Intro to Customers
Video Placeholder Duration: 5-7 minutes Topics covered: What is Customers, customer profiles, requests, linking to work items
What is Customers?
Customers centralizes client management within your workflow. Connect work items to the people they serve, helping teams prioritize based on customer needs rather than managing tasks in isolation.
Why Use Customers?
Without Customer Tracking
- "Who requested this feature?"
- "Which customers are affected by this bug?"
- "What's the business impact of this work?"
With Customer Tracking
- Direct link between work and customers
- Priority based on customer value
- Clear impact understanding
Enabling Customers
Customers is a Business-tier feature:
- Go to Workspace Settings
- Find Customers section
- Toggle Enable Customers
Once enabled, Customers appears in your workspace.
Customer Profiles
Default Properties
Each customer record includes:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Company or customer name |
| Description | Notes about the customer |
| Contact email | |
| Website | Company website |
| Employees | Company size |
| Industry | Business sector |
| Stage | Customer lifecycle stage |
| Contract Status | Active, churned, etc. |
| Revenue | ARR or contract value |
Custom Properties
Add business-specific fields:
- Account manager
- Region
- Plan tier
- Custom metrics
Creating Customers
Add a Customer
- Navigate to Customers section
- Click Add Customer
- Fill in profile information
- Save
Customer Information
Customer: Acme Corp
├── Website: acme.com
├── Industry: Technology
├── Employees: 500-1000
├── Stage: Active Customer
├── Contract: $50,000 ARR
└── Account Manager: AliceCustomer Requests
Requests bridge customer needs and actual work.
What is a Request?
A documented need or piece of feedback from a customer:
- Feature requests
- Bug reports
- Enhancement ideas
- Complaints
- Suggestions
Creating Requests
- Open a customer profile
- Go to Requests section
- Click Add Request
- Document the request details
Request Properties
- Title and description
- Priority
- Source (meeting, email, support ticket)
- Status
Linking to Work Items
Connect customer requests to actual project work:
From Request to Work Item
- Open a customer request
- Click Link Work Item
- Select or create the work item
- Connection established
From Work Item to Customer
- Open any work item
- Find Customers field
- Link relevant customers
- See all affected customers
Multiple Customers
A single work item can link to multiple customers:
Work Item: Add SSO Support
├── Customer: Acme Corp (requested)
├── Customer: TechStart Inc (requested)
└── Customer: BigEnterprise (will benefit)Customer Impact View
On Work Items
When viewing a work item, see:
- Which customers requested it
- Who will benefit
- Total customer value affected
On Customer Profiles
When viewing a customer, see:
- All their requests
- Linked work items
- Work in progress for them
Managing Customers
Edit Customer
Update profile information:
- Open customer profile
- Click Edit
- Modify fields
- Save
Share Customer
Give team members access to customer information.
Delete Customer
Remove customer record:
- Open customer profile
- Click Delete
- Confirm (requests and links are removed)
Customer Workflows
Feature Request Flow
Bug Report Flow
Best Practices
Keep Profiles Updated
- Update contract status
- Track stage changes
- Note key contacts
Document All Requests
- Don't lose customer feedback
- Track even if you won't build it
- Respond to all requests
Link Consistently
- Always link requests to work
- Tag affected customers on bugs
- Maintain the connection
Use for Prioritization
- Higher-value customers = higher priority?
- Multiple customer requests = stronger signal
- Consider impact in planning
Reporting with Customers
Customer-Centric Metrics
- Requests per customer
- Request fulfillment rate
- Time to resolve customer issues
- Features shipped per customer
Value Analysis
- Work items by customer ARR
- Development time per customer segment
- Impact of completed work
Key Takeaways
- Customers links work items to the people they serve
- Enable in Workspace Settings (Business tier)
- Customer profiles track company information
- Requests document customer needs
- Link requests to work items and vice versa
- Use for prioritization and impact analysis
- Keep profiles and requests updated
Next Steps
Connect your team chat with Plane x Slack.
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