Does Bernard move a company to a new stage on its own?

No. Bernard moves a company only after you say so, one company at a time, and tells you where it was and where it is now. Setting a company detail on several companies at once waits for your approval of the exact change first.

Is a company the same as a bernard account?

No. A company here is an organisation you market or sell to, such as a client or a firm you are pitching. It has nothing to do with your own bernard account or your team’s logins.

What if I add the same company twice?

Bernard refuses the second one and names the company that is already there. Each company has one record, matched by its name (ignoring case and punctuation) and by its web address. There is no merge, so the one record is the one to keep up to date.

Can every site on my account see the same companies?

Yes. Companies belong to your whole account, not to one site, so the Companies tab shows the same list on every site.

Does marking a company as a target start any research?

No. A target only shows first in the list. You can link one of your business’s brains to the company, but marking a target never creates one or starts any work on its own.

Your marketing3 min read

Can I keep track of the companies we want to work with, and where each one stands?

Say you sell to other businesses. There are a dozen firms you want to win, a few you are talking to, and some that already pay you. Companies keep one record for each of them, beside the people who work there.

The prompt

“Show me the companies we are targeting and where each one stands. Then move [company name] to [stage] on [my site].”

Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).

A company is an organisation you market or sell to. It is never your own bernard account.

Where each one stands

Every company has a stage that says where it stands with you. Every account starts with eight:

Target: a company you want to go after.
Researching: you are finding out about it.
Contacted: you have been in touch.
In conversation: you are talking.
Proposal: you have sent a proposal.
Client: they pay you.
Past client: they used to.
Not a fit: you have decided not to pursue it.

A new company starts at the first stage unless you say otherwise. Every move is kept in the company’s history, with the date, who made it and any note you gave, so you can see how a relationship went.

Ask in plain words:

Move Acme Ltd to In conversation. We met at Rail Live.

Bernard moves only the company you named, and only after you say so. It tells you where the company was and where it is now.

A company’s stage and a person’s lifecycle stage are two different things. A person can be a Lead while their company is a Client. See Can I track where each person is - lead, customer, press? for a person’s own stage.

Targets

Mark the companies you are going after as a target. A target shows first in the list. Being a target does not change where a company stands.

Make Globex a target.

Who looks after them

One member of your account can look after each company, or nobody. Choose them on the company’s page, or ask Bernard: “Sam looks after Acme Ltd now.”

The Companies tab

Open Contacts on any site and choose the Companies tab. It lists every company on your account, targets first, with where each one stands, who looks after it, its sector and how many of your contacts work there. Filter it by stage, target, who looks after it, country or sector, or search by name or web address. Add a company takes a name and, if you have it, a web address.

Open a company to change where it stands, mark it as a target, choose who looks after it, fill in its details and see its people. How do I say which company a contact works for? covers linking a person to their company, and Can I keep my own details on a company, like its sector or a tier? covers the details you keep on a company.

One record for each company

Bernard keeps one record for each company. A second company with the same name (ignoring case and punctuation) or the same web address is refused, and Bernard names the one that is already there. There is no merge, so keep that one up to date.

Can I run my marketing from Bernard? covers everything else your assistant can do through Bernard Marketing.

Questions people ask

Does Bernard move a company to a new stage on its own?: No. Bernard moves a company only after you say so, one company at a time, and tells you where it was and where it is now. Setting a company detail on several companies at once waits for your approval of the exact change first.
Is a company the same as a bernard account?: No. A company here is an organisation you market or sell to, such as a client or a firm you are pitching. It has nothing to do with your own bernard account or your team’s logins.
What if I add the same company twice?: Bernard refuses the second one and names the company that is already there. Each company has one record, matched by its name (ignoring case and punctuation) and by its web address. There is no merge, so the one record is the one to keep up to date.
Can every site on my account see the same companies?: Yes. Companies belong to your whole account, not to one site, so the Companies tab shows the same list on every site.
Does marking a company as a target start any research?: No. A target only shows first in the list. You can link one of your business’s brains to the company, but marking a target never creates one or starts any work on its own.