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Lloyd RuzLloyd Ruz 

Linking Contact/Lead Records with a Lookup Field to indicate Referer/Referree relationship

Our business model works on referrals, and I want to be able to link a Contact or Lead to the Contact who referred them to us.

Eg. Ben refers Tom

We create a new lead for Tom to be followed up. This lead has a look-upfield, "Referred by" which links to Ben
Ben's contact also has a field "Referral # (i.e. there would be around 3 fields with the same function)" which links to Tom's lead

Is this possible?
Best Answer chosen by Lloyd Ruz
SlashApex (Luis Luciani)SlashApex (Luis Luciani)
Hi Lloyd,

I don't believe its possible. Without some visualforce and apex that is.

All Answers

SlashApex (Luis Luciani)SlashApex (Luis Luciani)
Hi Lloyd,

This is possible with some Apex code. If you are looking to accomplish this by using point n click functionality, I don't believe you can.

There is also some architecture considerations that you should account for. If Ben refers 4+ people, then there are not enought fields to hold the leads for those 4 referrals. It is not efficient to keep adding fields to provide more referral slots.

I am not sure why you need the link back to the referral(lead), but if its just for visibility, you could just add a related list at bottom of the contact that will show all related referrals (leads) made by that contact.

Good luck with your solution!
Lloyd RuzLloyd Ruz
Hi Luis, thanks for the reply. A follow-up question: Apex coding isn’t an option at this stage. I suppose we don’t need the referrals to show up on Ben’s contact record. Would the solution then be to make a simple look-up field on the lead which links to the referring contact? Lloyd Ruz Sales and Marketing Coordinator Scotwork Australia 210/410 Elizabeth Street | Surry Hills | Australia | 2010 www.scotwork.com.au Tel: 02 9211 3999
SlashApex (Luis Luciani)SlashApex (Luis Luciani)
Hi Lloyd,

Yes, that is correct. Once you do that, you will be given the option to add a related list to the Contact showing the Referrals made.
Lloyd RuzLloyd Ruz
Thanks Luis, I’m getting an error message when I try to set up the field on the lead: Error: The custom field name you provided Referred by on object Lead can only contain alphanumeric characters, must begin with a letter, cannot end with an underscore or contain two consecutive underscore characters, and must be unique across all Lead fields The name is “Referred by” (sans inverted commas) and there are no fields with the same name. Any idea why this might be the case? Not sure if this is a developer issue or not so I have also logged a case. Lloyd Ruz Sales and Marketing Coordinator Scotwork Australia 210/410 Elizabeth Street | Surry Hills | Australia | 2010 www.scotwork.com.au Tel: 02 9211 3999
SlashApex (Luis Luciani)SlashApex (Luis Luciani)
Hi Lloyd,

When you create a field, you enter 2 names, label and API name.

For the Label enter: Referred By
For the API name enter: Referred_By

Let me know if you still get the error.
Lloyd RuzLloyd Ruz
Thanks! Lloyd Ruz Sales and Marketing Coordinator Scotwork Australia 210/410 Elizabeth Street | Surry Hills | Australia | 2010 www.scotwork.com.au Tel: 02 9211 3999
Lloyd RuzLloyd Ruz
A related question: I have created a Lead field, and a Contact field which function in the exact same way (linking to the parent record, a referring contact). These fields are mapped for lead conversion, however each field generates a separate related list (with the same name “Referred Contacts”). Is it possible to have both leads and contacts appear in one related list? Eg. Ben refers Tom (Lead) and Louis (Converted Lead, i.e. Contact) Is it possible to have one related list on the contact page layout which lists Ben’s referred people (i.e. Tom and Louis)? Thanks in advance Lloyd Ruz Sales and Marketing Coordinator Scotwork Australia 210/410 Elizabeth Street | Surry Hills | Australia | 2010 www.scotwork.com.au Tel: 02 9211 3999
SlashApex (Luis Luciani)SlashApex (Luis Luciani)
Hi Lloyd,

I don't believe its possible. Without some visualforce and apex that is.
This was selected as the best answer