Hierarchy

In CRM, Hierarchy describes a structured layering of users, accounts, or organizational units where higher-level entities have defined authority or visibility over lower-level ones. User hierarchies govern data visibility: a regional VP can see all deals owned by reps in their region; a sales director sees all deals managed by their direct reports. Account hierarchies reflect corporate ownership structures: a parent company account encompasses subsidiary accounts, allowing revenue to be rolled up and relationship strategy to be coordinated at the enterprise level. Designing hierarchies correctly during CRM implementation requires clear understanding of both the organizational structure and the desired data access model — changes to hierarchies after go-live can have broad downstream effects on reporting and permissions.