Finding Anything Fast

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After this lesson you'll be able to land on any record in the CRM in a couple of seconds, two different ways.

Everything in the CRM is findable. The trick is knowing the two doors in, and when to use each. This matters more at ANC than at most companies: account names overlap constantly — the team, the venue, the ownership group, the sponsor activating at that venue can all be separate records with similar names. Knowing how to cut through that in seconds is the difference between answering on the spot and saying "let me get back to you."

Mid-meeting lookup

Situation

On a call, a colleague mentions an opportunity by its number and asks where it stands. You have never touched that deal.

Goal

Land on the exact record in under ten seconds, read the stage and owner, and answer while the conversation is still on that topic.

Proof

You answered from the live record, not from memory or a promise to follow up.

Search or ask?

If

You know the exact Company, person, opportunity name, or opportunity number

Then

Use the search bar and jump straight to the record.

If

You need context around the record

Then

Ask the assistant to open it, summarize it, or show related deals.

If

You only need a link for Slack or email

Then

Ask for the direct CRM link by name or number.

If

Search returns too many results

Then

Add the venue, league, city, or opportunity number to narrow it.

Door 1 — the search bar (when you know what you want)

The fastest way to a specific record.

• Click it: the search bar at the top → type a company name, a person's name, or an opportunity number like 109288. It searches all of them at once.
• Best for: "I know exactly which account/deal I want, take me there."

Two habits make search dramatically better:

• Opportunity numbers are gold. Every opportunity has one, and it is unique. When someone references a deal in a thread or a meeting, ask for the number once — from then on you can jump straight to it, no guessing between similarly named deals.
• Search shortest distinctive word first. "Knicks" beats "New York Knicks Basketball" — shorter terms surface the whole family of related records so you can pick the right one, which also tells you whether duplicates exist.

Door 2 — just ask (when you want it pulled together)

The assistant is better when you want context, not just a record.

• "Open the Dodgers account for me."
• "Pull up opportunity 109288."
• "Who's the primary contact at Madison Square Garden?"
• "Show me every account with 'Red Sox' in the name."
• "What deals do we have open with the Portland Trail Blazers?"

The assistant finds it, opens it, and can keep going — "now show me their open opportunities" — without you clicking once.

Find plus context in one ask

Open the Portland Trail Blazers account and summarize the open opportunities and the last activity.Copy

When you don't know the name at all

Sometimes you only have a fragment — a venue, a league, a rough timeframe. That's an ask, not a search:

• "Find the account for the arena the Hornets play in."
• "Which NCAA accounts have open opportunities right now?"
• "Find the deal we won at an MLS stadium last year involving ribbon boards."

Describe what you remember; the assistant triangulates. You will usually get a shortlist to pick from — faster than scrolling any list.

Need a shareable link to a record?

If you just want the link to a record — to paste into Slack or an email — ask the assistant (or @ANC in Slack) for it by its number or name:

Get a paste-ready link

Give me the link for opportunity 201356.Copy

• "What's the CRM link for the Arizona Coyotes account?"

It hands back the direct record URL. No need to open it and copy from the address bar.

Common mistakes

What good looks like

You're fast enough when: a named record takes you under ten seconds via search; a fuzzy memory ("that stadium deal from last spring") becomes a shortlist via one ask; you use opportunity numbers whenever they exist; and you never create a record just because your first search came up empty.

Now you try →

Find the same account both ways — type its name in the search bar, then ask the assistant "open [that account] for me." Then try one fuzzy lookup: describe a deal you half-remember and see what the assistant surfaces. Notice which door felt faster for each job.

👉 Open the CRM

Related lessons: Meet the Assistant · The Daily Basics · Working Standard

Key takeaways

• Two doors in: the search bar for exact records, the assistant for context and fuzzy lookups.
• Search covers companies, people, and opportunity numbers all at once — numbers are the fastest path of all.
• One empty search never means the record does not exist; try the abbreviation or venue name.
• Need a link for Slack or email? Ask for it directly by name or number.

Check yourself

A colleague mentions 'the ribbon-board deal at that MLS stadium from last year' but no name or number. What is the fastest move?

AScroll the opportunities list sorted by date until something looks rightBDescribe the fragment to the assistant and pick from the shortlist it returnsCAsk the colleague to go find the record themselves