workspace becomes a network graph of contacts and related info.

Example Setup (No-Code Template Mention)

If you’d rather not build from scratch, you can start with a free Notion Personal CRM template . Notion’s community offers templates for contact management – one template’s author even lists features like built- in reminders and mobile-optimized design for staying in touch with people . Whether you create your own database or use a template, the key is to make Notion your central contact tracker .2. 3. 4. 5.

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Why Notion CRM Can Help Your Networking

Centralized Data: With everything in one tool, your business cards, notes from meetings, email histories (via copy-paste), and next steps all live in Notion. You avoid digging through multiple apps. Customizable: Notion is “like a digital notebook on steroids” . You aren’t locked into rigid fields. Need to add “Social Media Handle” or “Anniversary Date”? Just add a new property. Scalable: Start with a few contacts, and it grows.

For a simple personal CRM it’s great; if you try to use it as a heavy enterprise sales CRM, you might find some limits (Notion lacks built-in email automation or advanced analytics ). But for managing friendships, mentors, or small professional networks, it works well. Reminders & Mobile: One advantage noted by users is that Notion’s reminder system and mobile app keep you on schedule . When your Next Follow-Up date arrives, you get a reminder right in Notion (and on mobile).

This proactive nudging is key for relationship management. Getting into the Habit Like any CRM, Notion’s power comes from updating it consistently. After meeting someone new, immediately add them to your Contacts database. Use the ‘@date’ mention or the date property for any promised follow-up (for example, “Reach out on July 15”). Over time, you’ll build a living network map. As one Notion personal CRM enthusiast found, Notion became part of their daily routine, making it easy to stay on top of interactions .

Next step

If you want to turn this into a reusable workspace, save your best blocks as a page template, name your properties consistently, and test your setup on mobile. Small tweaks like clearer statuses, fewer views, and better naming make a template feel instantly premium.

Try the free tools to estimate time saved and plan your next build, or head back to the Articles page to keep learning.