Contact and Accounts - B2B B2C

[glipoth]

Here is an example scenario that I need some help with:

Bill is a Contact who shows up under the ABC Co Account - Bill is part of his company's (ABC Co) sponsored pension plan. So far so good.

Bill wants to buy a new house, and he inquires about buying mortgage insurance through my office as well. I set up an opportunity, and assign it to a junior financial advisor to contact Bill regarding mortgage insurance.

Here is the problem - The opportunity asks for the Account assignment which is ABC Co. - no where does it ask to connect a contact (Bill) This is a problem because the mortgage insurance has absolutely nothing to do with ABC Co., rather it has a connection just to Bill.

One solution would be for me to create another account for Bill (name it "BillsLastName, Bill" for example) then attach this opportunity to this account. The problem Bill cant be a member of both Accounts where he has business.

Any ideas? Sugar seems to work well in B2B situations, but I see issues with B2C and mixed B2B and B2C scenarios. Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas.

Greg

[glipoth]

I think I have found the solution to this so I will post this in the interest of assisting anyone else with a similar business flow.

Sugar actually does an amazing job of handling this.

Once again, Bill Smith (contact) works at ABC Co (Account). These two are linked as employer/employee because I have sold and service a company pension plan at ABC Co. Makes sense so far.

Now Bill wants me to take care of some family financial planning - say mortgage insurance.

In order to create an opportunity for Bill as an individual ( i.e. -sell him a product that is in no way related to his employer), I first had to create a "placeholder account". I did this by creating an account called "Smith, Bill". IMPORTANT: I did not try to make Bill Smith (Contact) a member of Smith, Bill (Account) - I left him a member of ABC Co. account.

Now, when I created the opportunity called "Mortgage Insurance" for Bill Smith, I used the Account "Smith Bill" to set up the opportunity. (NOT his employer account)

If you look at all entities involved, they are related in a way that is completely accurate. Cool.

- Bill is connected to his employer account and the opportunity.
- The opportunity is connected to Bill, but not the company he works for
- His employer is only connected to Bill, but not the opportunity.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Greg