5 different contact list templates (with free downloads!)

This goes without saying, but it’s true: Pretty much any business wouldn’t survive without a database of contacts. Whether you’re a real estate agent with 200 client phone numbers in your phone or a massive enterprise with an email list that’s millions strong, your revenue depends on keeping good contact records.

However, organizing your contacts well is easier said than done. Saving them to your phone’s contacts might have worked before, but things get messier as you grow. 

Imagine dropping your phone down a storm drain without having backed up your data. You literally might have to start over from scratch. That’s why we’ve put together this short blog with five contact list templates to give you a more efficient, secure way to manage your contacts.

What is a contact list template?

A contact list template is a preformatted document for organizing and storing contact details like names, phone numbers, and email addresses. These templates often come in the form of spreadsheets that have column headers for each piece of contact information, but they can vary based on your industry.

For example, in addition to basic information about contacts, a real estate agent would also likely want to track the MLS listing for a client’s house they’re trying to sell.

A good contact list template will be your go-to for managing your work. You’ll have all the information you need about each client or prospect accessible in one place. 

Contact list templates can also be useful for personal use, such as keeping track of doctors, dentists, school information, and emergency services in a single location.

What makes a good contact list template?

A sales rep might be tempted to cobble together a haphazard contact resource for themselves so they can get back to the real work. However, spending time to understand and create a great contact list template, complete with all of the information each contact has ever shared about themselves, can amplify all of your other business processes.
Here are a few questions to ask as you’re selecting or building a contact list template:

Is it user-friendly? 

Whether you’re customizing a contact list template or building one from scratch, make sure that it’s simple to use. If you or other stakeholders can’t make sense of it, adoption will be an uphill battle.

Is it customizable? 

Every business and industry tracks different information. You should be able to decide which fields matter most, and add or remove them from all contacts with one bulk action.

Is it sortable? 

The ability to filter information can give you greater visibility into your business efforts. For example, if you want to see every potential sale that dropped off at a certain stage, you should be able to sort for just the contacts who fit that criteria.

Is it scalable? 

If you add 2,000 contacts, does your system fall apart? For example, managing that many within your phone’s contacts isn’t a viable solution.

Is it shareable? 

You should be able to grant access to others who may need to see the list, such as your sales team or a business partner.

Do you have mobile access to it? 

If you’re out doing a sales visit, but can’t pull up your contact list, it might as well not even exist.

Does it integrate well with your other systems? 

Your template of choice should be able to integrate with the other tools your business uses, such as an email marketing platform or project management software. In other words, an offline Excel spreadsheet isn’t a great option.

5 effective contact list templates 

We’ve created five contact list templates to help you build an efficient database for managing your contacts. They were built using Google Sheets (so they’re automatically backed up in the cloud), and they check every one of the boxes above. Plus, each template below integrates with Streak, an extension that turns Gmail inboxes into a CRM so users can manage contacts and workflows seamlessly right in their inboxes.

1. A professional contact list template

This template can act as your central business hub for managing everything about the leads and clients you interact with. 

The basics are already included, with column headers for information like First name, Email, Phone, and more. It’s simple to add more columns, too, based on your personal preferences and business needs.

For example, if you’re a sales rep managing a sales process with many stages, you can change the “Status” column to “Stage,” and then create a dropdown with the different sales stages so that you can track where each of your leads are.

The biggest key to success here? Be sure to update this template consistently! Putting off updates can lead to a marathon session later where you might have trouble remembering everything.

Download the professional contact list template here

2. A vendor contact list template

This template is a lifesaver for anyone who regularly works with many different vendors or who’s vetting different solutions. A general contractor, for example, can benefit from having an organized list of suppliers for flooring, cabinetry, countertops, mirrors, and plenty of others.

This template can also work as more than a reference list; you can track progress against specific contracts and agreements to remember when your contract started, when it’s slated to end, and how the vendor is performing for you. You can also leave notes for your future self, documenting whether or not you’d want to use the vendor again or if it’s time to look for an alternative.

Download the vendor contact list template here

3. A staff and employee contact list template

This template is perfect for a company that isn’t quite ready to pay for a full HR software solution but still needs to keep employee information organized. 

A template like this scales well for hundreds of employees, as it only really needs to be updated when employees join the company, leave the company, or have a change in information (e.g., they move to a new department or move to a new address). An HR rep will find this to be a much better solution than saving a bunch of files in a folder on their computer.

Download the staff and employee contact list template here

4. A personal emergency contact list template

This particular template is a great one for personal use. Every parent knows what it’s like to leave the kids at home with a sitter, or need to frantically look up an emergency service number like poison control.

With this template, you can keep all of that critical information in one place. This document is designed to be printed out and kept somewhere handy. Someone with urgent medical issues could even print off a portion of this template to keep on them at all times in case of fainting or seizure.

Download the personal emergency contact list template here

5. A business emergency contact list template

Every business needs to have an emergency plan in place, and this template can help you decide how to set one up. 

At the top of the document, information is listed for various employees with different emergency response roles. For example, one of them could be the facility’s manager, and another could be the CEO. This lets employees know who to contact and in what order.

Then, there’s a place for local emergency services. This provides employees with the information they need to quickly find and call the right number if needed. This document can (and should) be printed out and displayed somewhere in every in-person office.

Download the business emergency contact list template here

Optimize your professional contact list in Gmail with Streak

As we mentioned earlier, Streak is a powerful CRM that integrates seamlessly with Gmail to help people keep track of contacts, send tailored email outreach, and close more deals. 

Using the Streak importer tool, you can easily import your contact list template from Google Sheets, CSV files, or Excel spreadsheets, and Streak will automatically create a contact page for each person. Plus, the icing on top is that Streak will auto-enrich each contact with useful data based on what’s available online and based on your team’s past email history with them.

This level of detail on each contact gives you and your teammates the context you need to nurture the relationship well. You can see sales and support messaging from years ago, recent email interactions, and any notes folks have left in the past about this contact. There are also helpful buttons right on each contact’s page to make it easy for you to call, email, or send them a calendar invite their way.

So, what are you waiting for? Try Streak for free to see how you can manage and connect with your leads from right inside your Gmail account.