Overview

Trella CRM uses the terms "ownership" and "shared owner" to indicate the assignment of accounts, contacts, orders, leads, and referrals to a person within your organization. Which of these items each person owns makes up their book of business — the set of relationships they are responsible for tracking and growing. Whether you can assign ownership directly or need to request it depends on your role and the permissions your organization has configured.

This article covers the full ownership workflow: what ownership means, how sales reps request ownership changes, how managers and administrators assign and remove ownership, how ownership change requests are approved — including the ability to approve requests from the Trella CRM mobile app — and how shared owners are managed.

Item(s) - Throughout this article, the word "item" refers to any account, contact, order, lead, or referral — the five record types to which ownership applies. When a step or description applies to all five types equally, "item" or "items" is used in place of the full list.

In this Article

• Understanding Ownership — what ownership is, roles, and how ownership is assigned
• Requesting Ownership — workflows for sales reps (web and mobile)
• Assigning & Removing Ownership — workflows for managers and administrators (web and mobile)
• Approving Ownership Change Requests — reviewing and acting on requests (web and mobile)
• Adding or Removing Shared Owners — managing multiple owners on a single record
• Putting the Data to Work

Understanding Ownership

What is ownership?

In Trella CRM, "ownership" indicates that a specific person within your organization is assigned to an account, contact, order, lead, or referral. The collection of items a person owns is their book of business. Ownership drives the "My" views on the Accounts, Contacts, and Referrals pages, filters the data that syncs to the mobile app on login, and in some configurations is used to assign referral credit.

What is a shared owner?

Trella CRM uses "shared owner" to refer to the specific assignee on a record. Because more than one person can own an account, contact, or referral at the same time, the term "shared" reflects that ownership is not limited to a single individual. The Shared Owners section appears on every account, contact, order, lead, and referral detail page and shows all current owners of that record.

Roles and permissions

What you can do in ownership management depends on your role and the permissions your organization has set up.

More Details

• Your organization may have additional role levels with different names and different levels of access. If you are unsure what your role allows, contact your Trella Health customer success manager or Trella Health Support.
•  If your organization's Electronic Health Records (EHR) system is integrated with Trella CRM, ownership assignments may be managed by that system and may not be changeable directly in Trella CRM. Contact your account administrator with any questions.

How ownership is assigned

There are three ways ownership can be assigned in Trella CRM.

1. Manually, by the sales rep — If your organization has given the sales rep role permission to assign ownership, a rep can identify accounts or contacts they are working and assign ownership to themselves directly.
2. Manually, by a manager or administrator — Many organizations require a manager or administrator to approve ownership assignments. In this setup, the sales rep requests ownership and the manager approves or denies the request. A manager may also assign ownership proactively — for example, when a new rep joins and the manager builds out their initial book of business.
3. Automatically, via EHR integration — Trella CRM often integrates with an organization's EHR system. The integration is a one-way push of information from the EHR into Trella CRM — typically centered on referral data, referring facilities, and referring physicians. In some configurations, the EHR also passes ownership information, so that assignment in the EHR is reflected automatically in Trella CRM. The specific logic for this was determined during your integration setup.

Requesting Ownership

Sales reps who do not have permission to assign ownership directly must submit a request. A manager or administrator reviews the request and approves or denies it. Requests can be submitted from the Accounts, Contacts, Referrals, Orders, and Leads pages, from the Market Spotlight page, and from Trella CRM Mobile.

If you are a sales rep who has been given permission to assign ownership directly, you will see the manager and administrator options described in Assigning & Removing Ownership — not the request workflow shown here.

From the Accounts, Contacts, Referrals, Orders, or Leads page

Requesting ownership removal

Use this workflow when you want to remove an item from your book of business.

Click on the appropriate page in the left navigation. Select the "My" view to show only the items you currently own. Click the "View" link for the item from which you want to remove ownership. The detail page will open. Although the images to the right show accounts, contacts, and referrals, the process is the same for orders and leads.
On the detail page, scroll down to the Shared Owners section. Your name will appear in the Name column. Click the "Request Removal" link
A confirmation dialog box will open. Click the "Ok" button

Your request will be sent for approval. The item will not be removed from your "My" view until a manager or administrator approves the request.

To check the status of a request, see Checking the Status of a Request.

Requesting ownership assignment

Use this workflow when you want to add an item to your book of business.

Click on the appropriate page in the left navigation. Select the "All Accounts" view to show items you do not currently own. "My" accounts/contacts/referrals shown in the images to the right. The dropdown looks like this: Click the "View" link for the item for which you want to request ownership. The detail page will open.
On the detail page, scroll down to the Shared Owners section. Click the "Request Ownership" link
A confirmation dialog box will open. Click the "Ok" button

Your request will be sent for approval. The item will not appear in your "My" view until a manager or administrator approves the request.

To check the status of a request, see Checking the Status of a Request.

Bulk requests

To request ownership changes for multiple items at once, use the Bulk Actions tool. The images below show the bulk request steps from the Referrals page, but the process is the same for any group of items.

Click the checkboxes for any items for which you want to request an ownership change. Click the "Bulk Options" dropdown and choose "Request Ownership" or "Request Removal of Ownership."
A confirmation of your request will appear.

Your request to add or remove an item will be sent for approval. The item will not appear in or disappear from your "My" view until a manager or administrator approves the request.

From the Market Spotlight page

Sales reps can request ownership of physicians, facilities, and agencies directly from the Market Spotlight page.

Ownership can only be requested from Market Spotlight — ownership removal requests are not available from this page.

Consider the workflow in this situation. Market Spotlight is a feature that allows you to browse multiple providers where it is easy to request ownership. The easiest way to cull unwanted items is from the item's page where you can look at, for example, all of your contacts in one place and even use a bulk action to request removal of numerous items at once.

Single request

On the Market Spotlight page, click on the provider name for whom you want to request ownership The Sales Spotlight panel will open.
Click the "Manage Ownership" button
The Manage Ownership dialog box opens. Click the "Request Ownership" field (your name will appear in parentheses) The provider for whom ownership is being requested will appear in the "Selected Entities" list.
Your name will appear in the Selected Users list. Click the "Save" button Your request will be sent for approval.

Bulk request

Click the "Market Spotlight" button in the left navigation. Click the checkboxes to the left of the provider names for whom you want to request ownership. Click the "Manage Ownership" button that appears once at least one provider is selected.
The Manage Ownership dialog box opens. Click the "Request Ownership" field (your name will appear in parentheses) All selected providers will appear in the "Selected Entities" list.
Your name will appear in the Selected Users list. Click the "Save" button Your requests will be sent for approval.

Checking the status of a request

You can check the status of your ownership change requests at any time using the Request Owner Change report.

Click the "Reporting" button in the left navigation to open the Reporting page. Type "Request" into the search field to locate the Request Owner Change report, or find it in your Favorites if you have saved it. Click the report name to open it.

The report includes filters to narrow down the requests you want to review.

Object — the report displays one record type at a time. Choose the object type whose requests you want to review
Request Type — shows either assignment or removal requests, not both at once. Choose whether you want to view requests to assign ownership or remove ownership
Approval Status — filter by pending, approved, or denied. Choose a status, or choose "-Any-" to see all requests
Once you have set the filters, click the "Run Report" button. The table will populate with matching requests. If you want to resubmit a request, select it using the checkbox at the far left and click the "Re-Request Ownership" button.

Requesting ownership in Trella CRM Mobile

Sales reps can request ownership assignment and ownership removal in Trella CRM Mobile from the matching item page or from Market Spotlight.

The steps below show the workflows for contacts, but the process is identical for accounts, orders, leads, and referrals.

Requesting ownership assignment (mobile)

Open the main menu and tap "Contacts." Select the "All" filter to view contacts you do not currently own. Tap the row for the contact for which you want to request ownership
The Contact Details page will open. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Request Ownership" link A request will be sent for approval.

Requesting ownership removal (mobile)

Open the main menu and tap "Contacts." The default "My" filter shows only contacts you currently own. Tap the row for the contact from which you want to request ownership removal
The Contact Details page will open. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Request Ownership Removal" link A removal request will be sent for approval.

Requesting ownership from Market Spotlight (mobile)

Tap the row for the provider for whom you want to request ownership
The Entity Details page will open. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Request Ownership" link A request will be sent for approval.

Assigning & Removing Ownership

Sales managers and administrators can assign and remove ownership directly without going through a request workflow. Changes take effect immediately. Managers can act on behalf of any rep on their team; administrators can act for any user in the organization.

Sales reps who have been given direct-assignment permission will see the same options shown in this section, not the request workflow shown in Requesting Ownership.

From the Accounts, Contacts, Referrals, Orders, or Leads page

Single ownership change

Click on the appropriate page in the left navigation. The default view shows items you own. To manage items owned by others, select the "All" view from the dropdown. Current owner(s) are shown for each item in the list. Click the "View" link for the item whose ownership you want to change. The detail page will open. Although the images to the right show accounts, contacts, and referrals, the process is the same for orders and leads.
Scroll down to the Shared Owners section on the detail page. There are three options. Remove — clicking this link immediately removes ownership for the user listed in that row. Use this to take an item off a rep's book of business. Add Shared Owner — opens a dialog box to add one or more users as owners of the item. (Shown in the next row.) Add Myself — immediately adds you as a shared owner of the item. (See below.)
Add Shared Owner — when you click "Add Shared Owner," the dialog box shown to the right opens. Search — type a name to find a specific user, or scroll the list below. Select — click the checkboxes for any users to whom you want to assign ownership of the item. Attach Selected Results — click this button to add the selected user(s) as owners. The selected user(s) will immediately appear in the Shared Owners section of the item's detail page.
Add Myself — when you click "Add Myself," you will immediately appear in the Shared Owners section of the item's detail page with no additional steps required.

Bulk ownership changes

To assign or remove ownership for multiple items at once, use the Bulk Actions tool. 

The images below show the steps from the Contacts page, but the process is the same for any items.

Click the checkboxes to the left of the items whose ownership you want to change. Click the "Bulk Actions" dropdown and choose an option — you can assign or remove a shared owner. A dialog box will open that shows the currently logged-in user as the default. You can either: Click the "Save" button to apply the change for yourself, or Click the magnifying glass icon to select a different user or users

Select Owner dialog box — if you click the magnifying glass, this dialog box opens. Search — type a name to find a specific user, or scroll the list. Select — click the checkboxes for any users to whom the bulk ownership change will be applied. Attach Selected Results — click this button to apply the ownership change for all selected items and users.

From the Market Spotlight page

Managers and administrators can assign ownership directly from the Market Spotlight page. Note that ownership can only be assigned from Market Spotlight — removal of ownership is not available from this page. Examples below show physicians, but the process is identical for facilities and agencies.

Orders and leads can not be added from Market Spotlight.

Single assignment

On the Market Spotlight page, click on the provider name for whom you want to assign ownership The Sales Spotlight panel will open.
Click the "Manage Ownership" button
The Manage Ownership dialog box opens. The provider for whom ownership is being assigned appears in the "Selected Entities" list. Click the "Assign Ownership" field (your name will appear in parentheses) to add yourself, or click the checkboxes in the user list at the bottom to assign ownership to one or more reps. As users are selected, they appear in the Selected Users list. All selected users will be visible in the Selected Users list. Click the "Save" button. The provider and user(s) are immediately connected.

Bulk assignment

On the Market Spotlight page, select the providers you want to assign to a user or users. Click the "Manage Ownership" button that appears as soon as you select the first checkbox

The Manage Ownership dialog box opens. All selected providers appear in the "Selected Entities" list. Click the "Assign Ownership" field to add yourself, or select users from the list below to assign ownership to one or more reps. Selected users appear in the Selected Users list as you add them. All selected users will be visible in the Selected Users list. Click the "Save" button. All selected providers are immediately assigned to all selected users.

Assigning and removing ownership in Trella CRM Mobile

Managers and administrators can assign and remove ownership directly in Trella CRM Mobile. The steps below show the workflows for contacts, but the process is the same for accounts, orders, leads, and referrals.

For information about approving or denying ownership requests in Trella CRM Mobile, see Approving Ownership Change Requests.

Removing ownership from a contact (mobile)

Tap the row for the contact from which you want to remove ownership
The Contact Details page opens. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Remove Ownership" link Ownership is immediately removed. The item will no longer appear in the rep's "My" view.

Assigning ownership to a contact (mobile)

Tap the row for the contact to which you want to assign ownership
The Contact Details page opens. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Assign Ownership" link Ownership is immediately assigned to you. The item will appear in your "My" view.

Assigning ownership from Market Spotlight (mobile)

Tap the row for the provider to whom you want to assign ownership
The Entity Details page opens. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Assign Ownership" link Ownership is immediately assigned to you.

Removing ownership from Market Spotlight (mobile)

Tap the row for the provider from which you want to remove ownership
The Entity Details page opens. Tap the three circles at the top right of the page
Tap the "Remove Ownership" link Ownership is immediately removed.

Adding or Removing Shared Owners

Because more than one person can own the same account, contact, or referral, the term "shared owner" reflects that ownership is not limited to a single individual. Adding a shared owner gives that person access to the record in their "My" views and — depending on your organization's configuration — may also share referral credit.

The primary tools for managing shared owners are the same tools used for all ownership management: the Shared Owners section on the item detail page (for single records) and Bulk Actions on the list page (for multiple records at once). Both are covered in Assigning & Removing Ownership.

Using the "Assign Shared Owner" bulk action, users can assign records to themselves as long as their role provides the appropriate access.

Reassigning records from an inactive user

When a rep leaves the organization or becomes inactive in Trella CRM, their records remain assigned to them until ownership is transferred. Administrators can reassign all records from an inactive user to an active user in bulk using the following steps.

In Trella CRM for web, click the gear icon to open Settings. Navigate to Users. Scroll down to the Inactive Users section. Select the checkbox for the inactive user whose records you want to reassign. Click the Bulk Actions dropdown and select Reassign Records.
A dialog box will open asking you to select an active user. Search for and select the user to whom you want to transfer ownership. All records owned by the inactive user will be transferred to the selected user.	🕐 Image coming soon

Approving Ownership Change Requests

When a sales rep submits an ownership change request, a manager or administrator must review it and either approve or deny it. Approval can be done via the Approve Owner Change report in Trella CRM for web, or — starting in June 2026 — directly from the Trella CRM mobile app.

No in-app notification is sent when an ownership change request is submitted. Managers must run or schedule the Approve Owner Change report to see pending requests. The report can be scheduled to send only when there are pending items, so managers are alerted automatically. See Scheduling the Approve Owner Change report below.

Approval scope is determined by your role and territory. Office managers can approve requests only for account executives within their sales territory. Region managers can approve requests for any user in their region. Account administrators can approve requests for any sales territory.

Using the Approve Owner Change report (web)

Click the "Reporting" button in the left navigation to open the Reporting page. Type "Approve" into the search field to locate the Approve Owner Change report, or find it in your Favorites if you have saved it. Click the report name to open it.
The report includes several filters. Each is described below.
Business Line — filter requests to a specific line of business. Choose a line of business, or choose "-Any-" to show requests from all lines of business to which you have access
Select Territory/Branches — for organizations with complex structures, use these filters to narrow requests to a specific territory or branch. This allows you to focus on book of business changes by geography or organizational structure.
Requesting User — filter to show only requests from a specific rep. Click the magnifying glass next to the "-Any-" field to open the "Find a User" interface, search by name, and click "Select"
Object — the report displays one record type at a time. Choose the object type whose requests you want to review
Request Type — shows either assignment or removal requests, not both at once. Choose whether you want to review assignment requests or removal requests
Run Report — once you have set the filters, click the "Run Report" button. The table will populate with requests matching your filter criteria.
Once you have run the report, the requests that match your settings will appear in the table.
Once you have reviewed the requests in the table, you can approve or deny them. Select one or more requests using the checkbox at the far left of each row Click the "Bulk Actions" dropdown and choose to approve or deny the selected requests
A confirmation dialog box will appear. Click the "Ok" button to confirm your choice The ownership change takes effect immediately in Trella CRM.

Scheduling the Approve Owner Change report

Trella Health recommends that managers and administrators schedule the Approve Owner Change report so that pending requests are flagged automatically. The report can be configured to send only when there are items to review — so it arrives in your inbox precisely when action is needed.

With the Approve Owner Change report open, click the "Schedule" button.

For complete instructions on saving and scheduling the Approve Owner Change report, see Saving and Scheduling the Approve Owner Change Report.

Mobile Approvals — approving requests from Trella CRM Mobile

Managers can approve or deny ownership change requests directly from the Trella CRM mobile app. When a rep submits an ownership request, the manager receives a scheduled report email. Tapping the link in that email opens the request queue in the app, where the manager can act on pending requests without logging into Trella CRM for web.

Mobile Approvals are available to managers and administrators on iOS and Android. The Trella CRM Mobile app must be installed and the user must be logged in.

When a new ownership request is pending, you will receive an email containing a link to open the request queue. Tap the link in the email to open Trella CRM Mobile at the pending requests screen Alternatively, you can navigate to the pending requests screen manually by: Click on the Menu icon at the top left of most pages in Trella CRM Click on the Team link to open the Team page (below, left) Click on Ownership Requests (below, right) The image at right will open.
The pending requests screen shows all requests awaiting your review. Each row shows the requesting rep, the record type, the item name, and the request type (assign or remove). Tap a request to view its details Or to approve or deny a request: Click on the three circles at the top-right of a specific request The options shown in the image below  will appear
On the request detail screen: Tap Approve to approve the request, or Tap Deny to deny the request The ownership change takes effect immediately when approved. The rep will see the change reflected in their "My" view.

Putting the Data to Work

Ownership is one of the most operationally important settings in Trella CRM. An accurate book of business keeps reps focused, drives the right data to mobile, and ensures referral credit lands in the right place. Here are some ways to get the most out of the ownership system.

Schedule the Approve Owner Change report. Pending requests do not generate a notification — managers only see them if they run the report. Set up a daily or weekly scheduled delivery so you never miss a request. Configure it to send only when there are pending items so that the email is a reliable trigger for action, not just inbox noise. For complete instructions, see Saving and Scheduling the Approve Owner Change Report.

Use Mobile Approvals to stay responsive. Starting in June 2026, managers can approve or deny requests directly from the Trella CRM mobile app. Pairing the scheduled report email with Mobile Approvals means requests can be resolved the same day they arrive — even when you are away from your desk.

Use bulk actions to build a new rep's book of business. When onboarding a new rep, managers can quickly assign a territory's worth of accounts and contacts in one operation from the Accounts or Contacts list using the Bulk Actions dropdown. This is much faster than assigning one record at a time.

Reassign records promptly when a rep goes inactive. Records left assigned to inactive users will not appear in any active rep's "My" view, which can cause follow-up to fall through the cracks. Use the Settings > Users > Inactive Users > Reassign Records workflow to transfer the departing rep's book of business to a new owner in a single step.

Use shared ownership to support collaborative accounts. When two reps share a relationship — for example, a specialist and a generalist calling on the same physician — adding both as shared owners of the account ensures both see the record in their "My" views and that referral credit is distributed correctly per your organization's configuration.

Use Market Spotlight for territory prospecting. When a rep identifies a high-value physician or facility in Market Spotlight, they can request ownership directly from that page without navigating away. Managers can review and approve the request — or assign ownership directly — from the same workflow. This keeps the prospecting and territory management loop tight.