CRM and custom systems
Describe the system you need in one sentence — a sales CRM, a property pipeline, a content calendar — and an agent builds its tables, views and dashboard. Then run it by chatting with your data.
Off-the-shelf CRMs make you fit your business into their idea of contacts, companies and deals. Volnyn CRM works the other way round: you describe how your business works, and it builds the tables, fields, views, dashboard and automations to match.
A real-estate agency gets Clients, Properties, Deals and Viewings. A recruiter gets Candidates, Roles and Interviews. A creator gets a content calendar. Each one is called a system.
Open it from chat: click the + menu and choose CRM — "Describe a system — the agent builds its tables and views". Or go to /user/crm.
Creating a system
The launcher at /user/crm — Custom Dashboards, CRM, and Systems in minutes — gives you three ways to start.
Describe it
- Type what you need in the box, for example "A content calendar to plan posts across all my channels" or "A CRM for my interior design studio".
- The agent may ask A couple of quick questions — "These shape the tables — skip and it will use sensible defaults." Answer them, or click Skip.
- Click Build it. "Building your system…" — it designs the tables, fills in starter data and sets up your views.
Building from a description uses credits.
Start from a template
Browse All Templates or a category — Sales & CRM, Real Estate, Agency & Services, Customer Support, Inventory, Projects, Marketing, HR & Recruiting, Education, Events, Personal.
Click a template to preview it live, then Use this template. "You get your own copy of all of this — the rows are starter data you can replace or clear in one click."
Start from your data
| Card | What it does |
|---|---|
| From files | "Upload a CSV or Excel file and map it to a table" |
| From your inbox | Pull contacts and leads from Gmail |
| From another app | Import from HubSpot |
| From your website | "Send the forms on your AI site straight into a table" — every contact, booking and enquiry form on your published Volnyn AI site becomes a record, including submissions that already came in |
Each card shows Connected, Connect or Setup needed depending on whether that source is linked.
Your systems are listed under My Systems.
The system workspace
Open a system to see its workspace at /user/crm/{id}. The left side lists its Tables, Dashboards and Workflows; the agent chat sits alongside.
Tables and fields
Each table is a set of records with typed columns:
| Field types |
|---|
| Text, long text, number, currency, percent, date, date and time, single select, multi-select, checkbox, email, phone, URL, link to another table, rating |
Use Add record, Add column and Add a table, or ask the agent. Click a record to open it; edit values in place.
When you are ready to use real data, click Clear sample rows on a table. "The starter rows will be deleted. Your columns and views stay exactly as they are."
Views
Every table can be shown as:
| View | Best for |
|---|---|
| Table | A spreadsheet-style grid with search and filters |
| Kanban | Moving records through stages, like a deal pipeline |
| Gallery | Cards with images, like property listings |
| Calendar | Anything with a date — viewings, posts, renewals |
| Form | A form that adds records to the table |
Dashboards
Dashboards chart your data live — totals, breakdowns, share of total, trends over time. "No dashboard yet — ask the agent for one."
The agent
The chat in every workspace knows your system. "Ask anything about your data — add a column, build a dashboard, or automate a report. The agent does the work."
"Which deals have been stuck in Negotiation for more than two weeks?"
"Add a Lead source column with Website, Referral and Instagram."
"Build me a dashboard of revenue by month and by agent."
Before anything destructive — deleting records, columns or tables — the agent asks you to confirm.
Workflows
Workflows act on your records automatically. Click + next to Workflows (the box is pre-filled with "Every Monday morning, email me ") and finish the sentence, or describe one to the agent in your own words.
| Starts when | Can do |
|---|---|
| On a schedule | Send an email |
| A record is created | Create a task |
| A record is updated | Create a record |
| A record is deleted | Update a record's field |
| Notify a CRM member | |
| Call a webhook | |
| Wait |
Conditions (IF … THEN) let a workflow act only on matching records. Open a workflow to Run a test — "Nothing was sent — this is what would go out" — see its Run history, pause it, or Delete workflow.
Activity
Activity shows "Everything that changed" in the system: records created, updated and deleted, columns added, access changes, and who did it.
Importing a spreadsheet
- In the workspace, choose Import CSV or Excel (CSV or Excel, up to 20 MB).
- Pick the table to Import into.
- Match the columns — map each column in your file to a field.
- Optionally Check for duplicates: choose a field to Match existing records on, so rows that already exist are updated rather than added twice.
- Click Import. The import runs in the background; you can close the window.
- Review Rows that did not import, and Download failed rows to fix and re-import them.
Gmail and HubSpot imports work the same way: "Records come across as rows you can map, exactly like a spreadsheet. Nothing is written until you confirm the mapping."
Sharing a system
Click Share → Invite by email.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Editor | Add and edit records |
| Viewer | Read only. Viewers can ask the agent questions but cannot change anything. |
Tick Let them invite others too to let them share it onward. The person gets an invitation by email; they will also see it under Invitations waiting for you on their CRM page. If the email cannot be sent, copy the invite link and send it yourself.
Remove someone from People with access at any time — "They will lose access immediately."
Renaming and deleting
Use Rename this system to change its name. Only the owner can delete a system: "Every table, view, dashboard and record in it goes too. This cannot be undone."
Tips
- Describe how you work, not what software you want. "We get leads from Instagram, call them within a day, then book a site visit" produces a better system than "a CRM".
- Start from a template if one is close, then ask the agent to adjust it.
- Clear sample rows before importing your real data.
- Connect your website early. Form submissions start flowing in as records straight away.
- Test workflows before relying on them. Run a test shows exactly what would be sent.
FAQ
Is this a replacement for HubSpot or Salesforce?
For many small teams, yes. It is a flexible database with views, dashboards, automations and an AI agent, shaped around your business. You can import from HubSpot to move over.
Can I change the tables after it is built?
Yes. Add or remove columns, tables and views yourself, or ask the agent.
Does it cost anything?
Using a ready-made template does not use credits. Building a system from a description does. Depending on your plan, CRM may require a paid plan.
How big a file can I import?
CSV or Excel files up to 20 MB.
Can people outside my team use it?
Yes. Invite anyone by email as an Editor or Viewer. They need a Volnyn account to accept.
Next steps
- Open
/user/crmand describe the system you run your business on. - Connect your AI website's forms so leads land as records.
- Add a workflow that emails you a weekly summary.