CRM Fields (SuiteBuilder)

Comprehensive guide to creating and configuring custom CRM fields for opportunities, cases, campaigns, tasks, events, and other CRM-related records.

Overview

CRM fields extend NetSuite's Customer Relationship Management records with additional data for sales tracking, customer service, and marketing automation.

CRM FIELD SCOPE
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Custom CRM Field
        │
        ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  APPLIES TO (select one or more):                                         │
│                                                                           │
│  SALES                              SERVICE                               │
│  ☑ Opportunity                      ☑ Case                                │
│  ☐ Estimate                         ☐ Issue                               │
│                                                                           │
│  MARKETING                          ACTIVITIES                            │
│  ☑ Campaign                         ☑ Task                                │
│  ☐ Promotion                        ☑ Event                               │
│  ☐ Campaign Response                ☑ Phone Call                          │
│                                                                           │
│  Field appears on all selected CRM record types                           │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Creating CRM Fields

Customization → Lists, Records, & Fields → CRM Fields → New

Configuration Options

CRM FIELD CONFIGURATION
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BASIC SETTINGS                                                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                             │
│ Label*:            [Competitor                       ]                      │
│ ID*:               [custevent_competitor             ]                      │
│ Type:              [List/Record ▾]                                          │
│ List/Record:       [Competitors List ▾]                                     │
│                                                                             │
│ Description:       [Primary competitor in this opportunity                  │
│                     for win/loss analysis                  ]                │
│                                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ APPLIES TO (CRM Types)                                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                             │
│ ☑ Opportunity                                                               │
│ ☐ Case                                                                      │
│ ☐ Campaign                                                                  │
│ ☐ Task                                                                      │
│ ☐ Event                                                                     │
│ ☐ Phone Call                                                                │
│                                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Common CRM Field Use Cases

Opportunity Fields

Field Purpose	Type	Example
Sales Process	List	Lead Source, Win Probability, Forecast Category
Competition	List/Record	Primary Competitor, Competitive Notes
Qualification	List/Checkbox	Budget Confirmed, Decision Maker Identified
Timeline	Date	Expected Decision Date, Demo Date
Value	Currency	One-Time Revenue, Recurring Revenue
Product	Multi-select	Products of Interest

Case Fields

Field Purpose	Type	Example
Categorization	List	Case Type, Product Area, Severity
Resolution	List/Text	Root Cause, Resolution Category
SLA	Date/Integer	Target Response Time, SLA Status
Escalation	List/Record	Escalation Level, Escalated To
Customer	Checkbox	VIP Customer, Under Warranty
Feedback	List	Satisfaction Score, NPS Response

Campaign Fields

Field Purpose	Type	Example
Planning	List	Campaign Type, Target Segment
Budget	Currency	Planned Cost, Actual Cost
Performance	Integer/Percent	Target Leads, Conversion Rate
Channels	Multi-select	Channels Used (Email, Social, etc.)
Attribution	List	Attribution Model
Approval	List/Date	Approval Status, Approved Date

Activity Fields (Tasks, Events, Phone Calls)

Field Purpose	Type	Example
Classification	List	Activity Type, Priority Level
Outcome	List	Call Outcome, Meeting Result
Follow-up	Date/Checkbox	Next Step Date, Requires Follow-up
Attendees	Multi-select	Internal Attendees
Related	List/Record	Related Opportunity, Related Case

Field Types for CRM Records

FIELD TYPE SELECTION FOR CRM
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

SALES METRICS
─────────────
Currency             Deal value, discount amount
Percent              Probability, discount rate
Integer              Quantity, days in stage
Decimal              Weighted score

CATEGORIZATION
─────────────
List/Record          Stage, type, source
Multiple Select      Products, regions, competitors
Checkbox             Qualified, committed

DATES & TIMING
─────────────
Date                 Decision date, renewal date
Date/Time            Meeting time, callback time

NARRATIVE
─────────────
Free-Form Text       Short notes, codes
Text Area            Long descriptions, analysis
Rich Text            Formatted proposals

RELATIONSHIPS
─────────────
List/Record          Related contact, partner, opportunity
Multiple Select      Team members, stakeholders

CRM Record Relationships

CRM RECORD RELATIONSHIPS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Customer
    │
    ├──── Contact (multiple)
    │         │
    │         └──── Activities (Tasks, Events, Calls)
    │
    ├──── Opportunities (multiple)
    │         │
    │         ├──── Estimates
    │         └──── Activities
    │
    ├──── Cases (multiple)
    │         │
    │         └──── Activities
    │
    └──── Campaign Responses

Custom CRM fields should support this relationship structure:
  • Use List/Record fields to link related records
  • Enable sourcing to auto-populate from parent records
  • Consider multi-select for many-to-many relationships

Opportunity Stage Tracking

Custom fields commonly support sales pipeline management:

OPPORTUNITY PIPELINE FIELDS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Stage Tracking Fields:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Field                    Type            Purpose                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Lead Source              List            Where opportunity originated       │
│ Budget Confirmed         Checkbox        Qualification checkpoint          │
│ Decision Maker Met       Checkbox        Qualification checkpoint          │
│ Needs Identified         Checkbox        Qualification checkpoint          │
│ Timing Confirmed         Checkbox        Qualification checkpoint          │
│ Primary Competitor       List/Record     Competitive intelligence          │
│ Competitive Strength     List            Our position vs. competition      │
│ Next Step                Text Area       Planned action                    │
│ Next Step Date           Date            Action deadline                   │
│ Days in Stage            Integer         Pipeline velocity (calculated)    │
│ Stage Entry Date         Date            When entered current stage        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

BANT Qualification Example:
  B (Budget)    → custbody_budget_confirmed (Checkbox)
  A (Authority) → custbody_decision_maker (Checkbox)
  N (Need)      → custbody_needs_identified (Checkbox)
  T (Timeline)  → custbody_timing_confirmed (Checkbox)

Case Management Fields

CASE WORKFLOW FIELDS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Categorization:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Case Type              │ Technical, Billing, General Inquiry, Feature      │
│ Product Area           │ Product/Module the case relates to                │
│ Severity               │ Critical, High, Medium, Low                       │
│ Impact                 │ Single User, Department, Company-wide             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

SLA Tracking:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SLA Type               │ Standard, Premium, Enterprise                     │
│ First Response Due     │ Date/Time (calculated from create + SLA)          │
│ Resolution Due         │ Date/Time (calculated from create + SLA)          │
│ SLA Status             │ On Track, At Risk, Breached                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Resolution:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Root Cause             │ User Error, Bug, Feature Gap, Documentation       │
│ Resolution Category    │ Fixed, Workaround, Training, No Action Needed     │
│ Knowledge Created      │ Checkbox (KB article created from case)           │
│ Customer Satisfaction  │ 1-5 scale or NPS                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Campaign Attribution

CAMPAIGN ATTRIBUTION FIELDS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Campaign Record:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Campaign Type          │ Email, Trade Show, Webinar, Digital Ad, etc.     │
│ Target Segment         │ Industry, geography, customer type               │
│ Planned Leads          │ Target number of leads (Integer)                 │
│ Planned Cost           │ Budget (Currency)                                │
│ Actual Cost            │ Spent (Currency)                                 │
│ Cost per Lead          │ Calculated (Currency)                            │
│ Conversion Rate        │ Leads to Opportunities (Percent)                 │
│ ROI                    │ Revenue generated / Cost (Percent)               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Attribution to Opportunity:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Field on Opportunity   │ Purpose                                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Lead Source Campaign   │ First touch campaign (List/Record: Campaign)     │
│ Last Touch Campaign    │ Most recent campaign before conversion           │
│ All Campaigns          │ Multi-select of all influencing campaigns        │
│ Attribution Weight     │ Percent of credit for multi-touch                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Reporting and Dashboard Usage

Saved Search for Pipeline

-- Opportunity pipeline with custom fields
SELECT
    o.tranid AS opportunity_number,
    c.companyname AS customer,
    o.title,
    o.probability,
    o.projectedtotal AS amount,
    BUILTIN.DF(o.entitystatus) AS stage,
    BUILTIN.DF(o.custevent_competitor) AS competitor,
    o.custevent_next_step_date AS next_step_date
FROM
    transaction o
    JOIN customer c ON o.entity = c.id
WHERE
    o.type = 'Opprtnty'
    AND o.custevent_next_step_date <= SYSDATE + 7
ORDER BY
    o.projectedtotal DESC

Dashboard KPIs

KPI	Fields Used
Pipeline by Stage	entitystatus, projectedtotal
Win/Loss by Competitor	custevent_competitor, win/loss outcome
Average Days in Stage	custevent_stage_entry_date
Case SLA Performance	custevent_sla_status
Campaign ROI	Planned Cost, Actual Revenue

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Element	Convention	Example
CRM Field ID	`custevent_[prefix]_[name]`	`custevent_sales_competitor`
Prefix	Department/function code	`sales`, `svc`, `mkt`
Name	Descriptive, snake_case	`lead_source`, `sla_status`

Design Checklist

Consideration	Recommendation
Applies To	Select only needed CRM types
Process Fit	Align fields to sales/service processes
Reporting	Enable fields needed for dashboards
Automation	Consider workflow triggers on field values
Sourcing	Auto-populate from customer/contact when useful
Required	Only make mandatory if truly needed

Overview​

Creating CRM Fields​

Navigation​

Configuration Options​

Common CRM Field Use Cases​

Opportunity Fields​

Case Fields​

Campaign Fields​

Activity Fields (Tasks, Events, Phone Calls)​

Field Types for CRM Records​

CRM Record Relationships​

Opportunity Stage Tracking​

Case Management Fields​

Campaign Attribution​

Reporting and Dashboard Usage​

Saved Search for Pipeline​

Dashboard KPIs​

Best Practices​

Naming Conventions​

Design Checklist​

Related Guides​