Plan reusable custom values
Stop repeating the same values across templates.
Purpose
When to Use This SOP
Use this SOP when:
- Setting up a new account
- Preparing email templates
- Preparing SMS templates
- Building workflows
- Creating landing pages or forms
- Creating appointment confirmations
- Reusing the same business information in many places
- Cleaning up hardcoded links, phone numbers, or addresses
Before You Start
- Custom values are not the same as custom fields.
- A custom field stores information on a contact record.
- A custom value stores reusable account-level information.
Example:
- Custom field: Preferred Contact Time
- Custom field: Industry
- Custom field: Budget Range
- Custom value: Company Phone
- Custom value: Booking Link
- Custom value: Support Email
- Do not use custom values as dropdown options inside a field. Dropdown options belong to the field. Custom values are reusable placeholders.
Step-by-Step Procedure
- 1Identify repeated business information
List the information that appears in more than one place.
Look through:
- Emails
- SMS templates
- Appointment reminders
- Forms
- Landing pages
- Funnels
- Workflow messages
- Documents
- Footers
- Confirmation messages
- Internal notifications
If the same detail appears in several places, it may be a custom value.
- 2Use the three-place rule
Use this simple rule:
If changing the information later would require updates in more than three places, create a custom value.
Examples:
- Main phone number
- Booking link
- Support email
- Business address
- Company name
- Website URL
- Calendar link
- Logo URL
This rule prevents future cleanup work.
- 3Create a custom value list
Before creating anything in the CRM, draft a list.
Recommended starter values:
- company_name
- company_phone
- company_email
- support_email
- booking_link
- website_url
- business_address
- business_hours
- logo_url
- footer_text
- privacy_policy_url
- terms_url
Use whatever naming format the account supports, but keep it clear and consistent.
- 4Define each value
For each custom value, document:
- Name
- Purpose
- Actual value
- Where it will be used
- Who owns updates
- Date last reviewed
This matters because custom values become part of many assets. If no one owns them, they become stale.
- 5Replace hardcoded business information
Review existing assets and replace repeated hardcoded information with custom values where appropriate.
Check:
- Email templates
- SMS templates
- Workflow messages
- Appointment confirmations
- Forms
- Funnels
- Documents
- Footer areas
- Thank-you pages
- Internal notifications
Do not replace every word with custom values. Use them where updates are likely or where consistency matters.
- 6Confirm booking and support links
Booking links and support links often appear in many places.
Review:
- Main booking link
- Consultation booking link
- Support contact link
- Contact page link
- Calendar-specific links
- Resource download links
If different offers use different booking links, name the custom values clearly.
Examples:
booking_link_general
booking_link_consultation
booking_link_support
booking_link_sales_demo
Do not let one generic booking link create confusion across different paths.
- 7Confirm address and footer values
Email footers often require accurate address and contact information.
Review:
- Physical mailing address
- Company name
- Support email
- Unsubscribe handling
- Privacy policy link
- Terms link
Custom values can help keep footer information consistent.
Do not treat this as legal advice. Footer and compliance requirements vary by country, state, industry, message type, and platform requirements.
- 8Test custom values in real messages
After adding custom values, send test messages.
Check:
- Value displays correctly
- Spacing looks right
- Link opens correctly
- Phone number is correct
- Email address is correct
- Address is correct
- No placeholder remains blank
- No old hardcoded version appears elsewhere
A custom value is only useful if it renders correctly where it is used.
- 9Create an update process
Decide what happens when a value changes.
Examples:
- New phone number
- New booking link
- New support email
- New business address
- New logo
- Updated privacy policy link
Document:
Who can update custom values
Who reviews the change
Which assets should be tested after the update
How often values should be reviewed
- 10Review custom values quarterly
Custom values should be included in the quarterly CRM audit.
During review, check:
- Values are still correct
- Links still work
- Old links are removed
- No values are unused
- No hardcoded copies are still active
- Naming is still clear
- Ownership is documented
Checks Before You Finish
- ✓Before this SOP is complete, confirm:
- ✓Repeated business information is listed
- ✓Custom values are separated from custom fields
- ✓Starter custom values are created or planned
- ✓Each value has a purpose
- ✓Each value has an owner
- ✓Booking links are reviewed
- ✓Support links are reviewed
- ✓Footer and address values are reviewed
- ✓Hardcoded information is replaced where appropriate
- ✓Test messages were sent
- ✓Values render correctly
- ✓Quarterly review is planned
Common Mistakes
Avoid these mistakes:
- Confusing custom values with custom fields
- Using one generic booking link for every offer
- Hardcoding phone numbers into many templates
- Hardcoding addresses into every email footer
- Creating custom values with unclear names
- Forgetting to test how values render
- Leaving placeholder values live
- Updating a custom value without testing affected messages
- Not assigning an owner for future updates
- Never reviewing custom values after setup