Documentation center

1. Contacts

The Contacts module centralizes every person your teams interact with: prospects, customers, partners. Each contact record becomes the single entry point to the full history of the relationship.

Overview

A contact is an individual identified by their name, contact details and, where relevant, the company they belong to. Contacts feed every other module: they can be linked to opportunities, appointments, quotes and notifications.

Description

The contact list shows the essential information (name, company, job title, phone, email) and can be filtered by company, status or the salesperson in charge. The detailed contact record brings together their contact details, the associated company, the history of linked opportunities, past and upcoming appointments, and notes added by the team.

How to use it

1. 1From the Contacts menu, click "Add a contact".
2. 2Fill in the first name, last name, job title and contact details (phone, email).
3. 3Link the contact to an existing company, or create a new company record on the fly.
4. 4Fill in additional information (role, department, internal notes) if needed.
5. 5Save the record: the contact appears immediately in the list and becomes selectable from opportunities, appointments and quotes.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Standardize phone numbers (with the +221 country code for Senegal) to make search and exports easier.
• Always fill in the contact's company: it structures your reports and your pipeline.
• Add a note after every important interaction so the whole team has the context.

Known limitations

• Bulk contact import is subject to your plan's contact quota (see section 10. Plans & quotas).
• Automatic duplicate merging is not available: duplicates must be merged manually.

2. Companies

The Companies module gathers the organizations you work with: customers, prospects, partners. Each company record centralizes legal information, linked contacts and the related sales activity.

Overview

A company is an organization identified by its legal name, industry and legal information, including its NINEA number for Senegalese companies. It acts as the anchor point for contacts, opportunities and sales documents.

Description

The company record shows general contact details (address, phone, website), legal information (NINEA, legal form, industry), the list of contacts linked to it, and all related opportunities, current or historical. A dedicated tab lets you review the quotes and invoices linked to the company.

How to use it

1. 1From the Companies menu, click "Add a company".
2. 2Fill in the legal name, industry and general contact details.
3. 3Add the NINEA number and any available legal information.
4. 4Save the record, then link existing contacts or create new ones directly from this record.
5. 5Review linked opportunities and quotes at any time from the tabs on the company record.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Always fill in the industry: it lets you segment your reports and campaigns.
• Keep the address and billing details up to date to avoid errors on quotes.
• Use the company record as the single reference before creating an opportunity.

Known limitations

• The number of companies is not limited by plan, but the total number of linked contacts remains subject to the contact quota.
• No automatic verification of the NINEA number is performed against an external registry.

3. Opportunities & pipeline

The sales pipeline visualizes every sales opportunity through its stages, from first contact to signature. It gives a real-time overview of the team's sales activity.

Overview

An opportunity represents a potential sale: it is linked to a contact, a company, an estimated amount and a probability of closing. It moves through configurable pipeline stages (for example: Qualification, Proposal, Negotiation, Won, Lost).

Description

The pipeline is displayed as columns matching the sales stages. Each opportunity is a card showing the amount, the company, the main contact and the expected closing date. Cards move from one column to another by drag and drop, which automatically updates the stage and the associated probability.

How to use it

1. 1From the Opportunities menu, click "Add an opportunity".
2. 2Select the relevant contact and company, then enter the estimated amount.
3. 3Choose the starting stage in the pipeline and an expected closing date.
4. 4Save: the opportunity appears as a card in the matching column.
5. 5Drag the card to the next stage as it progresses, until marking it Won or Lost.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Update the expected closing date every time the stage changes, to keep your forecasts reliable.
• Fill in a reason when marking an opportunity "Lost": this feeds your analysis reports.
• Keep the number of pipeline stages to 4-6 to maintain a clear view of progress.

Known limitations

• The number of active opportunities is subject to your plan's quota (see section 10. Plans & quotas).
• The advanced pipeline (custom stages, multiple pipelines) is only available from the Starter plan onward.
• Drag and drop between stages is limited to the main pipeline; there is no native Gantt view.

4. Quotes & invoices

The Quotes & invoices module lets you turn a won opportunity into a formal sales document, tracked from issuance through to payment.

Overview

A quote is a sales document proposing a price for a product or service; once accepted, it can be converted into an invoice. Both documents remain linked to the originating opportunity and company, guaranteeing full traceability of the sale.

Description

The list of quotes and invoices shows their status (Draft, Sent, Accepted, Declined for quotes; Issued, Paid, Overdue for invoices), the amount, the related company and the due date. Each document can be generated directly from an opportunity record, automatically pulling in the contact, company and negotiated amount.

How to use it

1. 1From an ongoing or won opportunity, click "Generate a quote".
2. 2Check the information pulled in automatically (company, contact, amount, NINEA) and add the detail of the product or service lines.
3. 3Save the quote as a Draft, review it, then set its status to "Sent" once it has been shared with the customer.
4. 4Once the customer's agreement is obtained, mark the quote "Accepted" and convert it into an invoice.
5. 5Track the invoice's status through to payment and mark it "Paid" once payment is received.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Number your quotes and invoices consistently to make your bookkeeping easier.
• Only convert a quote into an invoice after written confirmation from the customer.
• Archive declined quotes instead of deleting them, to keep a record of the negotiation.

Known limitations

• Generating quotes and invoices requires a plan that includes this feature.
• There is no native online payment integration: payment tracking remains declarative.
• Advanced customization of document layout (logo, multiple templates) is limited.

5. Calendar & appointments

The calendar centralizes each user's sales appointments and lets teams share their availability through shared team calendars.

Overview

An appointment is a dated event, most often linked to a contact and, indirectly, to an opportunity. Team calendars let you view several colleagues' schedules at once to make coordination easier.

Description

The Calendar view offers a day, week or month display. Each appointment specifies the subject, start and end time, location (or video call link) and internal and external participants. Reminders can be configured to alert participants before the deadline.

How to use it

1. 1From the Calendar menu, click "New appointment" or directly on a time slot on the calendar.
2. 2Fill in the subject, date, start time and end time.
3. 3Link the appointment to a contact and, if relevant, to an ongoing opportunity.
4. 4Set up a reminder (for example 30 minutes or 1 day beforehand) if needed.
5. 5Save: the appointment appears on your calendar and on shared team calendars where applicable.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Always link your appointments to a contact to enrich the history of the relationship.
• Use team calendars to avoid double-booking important appointments.
• Include a clear location or video call link in the appointment's subject.

Known limitations

• Two-way synchronization with external calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook) is not natively available.
• Recurring appointments must be created individually.

6. Notifications

The notification center keeps every user informed of important events: a newly assigned opportunity, an upcoming appointment, a quote awaiting validation, and more.

Overview

A notification is a short message automatically generated by the system when a relevant event occurs for the connected user. It can relate to an opportunity, a contact, an appointment or a sales document.

Description

The notification list shows events in chronological order, with a visual indicator distinguishing read from unread notifications. Each notification links directly to the related item (contact record, opportunity, appointment) with a single click.

How to use it

1. 1Click the bell icon in the header to open the notification panel.
2. 2Scan the list of recent notifications, unread ones first.
3. 3Click a notification to go straight to the related item.
4. 4Mark a notification as read individually, or use "Mark all as read" to clear the panel.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Process your unread notifications regularly so you don't miss an important deadline.
• Use the notification's direct link rather than manually searching for the related item.

Known limitations

• There are no email or mobile push notifications yet: notifications are only visible inside the application.
• The history of read notifications is kept for a limited period of time.

7. Search

Global search lets you quickly find a contact, a company or an opportunity, without manually navigating between the different modules.

Overview

Global search queries contacts, companies and opportunities at once from a single input field, accessible from any page of the application.

Description

Results are grouped by type (Contacts, Companies, Opportunities) and appear as you type. Additional filters let you narrow the search by status, salesperson in charge or date range.

How to use it

1. 1Click the global search field accessible from the application's header.
2. 2Type a name, a company or a keyword.
3. 3Browse the results grouped by category.
4. 4Narrow the results with the available filters (status, period, owner) if needed.
5. 5Click a result to open the matching record directly.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Use short, precise keywords to get more relevant results.
• Always search before creating a new contact or company, to avoid duplicates.

Known limitations

• Search does not cover the content of free-text notes or attachments.
• No synonym search or advanced spelling tolerance is applied.

8. Administration & settings

The Administration area lets managers handle users, roles and teams, so that access to the CRM matches the way the company is organized.

Overview

Administration brings together user account management, role assignment (Admin, Manager, User, HR, Marketing) and team organization. Each role defines a specific level of access and permissions within the application.

Description

From the Administration area, an Admin can invite new users, change their role, attach them to one or more teams, and suspend or reactivate an account. The Manager, User, HR and Marketing roles each have a scope of features suited to their activity.

How to use it

1. 1From the Administration menu, open the "Users" section.
2. 2Click "Invite a user" and enter their email address.
3. 3Assign them a role (Admin, Manager, User, HR or Marketing).
4. 4Attach the user to one or more teams if your organization uses that structure.
5. 5The user receives an email invitation to activate their account and set their password.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Assign the most restrictive role that matches the user's actual needs.
• Organize your users into teams as soon as your sales headcount grows beyond a few people.
• Regularly review the list of active users and deactivate unused accounts.

Known limitations

• Detailed permissions within a role cannot be customized individually: the five available roles cover standard use cases.
• Adding a user beyond your plan's quota requires upgrading your subscription.

9. Reports & dashboards

Dashboards provide a synthetic view of sales activity: pipeline evolution, performance by salesperson, conversion rate and potential revenue.

Overview

A report aggregates data from contacts, companies and opportunities to produce visual indicators (charts, counters, tables) that let you track sales performance over a given period.

Description

The main dashboard shows, among other things, the number of opportunities per pipeline stage, the total amount in progress, the conversion rate of won opportunities, and activity by salesperson or team. Indicators can be filtered by period (week, month, quarter, year).

How to use it

1. 1From the Reports menu, select the dashboard you want.
2. 2Choose the analysis period using the date selector.
3. 3Filter by team, salesperson or opportunity type if needed.
4. 4Review the displayed charts and counters.
5. 5Export the data in the desired format if you need it for external use.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Check your dashboards at a regular interval (weekly or monthly) to detect gaps quickly.
• Cross-reference pipeline indicators with quotes and invoices to assess the real financial health of your activity.
• Export your data periodically to keep a history outside the application.

Known limitations

• Creating custom reports (bespoke indicators) is not available in the current interface.
• Export is limited to the standard formats offered by the application.

10. Plans & quotas

Nicocrm offers four subscription plans suited to the size of your team, each with its own quotas for users, contacts and opportunities, and progressive access to advanced features.

Overview

Each organization subscribes to a plan that determines the number of allowed users, contacts and opportunities, as well as access to quotes and invoices, the advanced pipeline and automation. Quotas are checked continuously, and a blocked action triggers an invitation to upgrade your subscription.

Description

The table below compares the four available plans. Beyond the included quotas, additional contact credits can be purchased in packs of 100 to extend your current plan without changing formula.

How to use it

1. 1Check your current plan and usage from Administration > Billing.
2. 2Compare the available plans in the table above based on your needs in users and volume.
3. 3To change plans, contact your sales representative or use the upgrade button shown when a quota is reached.
4. 4To extend your contact quota without changing plans, purchase additional credits in packs of 100 contacts.
5. 5New quotas or credits are applied immediately after confirmation.

Practical examples

Important notes

Best practices

• Regularly monitor your contact and opportunity usage to anticipate an upgrade.
• Archive obsolete contacts and opportunities to free up room in your quota before purchasing credits.
• Choose a plan slightly above your current needs if your team is growing quickly.

Known limitations

• Downgrading to a lower plan requires that your current usage already fits within the target plan's quotas.
• Purchased additional contact credits are tied to the current plan and are not refundable if you change plans.