If you run sales with a team, you know that keeping track of who’s doing what is half the battle. It’s easy to drop the ball when tasks get lost in Slack threads or buried in someone’s inbox. This guide is for people who want to use Bettercontact to actually get stuff done—not just play with another CRM.
Whether you’re new to Bettercontact or your team’s been winging it for a while, I’ll walk you through setting up tasks, assigning them, and making sure nothing slips. I’ll also call out which features actually help, which ones you can skip, and where the pitfalls hide.
Why Team Task Management Matters (And Why Most CRMs Make It Hard)
Before diving into the how-to, let’s get real: most CRMs are built for managers who want dashboards, not for reps who need to move deals forward. That means a lot of “task assignment” features are clunky, hidden, or just plain ignored. The result? Duplicate work, forgotten follow-ups, and a lot of finger pointing when deals stall out.
Bettercontact does some things right here: tasks are simple, visible, and tied directly to your contacts and deals. But it’s not magic—if your team isn’t clear on who owns what, you’ll still end up stepping on each other’s toes.
Step 1: Set Up Your Team for Success
Before you even think about assigning tasks, make sure your team setup isn’t working against you.
- Invite everyone who’s involved in sales. Sounds obvious, but if people are still working out of their inbox, they’ll never see their tasks.
- Use real names, not nicknames. You don’t want to assign a demo to “JDog” and realize later you have no clue who that is.
- Set permissions carefully. Most teams do fine with standard permissions, but if you’ve got contractors or part-timers, double-check what they can see and edit.
Pro tip: Don’t overthink roles and permissions. The goal is to get everyone collaborating, not lock things down like Fort Knox.
Step 2: Get Your Pipelines and Contacts Organized
Task assignment only works if you can actually find the right deals and people.
- Clean up your pipelines. Archive dead deals, merge duplicates, and give each stage a name that makes sense for your team (not what came out of the box).
- Tag or segment your contacts. This makes it much easier to assign tasks based on region, deal size, or whatever actually matters to your sales process.
What to ignore: Fancy automation rules at this stage. If you’re still figuring out who’s responsible for what, adding bots will just create more chaos.
Step 3: Create and Assign Tasks That People Will Actually Do
Here’s where most teams get stuck: either nobody logs tasks, or they log so many that everyone tunes them out. Here’s how to strike the right balance.
How to Create a Task in Bettercontact
- Open the relevant contact or deal.
- Look for the “Add Task” button (usually pretty obvious—don’t overthink it).
- Fill in a clear description. “Follow up” is useless. “Send contract to Acme Corp by Friday” is better.
- Set a due date. If everything’s due “ASAP,” nothing is.
- Assign it to the right person. Pick a specific teammate—the fewer “unassigned” tasks, the better.
What Makes a Good Sales Task?
- Specific. “Call John re: Q2 pricing—ask about timeline.”
- Actionable. Attach files, links, or notes if they’ll save questions later.
- Visible. If it’s important, don’t hide it in a private thread—assign it publicly so there’s accountability.
Pro tip: Don’t assign tasks to yourself “just in case.” If you do need a reminder, set it, but resist the urge to clutter the system with fake busywork. Less is more.
Step 4: Track Task Progress Without Micromanaging
Assigning tasks is the easy part. Making sure they get done is where most CRMs fall down.
- Use the task dashboard or kanban view. Bettercontact’s task lists are actually usable, so check them regularly.
- Sort by overdue or unassigned tasks. These are the ones that cause deals to slip.
- Don’t obsess over 100% completion. Some tasks go stale, some get skipped—that’s normal. Focus on the stuff that actually moves the needle.
How to Handle Missed or Overdue Tasks
- Talk to your team. Sometimes people just forgot to check the CRM. Sometimes the task wasn’t clear. Fix the underlying issue, not just the symptom.
- Clean up old tasks regularly. Delete or close out stuff that’s no longer relevant. Otherwise, people stop trusting the task list.
What to ignore: Endless status meetings. If you’re using the tool right, you shouldn’t need a call just to figure out who owes what.
Step 5: Use Comments and Mentions to Collaborate (But Don’t Spam)
Bettercontact lets you comment on tasks and mention teammates. This is handy for quick clarifications or handing off work.
- Use @mentions sparingly. If you tag everyone every time, people will start ignoring notifications—then you’re back to square one.
- Keep comments focused. A quick “Please attach the latest contract” is helpful. A debate about pricing strategy is better left for a real conversation.
Pro tip: If a task needs input from two people, assign it to one and @-mention the other. Otherwise, everyone assumes someone else will handle it.
Step 6: Automate (Carefully) Once You’ve Got the Basics Down
Automation is tempting. Bettercontact lets you trigger tasks based on pipeline stage, email opens, and more. This can save time—if you don’t go overboard.
- Start with simple triggers. For example, “When a deal moves to Proposal stage, assign ‘Send contract’ task to the deal owner.”
- Review automations monthly. They break, people ignore them, or your process changes. Don’t set and forget.
- Don’t automate what should be a conversation. If the next step in a deal is genuinely unclear, no bot can fix that.
What to ignore: Pre-built automation “recipes” that don’t fit your team’s actual workflow. They sound good, but usually just add noise.
Step 7: Review and Adjust—Don’t Let the System Run You
CRMs are supposed to help, not become another chore. Every few weeks, take a step back:
- Are tasks actually getting done, or just piling up?
- Does everyone know how to use the task features?
- Are you spending more time managing the system than selling?
If something’s not working, change it. Don’t be afraid to delete old tasks, tweak your process, or even ignore features that aren’t helping.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Assigning tasks to “the team” instead of a person. If everyone’s responsible, no one is.
- Letting overdue tasks pile up. This kills trust in the system fast.
- Over-automating. Remember, the goal is to help real humans work together—not just hit a quota of completed tasks.
- Ignoring feedback from the team. If people say the system’s a pain, listen—they’re not just whining.
Wrapping Up
Assigning and managing team tasks in Bettercontact isn’t rocket science, but it does take a little discipline. Start simple. Get everyone on board. Only add bells and whistles once the basics are working. Your sales process will run smoother—and you’ll spend a lot less time chasing people for updates.
Keep it straightforward, don’t overcomplicate things, and remember: the best system is the one your team actually uses.