# Conversations in CRM

Connect a messaging account once so conversations, their contacts, and optional automatic deals appear on the relationship record.

## One connection, one place to configure it

A workspace connects its Bow Chat account to CRM once. From then on the connection is a property of the workspace, not something to repeat per user, per inbox, or per campaign, and everything it does is configured in one place: **CRM → Settings**.

There is no second setup on the messaging side, and nothing to reconnect per teammate. The connection carries both the workspace binding and the permission to export, so a connected workspace starts working immediately and an unconnected one produces nothing at all.

## What appears in CRM

| In the conversation | In CRM |
|---|---|
| A person your team talks to | A contact record, kept in sync |
| A conversation starting | A labelled reference on that contact, showing which inbox it belongs to and when it began |
| The first message of a conversation | Optionally one opportunity, according to your [automation settings](/crm/automation-settings) |

Each conversation reference renders as a direct link back to the conversation, labelled with its inbox, so a contact who writes to sales and to support shows both routes distinctly rather than as one undifferentiated pile.

## What never crosses

Message content stays in the messaging product. CRM stores identity and references—which conversation, which inbox, which direction, and when—so that operators follow a link into the conversation rather than reading a duplicated transcript inside CRM.

This keeps one copy of every conversation, under the access rules of the product that owns it.

## Automatic deals from first contact

With automation enabled, the first customer-visible message of a new conversation creates one opportunity for that contact at your chosen starting stage.

Three rules keep this from producing noise:

- **One conversation creates at most one deal.** Repeats, retries, and reconnections cannot duplicate it.
- **A contact who already has an open deal does not get another** while that behaviour is enabled. New conversations attach to the relationship instead.
- **Only the inboxes and directions you selected participate.** Everything else is recorded as a conversation reference without creating a deal.

## Turning it down without turning it off

Most teams start with the default—every inbox, both directions—and narrow it once they see real traffic. Narrowing scope never removes conversation references; it only changes whether a deal is created. The references remain the connective tissue between a relationship and the conversations that produced it.

Canonical: https://docs.boni.one/crm/conversations
Version: 1
Updated: 2026-08-17T16:54:50.786Z