I am doing something very similar to indicate whether a networker I am connected to is a Maven, a Connector, or a Salesman, using the terminology defined by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point.

Just a thought: one could use the custom field to indicate whether a particular contact is a decision maker, influencer, evaluator, etc. Pretty slick!

-Ryan

Thanks for your help and thanks for introducing me to Salesforce — I really love it! I just wish it was a little cheaper. I am trying ZohoCRM at the same time and it’s pretty good, but not in the same class (at least not yet).

Thanks again,

-Ryan

If you do not want to customize the ‘Contact’ object, you could simply use the standard ‘Title’ field and create reports that would show people having the “CEO” title or the “Developer” title by setting up a simple filtering rule.

You could also create a ‘Position’ custom field that would have pre-defined values, allowing you to put your contacts in a limited set of buckets, irrespectively of their actual titles. This might be a better option for targeted marketing campaigns.

I hope this helps.

A bit off-topic — when using Salesforce.com are you able to filter your contact list by “function”? In other words are you able to generate a list of “CEOs”, or “developers”, or “engineers” for the various companies you work with?

I got an individual account based on your evaluation of Salesforce.com and I really like it but I need this functionality and I have not been yet able to do it easily. Whenever you get a chance, I’d appreciate a word of wisdom.

Thanks,

-Ryan

Ok, I just read the newly restored blog posting of Mr. Phillip Su. To my mind, the firestorm over this issue is a harbinger of the death rattle of heavyweight OS’s, and a herald of coming…

You wrote:

“This means that at least two blokes could find a way to put Zoho Writer to some productive use. It sure feels good to know that I am not the only one.”

I have made a post elaborating on how you two aren’t alone ;-)