Add relationships before the first order

A business relationship doesn't have to begin when someone sends you an assignment.

The Relationships area can also be used for companies and contacts you want to build a connection with before you've ever completed an order for them.

### Add prospects intentionally

If there is a title company, law firm, lender, settlement company, signing service, or other organization you want to develop a relationship with, add it to your CRM.

You can then keep the information you need for future outreach and relationship-building in the same place where actual order history will eventually live.

### Add the people you know

When you identify a specific person within an organization, add them as a contact rather than storing their information only in a note.

This gives the relationship structure from the beginning and makes it easier to connect future activity back to the correct person.

### Keep prospecting separate from order history

A company does not need to have sent you work in order to belong in your Relationships.

Likewise, adding a company to your CRM does not imply that you've already completed an order for them.

The NEST keeps the relationship available while the order history tells you what work has actually occurred.

### Let the relationship grow

If that organization later sends you an assignment, the new order can become part of the relationship you've already started rather than creating an entirely separate company record.

Over time, the CRM can show the progression from:

**Prospect → First conversation → First order → Ongoing business relationship**

### Use the CRM as a business-development tool

Relationships is not only a historical address book.

It can also help you keep track of the companies and people you want to know, reconnect with, or develop into direct business.

The order is one part of the relationship.

It doesn't have to be the beginning of it.