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A Notion personal CRM template: setup, fields and routine
A Notion personal CRM template is one database of people with properties for Name, Company, Tier, Last contacted, Cadence, Next check-in, Source, and Notes, plus a view that shows who is due this week. Build it in about 30 minutes, give each tier a cadence, and spend 20 minutes a week sending the messages that are due and updating Last contacted.
Create one database called People. Add these properties: Name (title), Company (text), Tier (select), Email and Phone, Source (select: how you met), Last contacted (date), Cadence (number, in days), Next check-in (formula: dateAdd(prop("Last contacted"), prop("Cadence"), "days")), and Tags (multi-select). Keep notes from each conversation in the page body, newest at the top.
Then make three views: Due this week (Next check-in on or before a week from today, sorted oldest first), By tier (a board grouped by Tier), and Recently met (created in the last 90 days). Be honest about the limit: Notion won't notice you emailed someone, won't update Last contacted for you, and won't write the message. You do that part.
On this page
Who to contact and how often
| Tier | Who | How often | Channel | What to send |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner circle | Mentors, close collaborators, and the handful of people who would pick up the phone for you. Set Tier to Inner circle and Cadence to 30. | Every 2 to 4 weeks. | Text, phone, coffee. | Real updates on your work, questions you'd value their view on, and help when they mention a need. Log what they're working on in the page body so your next note picks up the thread. |
| Key professional | Clients, partners, peers, and hiring managers who matter to your work this year. Set Cadence to 60 and fill in Company so you can filter by organization. | Every 6 to 8 weeks. | Email, LinkedIn, the occasional call. | An article that fits their current project, a useful introduction, congratulations on wins, and a short catch-up call once or twice a year. |
| Wider network | Former colleagues, classmates, conference contacts, and friends of friends. These are your weak ties. Set Cadence to 90 or 120 and use Tags for industry and city. | Every 3 to 4 months. | LinkedIn message, short email. | Congratulations on job changes, a quick note when you see their name in the news, and a reply to things they post. |
| New this quarter | Anyone you met in the last 90 days. Fill in Source (event, intro, cold) and a line about the conversation the same day. | A follow-up within 48 hours, a second touch within a month, then move them into a lasting tier. | Email or LinkedIn. | A thank-you that mentions something specific you discussed, and whatever you promised (a link, an intro, a resource). |
| Reconnect | People you haven't contacted in over a year. Filter on Last contacted older than 365 days to build this list. | One warm message, then assign a new tier and cadence. | Text, email, or LinkedIn, whichever you last used. | A no-ask hello that mentions a shared memory or something they're doing now. |
The 12-month plan
| When | Focus | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 (January to March) | Build and fill the database | Create the People database and three views. Import contacts from your phone and email as a CSV, then cut anyone you wouldn't actually message. Set Tier, Cadence, and a best-guess Last contacted for everyone left. |
| Q2 (April to June) | Run the routine and fix friction | Work the Due this week view every week. Add a Birthday date property for your inner circle. Clean up Source values and merge duplicates. Reconnect with five people from the Reconnect filter. |
| Q3 (July to September) | Midyear review | Sort by Next check-in and find everyone overdue. Lower cadences you can't keep. Move new contacts from the spring into lasting tiers. Add an Interactions database related to People if you want a dated log. |
| Q4 (October to December) | Gratitude and reset | Send year-end thank-you notes to anyone who helped you. Archive people you no longer need to track. Review Source to see where your best relationships came from and plan next year's events. |
Messages to send
One message is easy. Hundreds of people, all year, is the hard part. Capstone Outreach puts everyone you know on a rhythm you pick, from weekly to every three months. When someone is due, a message like these is already written in your voice from your history with them. You approve it, and it goes from your own email or phone. See how it works.
Start 14 days free, then $25/mo
Everyone on a rhythm. Who is due, and when. Recorded in the app on a demo account.
1. Follow-up after meeting someone new (email)
Subject: Great to meet you at [Event]
Why it works: Sending what you promised within two days turns a conversation into a relationship.
2. Check-in with a mentor (text)
Why it works: Mentors like hearing their advice worked, and it gives them a reason to keep helping.
3. Sharing something useful (email)
Subject: Thought of you: [topic]
Why it works: A specific, no-reply-needed note keeps you in mind without asking for anything.
4. Congratulations on a new role (LinkedIn message)
Why it works: Job changes are a natural reason to reach out to weaker ties, and Rajkumar and colleagues (2022, Science) found moderately weak ties the most useful for job mobility.
5. Reconnecting after a long silence (text)
Why it works: Levin, Walter, and Murnighan (2011, Organization Science) found reconnected dormant ties still offered real value, so a simple hello is worth sending.
6. Thank-you after someone helped you (email)
Subject: Thank you for the introduction
Why it works: Closing the loop on help makes people glad they helped and more likely to help again.
Write yours in 20 seconds
Free, no signup. The example is filled in: press the button, then replace it with your own situation. In Capstone, a message like it is written for each person you know when their check-in is due.
The weekly routine
- Open the Due this week view (about 2 minutes).
- Send a message to each person due, starting with the inner circle and key professional tiers.
- Update Last contacted on every page you touched, which recalculates Next check-in.
- Add a line to each page's notes about what you said and anything you promised.
- Add anyone you met this week with Source, Tier, and Cadence filled in.
- Pick one person from the Reconnect filter and send a hello.
Mistakes to avoid
- Building an elaborate setup with ten linked databases before you've contacted anyone.
- Forgetting to update Last contacted, so the Due this week view stops being accurate.
- Importing every contact you've ever had instead of the people you'd actually message.
- Expecting a formula date to remind you, when you still have to open the view each week.
- Writing notes as tags instead of sentences, so you can't remember what you talked about.
- Skipping weeks, which leaves a backlog that makes the database feel like a chore.
What to track
- Last contacted and Next check-in for every person.
- Tier and Cadence, reviewed once a quarter.
- Source, so you know which events and introductions lead to lasting relationships.
- Promises you made in each conversation, kept in the page notes.
- How many people are overdue in the Due this week view each week.
- Reconnections made and the tier each person moved into.
Tired of filling in the Notion table by hand? Capstone logs every email, text, call and meeting on one timeline per person. You skip the typing and still see when you last spoke and what you said.
Start 14 days free, then $25/mo
A study of 20 million LinkedIn members found that acquaintances, more than close friends, led to new jobs (Science, 2022). Capstone keeps those people warm. You approve every message, and it goes from your own email or phone.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Notion personal CRM template?
Yes. Notion's template gallery and many creators offer personal CRM templates, some free and some paid. You can also build your own free in about 30 minutes with one People database and the properties on this page. A home-built version is often better because you'll understand every property and formula when something needs to change.
What properties should a Notion personal CRM have?
Start with Name, Company, Tier, Email, Phone, Source, Last contacted, Cadence, Next check-in, and Tags. Use a select for Tier and Source, a date for Last contacted, a number for Cadence in days, and a formula for Next check-in. Keep conversation notes in each page's body. Add Birthday or an Interactions relation later if you need them.
How do I calculate the next check-in date in Notion?
Add a formula property named Next check-in with dateAdd(prop("Last contacted"), prop("Cadence"), "days"), where Cadence is a number of days. Every time you update Last contacted, the date moves forward. Then filter a view to show people whose Next check-in falls on or before a week from today, sorted by the oldest date.
Can Notion remind me to follow up with contacts?
Partly. Notion can set reminders on date properties you fill in yourself, but a calculated Next check-in won't ping you the same way. Most people open a Due this week view on a set day instead. Notion also won't log emails or texts you send, so the routine only works if you update Last contacted by hand.
Is Notion good for a personal CRM?
Notion works well if you want full control and will keep a weekly habit. It's flexible, free to start, and good for notes. It gets harder past a few hundred people, on your phone when you've just met someone, and when you want reminders, logged emails, or drafted messages, since you must build or do all of that yourself.
What's the difference between a Notion CRM template and a personal CRM template?
A Notion CRM template is usually built for sales: deals, pipeline stages, and company accounts. A personal CRM template is built for relationships: tiers, cadences, last contacted dates, and notes about people. If your goal is staying in touch with your network rather than closing deals, start with the personal version and skip pipeline stages.