Lightfield basics
Learn how Lightfield builds your CRM from your email, calendar and meetings, the records you work with, and what to set up first.
Lightfield builds and updates your CRM from your email, calendar and meetings. You work with the result in record tables and through chat with Lightfield’s agent, which can answer questions about your customers and make changes for you.
Who can use it
Section titled “Who can use it”Core setup works on every plan. Workspace configuration and inviting members need an owner or admin. Automations are an optional step on plans that include them; each linked article explains its requirements.
Earlier plans can differ. Check your workspace’s available features.
How Lightfield keeps your CRM up to date
Section titled “How Lightfield keeps your CRM up to date”Lightfield uses the conversations you connect:
- It connects to your email and calendar, and its recorder joins your customer meetings.
- It uses synced emails, meetings and notes, subject to your access and sync settings, to create and update accounts and contacts, keep opportunities current, and identify next steps, risks, objections and competitors.
- It links everything to one timeline for each customer.
The agent can use synced conversations you have access to alongside the customer’s record fields and notes.
The core records
Section titled “The core records”| Record | What it is |
|---|---|
| Account | A company, such as “Northwind Robotics”, with the people you’ve met there, its deals, emails, meetings, notes and tasks |
| Contact | A person, such as “Priya Raman, VP Sales at Northwind Robotics”, attached to an account |
| Opportunity | A potential deal with an account, such as “Northwind Robotics: annual plan”, tracked through the stages of a pipeline |
| Meeting | A call on your calendar, with its recording, transcript and summary |
| Task | A follow-up with an action, a due date and an owner, often pulled from what you committed to on a call |
Lightfield creates accounts and contacts from your email and calendar. You, the agent or an automation create opportunities. See Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Meetings and Tasks. You can also add your own record types with custom objects.
Find your favorites
Section titled “Find your favorites”Favorites in the left sidebar shows your first 10 favorites. Choose More to find the rest; it doesn’t mean they were removed.
Decide how much Lightfield changes on its own
Section titled “Decide how much Lightfield changes on its own”Each field’s AI fill and Enrichment, and each object’s Stage updates, can be off, suggest changes for you to approve, or update automatically. Each mailbox also decides which emails and meetings create new records.
Start a new field on Suggest. You see the quality of its updates before they change your data, and you can switch it to automatic once you trust them. See Data model, Pipelines and How records are created.
Set up a new workspace
Section titled “Set up a new workspace”Start with your own connections and preferences. If you are an owner or admin setting up the workspace, continue with the team setup below.
Set up your account
Section titled “Set up your account”- Connect your mail and calendar. When you create your workspace, choose Continue with Google or Continue with Microsoft and approve every permission your provider asks for, including mail, calendar and contacts. If you skip one, the account shows as Disconnected later. See Mail and Calendar.
- Choose your sync settings in Settings → Mail and Calendar before you invite your team. Lightfield starts creating records as soon as sync begins, so settle which emails create records first. See How records are created.
- Set your recording preference in Settings → Recording. See Recording.
- Try chat. Click New chat under Chats in the left sidebar and ask “Which deals have gone quiet?” See What the agent can do.
- Give Lightfield context about your business. Open Knowledge in the left sidebar and click Add knowledge. Add your products, customers and writing preferences so drafts and summaries use that context. See Knowledge.
Set up your team (owners and admins)
Section titled “Set up your team (owners and admins)”- Import your existing CRM data from HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio or a spreadsheet. Wait until your first mail sync finishes, then import accounts, contacts and opportunities in that order. Importing while sync runs can create two records for the same company. See Import history.
- Set up your pipelines. Keep it to five or six stages that each mean something specific, and write each stage’s entry criteria in its description. Lightfield uses those descriptions to track deal progress. See Pipelines.
- Invite your team from Settings → Members. Each invite needs an available seat on your plan. Ask each person to connect their own mail and calendar; nobody can connect another person’s mailbox for them. See Members.
- Connect your other tools in Settings → Integrations. If your team runs shared Slack channels with customers, start with Slack. See Integrations.
- Set up your first automations, if your plan includes them. Describe a recurring task in chat and the agent builds it with you. Automations are on Pro, Growth and Enterprise. Have a new automation suggest changes before you let it make them. See Automations.
When setup has worked, Accounts and Contacts fill in with the people you’ve been emailing, and your upcoming meetings show on Up next.
Common questions
Section titled “Common questions”How long does setup take? You can explore your workspace while mail and calendar sync in the background. Start with your connections and preferences, then complete team setup as you need it.
Do I have to update the CRM by hand? No. Lightfield creates accounts and contacts and keeps fields and stages current from your conversations. You still create opportunities yourself, in chat, or with an automation.
Do I need to define my fields before I start? No. Start with the default fields and add one when a pattern shows up, such as a question you ask on every call. To fill a new field in from past emails and meetings, ask the agent in chat.
Can I try Lightfield on my own before inviting my team? Yes. Set it up yourself and invite others later. Your data and setup carry over.
Where can I get help? Ask the agent in chat first. You can also email support@lightfield.app, or use your shared Slack channel with Lightfield if you have one.