When your CRM is connected to lemlist, the People database shows which contacts and companies already exist in your CRM. A CRM icon appears next to their name in the search results, and the Not already in CRM filter removes them from your results. Use it to prospect only net-new leads, without checking your CRM in another tab and without reaching out to prospects a colleague already handles.
Limitations
Only HubSpot, Salesforce and the new Pipedrive integration are supported. Other CRMs are not supported.
The legacy Pipedrive integration is not supported.
With Pipedrive, lemlist recognizes only contacts that are already synced to your lemlist contacts. Contacts that exist only in Pipedrive don't show the CRM icon.
Prerequisites
A CRM connected to lemlist: HubSpot, Salesforce, or the new Pipedrive integration.
How lemlist checks if a contact is in your CRM
lemlist uses two checks:
The contact is in your lemlist contacts and was synced from your CRM.
For contacts that are not in lemlist yet, lemlist checks your CRM live. This live check is not available for Pipedrive, because the Pipedrive API does not support bulk lookups.
Phase 1: See which results are already in your CRM
In the lemlist sidebar, click People database.
Run your search with the filters you need.
In the search results, look for the CRM icon (HubSpot or Salesforce logo) next to the contact or company name. You don't need to open the record.
✅ Verify: contacts and companies that are already in your CRM show the CRM icon next to their name.
[SCREENSHOT: CRM icon in People database results | screen: People database → search results | must show: HubSpot or Salesforce logo next to a contact or company name]
Phase 2: Exclude them from your results
In the filter panel, open Lemlist filters.
Select Not already in CRM.
✅ Verify: the results no longer show contacts or companies with the CRM icon.
[SCREENSHOT: Not already in CRM filter applied | screen: People database → filter panel → Lemlist filters | must show: Not already in CRM selected and the updated results]
To push the results to a campaign or to Contacts, see Use the People database.
Practical example
Your team uses HubSpot. You search the People database for sales leaders, and some results show the HubSpot logo next to their name because colleagues already work with them in HubSpot. You apply Not already in CRM. The results now contain only people who are not in HubSpot, and you push them to your campaign.
Troubleshooting
Issue: A contact that is in Pipedrive doesn't show the CRM icon
Root cause: With Pipedrive, lemlist recognizes only contacts already synced to your lemlist contacts. There is no live check against Pipedrive.
Fix:
Check whether the contact is in your lemlist contacts.
If it isn't, sync it from Pipedrive to lemlist. Once it's in your lemlist contacts, it shows the CRM icon.
If your case is different
If you want to exclude leads already in your lemlist contacts or in a campaign, see Which filters can I use in the People database?
If you want to push your results to a campaign or to Contacts, see Use the People database.