What is a custom object?
To understand what a custom object is, you first need to wrap your head around the idea of objects as a whole. Defined below are some key concepts related to objects.
| Concept | Definition |
| Object | A data entity or structure with distinct characteristics that make it uniquely suited to storing information on a specific type of thing (e.g. shipments, orders, etc…) |
| Properties | Specific characteristics or attributes that describe the object. It can be thought of as pieces of information associated with the object, such as its color, size, or name to help identify it and differentiate it from other objects. |
| Records | Individual data entries within an object |
A custom object is a data entity that you can customize to address the specific data needs of your company.
You can:
- Create a custom object for anything (such as orders, memberships, appointments, etc)
- Include any properties you wish to capture
- Associate the records with a contact
Why should I create custom objects?
Custom objects provide increased flexibility compared to storing everything within the standard Contact object. With custom objects, you can create and organize specific data sets around concepts unique to your business needs (e.g. orders, shipments, appointments, etc...) and link them back to each of your contacts, allowing you to manage complex relationships and track diverse information in a structured and organized manner.
Once a custom object is defined, you can create records associated to your contacts. The information from these records can then be leveraged across SleekFlow’s other modules (i.e. Inbox, Broadcast and Flowbuilder) to enrich your team’s experience and workflows.
What use cases can be achieved with custom objects?
The following examples below are based on common use cases to help you understand what can be achieved through custom objects. These use cases are generic examples and are not meant as advice for every scenario. Feel free to reach out to your account manager to discuss if custom objects are suitable for your specific use case.
The following are good examples of a custom object:
- A beauty salon wants to keep track of the appointments each customer makes. They create a booking object with appointment date & time, service, and booking status properties. They search and view all of the bookings on the records page, and manage each booking and appointment for each customer. Each time when they receive a booking, they will create a booking record associated to the relevant contact, sending out a booking confirmation message once the booking is confirmed.
- A cake shop wants to maintain a database of cakes ordered, and keep track of the delivery status of each order. They create an order object with order details, total amount, delivery status, shipping address and order status properties. They create a flow to send out a delivery message to the customer once the delivery status is updated to “shipped”. They view the customer order records when they chat with their customers to answer their enquiries.
The following are examples we do not recommended to create a custom object:
- A car dealership has a database on leads. They want to create a custom object for salespeople to help the sales team to differentiate their own leads. This is not a good use case because custom objects should not replicate a native SleekFlow object. The salespeople are a SleekFlow user, the company can simply assign the salesperson as a contact owner or collaborator for their leads.