Would like someones opinion - I am curious at the pluses and minuses of creating an applicatioln with a "LEAD" object and a "CUSTOMER" object as opposed with 1 object with a LEAD/CUSTOMER dropdown to differentiate the two. Is there a reason I should keep them seperateif the data is all the same? The only thing I can personally think of is reporting reasons, but I do not know much about your reproting functions yet. One report I would need with those objects are the conversion rate from LEAD to CUSTOMER. Do I need to keep them as 2 objects for that report? Or can I do it if they were 1 object? 2 Questions - What are the benefits of making them 2 objects over 1 AND Which is the best way to structure it so I can pull that report of convertion rates? I understand that 2 objects keep the data seperate - Looking more for a common sense business perspective answer then a technical "The data is sperate answer" Thanks!
Hi Tory,
I think there is no one right answer, but I would start with a couple questions:
1. Is the data (i.e. fields) you want to store and track on Leads very different from Customer? If not one object may be a better option since there is no need to duplicate data. However, if Leads have a different and much smaller set of fields than Customers, and Customers are related to many other objects in your system it is probably better to keep them separate (this is often the case with more sophisticated CRM-like applications)
2. If you plan to treat leads different than customers in many situations you may want to consider using separate objects. For example, if you will be sending different mass emails to Leads versus Customers, running different reports, and creating different dashboard charts, you may find it easier to work with two different objects. If however, you really only need to think of a Lead as an unclosed Customer, then single object may be ok.
Hope this helps,
Matt