If your sales accounts are scattered—across spreadsheets, notes, Salesforce, Slack, and your own memory—you’re not alone. Most sales reps spend more time searching for info or updating records than actually selling. This guide is for anyone who wants to cut through that chaos using the workspace features in Scratchpad.
I’ll walk you through setting up a workspace that actually helps you sell, not just track things for your boss. You’ll get the honest version: what works, what’s noise, and how to spend less time organizing and more time closing.
Step 1: Define What Actually Matters for Your Accounts
Before you start dragging accounts around Scratchpad, get really clear on what you need to track and why. If you try to organize everything, you’ll organize nothing.
- Start with deal stage and close date: Don’t overthink it. If you’re not sure what to prioritize, start with the basics: deal stage, close date, and account size.
- Add qualifiers, not clutter: Things like renewal date, main contact, or next step are good, but don’t add a field unless you’ll actually use it to make decisions.
- Ignore “nice to have” fields: If it doesn’t help you move a deal forward, skip it for now.
Pro tip: Ask yourself, “If I had all this info on one screen, would I actually do anything differently?” If not, you’re tracking too much.
Step 2: Set Up Your Scratchpad Workspace
Now for the fun part. Scratchpad’s workspace features are built to give you a snapshot of your accounts, tasks, and pipeline—without the Salesforce headache.
Building Your Workspace
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Create a new workspace view
Start fresh. Create a workspace just for account management or pipeline review. Don’t try to cram everything into one giant view. -
Add the fields that matter
Bring in only the fields you identified above. In Scratchpad, you can customize columns and filters—don’t just use the default Salesforce view. -
Set up filters for focus
Want to see only deals closing this quarter? Or accounts with no next step? Set up quick filters so you can get to what matters with one click. -
Pin your workspace
Make your workspace your browser homepage or keep it open in a tab. The less you have to click around, the more you’ll actually use it.
What works: - Custom views for “My Accounts,” “Stalled Deals,” or “High-Value Targets.” - Quick filters for things like “No Next Step” or “No Recent Activity.”
What doesn’t: - Trying to mirror your entire Salesforce layout. You’ll just get overwhelmed. - Making a workspace for every possible scenario. Start with one or two.
Step 3: Organize Accounts by Priority, Not by Geography or Alphabet
Most sales orgs default to sorting accounts by territory or company name. That’s easy, but it’s not helpful.
Here’s how to actually prioritize:
- Bucket accounts by urgency and value
Create views for: - Deals closing this month
- High-value accounts (set your own threshold)
- Accounts with critical next steps
- Use color or tags (if your team uses them)
Some teams add color-coding or tags for “Red Alert” (at risk), “VIP,” or “Expansion Potential.” Just don’t go overboard—too many tags, and you’ll ignore them all. - Ignore: Alphabetical lists
You’re not a librarian. Sort by what moves the needle.
Pro tip: Spend most of your day in the view that surfaces the most urgent or valuable accounts. The rest can wait.
Step 4: Layer in Tasks and Next Steps—But Don’t Overcomplicate
A workspace is only useful if it drives action. Scratchpad lets you connect tasks, notes, and next steps directly to each account (without 12 clicks).
Make it work for you:
- Add a “Next Step” column
This is huge: see at a glance what you promised a customer, or what needs to happen next. - Use in-line editing
Update fields or notes right in your workspace. No tab-hopping, no Salesforce loading screens. - Set reminders, but don’t go nuts
Use tasks for real follow-ups. If you never check your reminders, don’t bother setting them.
What works: - Updating next steps right after a call, while it’s fresh. - Marking stale accounts and setting a real follow-up (or removing them from your focus).
What doesn’t: - Creating a task for every little thing. You’ll just start ignoring the list. - Over-documenting—notes are helpful, but only if you actually use them.
Step 5: Review and Re-Prioritize—Weekly, Not Daily
A workspace isn’t magic. You still need to review and update it, but don’t let this become busywork.
- Block time once a week
Monday morning, Friday afternoon, whatever works—spend 20 minutes cleaning up your workspace. - Move accounts between views as things change
Closed a deal? Move it out. Got a new target? Add it in. - Kill zombie accounts
If you haven’t touched an account in a month and nothing’s happening, archive it or mark it low-priority.
What works:
- Regular, light maintenance. Not obsessively updating every field every day.
- Using your workspace as your to-do list for calls and follow-ups.
What doesn’t:
- Spending hours making your workspace “perfect.” It’ll be outdated in a week anyway.
- Letting your workspace get stale. If it’s not helping you, tweak it or cut features.
Step 6: Share, but Don’t Force It
Scratchpad workspaces can be shared with your team. This is great—if people actually use them. But don’t get caught up in trying to standardize everything.
- Share your best views or templates
If you’ve built a workspace that helps you, share it. Someone else might want to copy it. - Be open to tweaks
Everyone works a little differently. What’s perfect for you might not fit your teammate. - Ignore: Forcing everyone onto “one perfect workspace”
If you try to make everyone use the same view, nobody will use it.
Step 7: Skip the Fancy Stuff (Unless You’re Bored)
Scratchpad has features like pipeline graphs, activity timelines, and integrations. These can be useful, but don’t let them distract you from the basics.
- Use advanced features only if they genuinely help
If you love charts or need to report up, great. But if you’re just trying to keep your accounts organized, you probably don’t need most of it. - Integrations: Nice to have, not must-have
Connecting to Slack or Google Calendar can be handy, but don’t spend hours setting it up unless it’ll save you real time.
What works:
- Features that save you clicks or keep you focused.
- Anything that reduces friction between calls, updates, and your workspace.
What doesn’t:
- Getting sucked into setup hell. Organize first, optimize later.
Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Here’s the honest truth: No tool (not even Scratchpad) will organize your sales life for you. But with a simple, focused workspace, you’ll spend less time chasing info and more time moving deals. Start with the basics, ignore the bloat, and tweak your setup as you go. If your workspace isn’t making your day easier, change it—or scrap it and try again. Don’t wait for “perfect.” Just get started.