In this article, we focus on using the Relation Graph for Accounts and for Contacts. You can already use Account Hierarchies and Contact Org Charts to display a hierarchical structure of how companies relate to each other (giving you a global view of a company and its subsidiaries, for example) and of Contacts within a company.  

Now the Relation Graph gives you an additional level of understanding the relationships between account records and contact records by allowing you to map the networks and relationships that you need to be aware of — “Which other companies does my prospect have relationships with”; “I wonder if we know anyone who used to work with my decision maker”; “Who can I talk to who will be our advocate to help deepen this relationship?” — these are the sorts of questions that the Relation Graphs help answer.

If you’ve used the Buying Center to track the Contacts who are related to an Opportunity, the Relation Graphs work in a similar way.

Accounts Relations and Contacts Relations define the relationship between two Accounts or between two Contacts. They are managed and created from the Admin Module.

Enter the Admin Module — from the Pipeliner CRM Application, click on the App Switcher in the top left corner ⤵

NOTE: Only Administrators will see the Administration menu.

Click on "Common Lists" and then on the “Accounts Relations” tab ⤵

The default Accounts Relations that we added to get you started will show in the list. You can edit these by clicking on one to select and then editing the name and colour or add a new one by clicking on "Create New" ⤵

Click “Create” — Your users will now be able to use the relationship in the Relation Graph tab in the Accounts area in the Pipeliner App.

Click on the "Contacts Relations" tab to add or edit relationships for Contacts.

In order to use the newly created Accounts Relations in Pipeliner, first login to the App and then click on the "Accounts" menu. Open up an Account record.

On the Relation Graph tab of the Account, you’ll see any existing relationships, click on "Add Account" and select from “New” or “Existing” ⤵

Selecting “New” will allow you to create a new Account record and link it to the  graph using one of your relationships

Selecting “Existing” brings up a list of existing Account records and you can select both the Account and the relationship ⤵

As you add an Account into the Relation Graph for the company you’re working on, the relationships that Account has with other Accounts is now visible so you can see how the whole network of organisations relates to each other.

If you click on an Account in your graph, the panel on the right hand side will preview your selected Account and will list the relationships associated with that record. As you hover over, or select, a relationship with a particular company, other records will be dimmed so you can focus on that specific relationship. Clicking in the right hand panel will allow you to see the details and to add — or remove - additional relationships between the two Accounts ⤵

NOTE: You can interact directly with either of the Accounts using the preview panel — for example, if you decide to call up an Account to see if they will act on your behalf to help strengthen your relationship with a target Account, you can plan the call directly from this screen using the Add button and then selecting New Task ⤵

Click on an Account card in your graph and then on the small + to add a new relationship or the Org Chart symbol to create a line of influence (relationship) between that Account and any other in your graph ⤵

Click to connect the records together and select the relationship(s) from the multi select options ⤵

NOTE: Clicking on any line of influence (relationship) brings up the multi select relationship options and also allows you to select Remove Connection.

The Contacts Relations Graph functions in the same way as the Accounts ⤵

NOTE: You can add new contacts, move them around or remove them from the chart using the same options as before from the right hand panel or by clicking on the gear icon.

You need to have update rights to all the Accounts and Contacts that you want to include. This means you need to be Owner or have been added as an Editor. Alternatively, you may be based on a user role that gives you update rights.

NOTE: If you can't update, you'll need to speak to your Pipeliner Admin about your user role.