What are Placeholders?
Placeholders let you add a node to your org chart for a person whose identity you don't know yet. This keeps your account map complete even when your stakeholder intelligence has gaps.
A placeholder holds a position in the hierarchy. You can note the role and anything else you know, then replace it with a real CRM contact as soon as you identify them.
Adding a Placeholder
Open an org chart in vizrm.
Click the ⋯ menu on any organization node or contact card.
Select Add Placeholder.
In the dialog, enter:
Role / Position (optional) — e.g. "Chief Revenue Officer"
What do you know? (optional) — any notes, e.g. "Based in Berlin"
Click Save.
The placeholder appears as a grey node with a ? icon, positioned as a child of the node you added it to. You can drag and drop it to reposition it anywhere in the hierarchy.
Need the same set of placeholders on every account? Save them as an org chart template and add them all in one click.
Assigning a Person to a Placeholder
Drag a contact onto the placeholder
If the person is already in your CRM, simply find them in the contacts list on the sidebar and drop them onto the placeholder card.
Open Contacts on the left icon rail and find the person - the search box filters the list.
Drag their card out of the panel and hold it over the placeholder you want to fill.
The placeholder turns green and reads Drop to assign contact. Let go, and the contact takes the seat.
Dropping a contact onto a placeholder replaces it; dropping below a placeholder adds the person as a direct report and leaves the open seat in place.
Other options
Click the ⋯ menu on the placeholder node.
Select Assign Person.
Choose how to assign the contact:
Option A - Search Contacts
Search across your entire CRM. vizrm will surface contacts already associated with the current organization at the top. Select the contact and click Assign Contact.
Option B - Create New Contact
Fill in the contact's details (first name, last name, email, phone number, and any custom fields you've configured — such as Buying Role). Click Assign Contact to create the record in your CRM and place them on the chart simultaneously.
Coming soon: A third option — Import from LinkedIn — will let you assign a placeholder by pulling someone's details directly from LinkedIn into your CRM and org chart in one step.
If a contact already appears on another org chart, you will need to confirm that the contact should be moved to the other chart.
Tips
Use placeholders to represent buying committee roles you know exist but haven't yet identified — Economic Buyer, Legal approver, Technical contact, etc.
The "What do you know?" field is your scratchpad: use it for intel from your champion, context from LinkedIn, or anything that helps you track down the person faster.
Placeholders behave like regular nodes — you can make them parents or children of other contacts and groups using drag and drop.
The Buying Roles template puts a whole buying committee on the chart as placeholders in one step — see Org Chart Templates.