Contact Types
DrillerDB classifies a contact with one control, What is this contact to you?. It has two groups of toggles: Money, for how you do business with them, and On a job, for the part they play on a project. You can switch on any combination.
Money vs. On a job
| Group | Toggles | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Money | Customer, Vendor, Subcontractor | Customer: you bill them. Vendor: you buy from them. Subcontractor: works on your jobs. |
| On a job | Owner, Builder, Pump Installer, Municipality, Property Manager | The part they play on a project |
The same control appears on the New Contact form, on the Edit screen, and at the top of the contact's own page. Only the New Contact form shows the question itself; on the Edit screen and the contact's page you see the toggles under their Money and On a job labels. On the New Contact form and the Edit screen, your choices save with Save Contact or Save Changes. On the contact's page, switching a toggle on or off saves right away.
Four of the roles are also list filter chips: Owners, Builders, Pump Installers and Property Managers. Municipality is not one of the filter chips yet -- it is still visible on the contact record and searchable by name, just not filterable from the list.
Quick Start: Set a Contact Role
- Open Contacts and click the contact
- At the top of the contact page, under Contact Details, switch on Owner, Builder, Pump Installer, Municipality, and/or Property Manager. Each change saves right away. You can also click Edit, change the toggles, and click Save Changes
- Confirm the contact now appears under the matching filter chip (Owner, Builder, Pump Installer, and Property Manager only -- see above)
The Roles
Owner
Use Owner when the contact is the project owner or end customer.
- Receives proposals and invoices
- Usually carries payment responsibility
- The common default for residential work
Builder
Use Builder when a general contractor or development company coordinates the work.
- Helpful for multi-trade projects
- Often the day-to-day project contact
- May differ from the invoice recipient depending on your workflow
Pump Installer
Use Pump Installer for partners handling pump or downstream service work.
- Used for referral and service handoffs
- Best kept current with location and contact details
Property Manager
Use Property Manager for a person or company that manages properties for homeowners.
- Switching it on adds the contact to the Property Managers filter chip
- A homeowner's property manager is shown on the homeowner's contact and on their jobs
Municipality
Use Municipality for cities, districts, and rural water systems.
- Useful for tracking public-entity customers and permitting contacts separately from private work
- Not yet part of the list filter chips -- find these contacts by name or Type until filtering is added
Multiple Roles
A contact can hold more than one role when their part in the business overlaps. Each role and each Money toggle is independent, so you can switch on any combination.
| Scenario | Suggested Roles |
|---|---|
| Developer who also owns the land | Owner + Builder |
| Customer who also installs pumps | Owner + Pump Installer |
| City water department that also owns the well | Owner + Municipality |
Troubleshooting
Contact not showing under a filter chip
- Confirm the role toggle is switched on and saved on the contact
- Set the list filter to "All" and re-check
- Verify you are in the right company account
Wrong role assigned
- Open the contact
- Switch the wrong toggle off and the right one on. On the contact's page this saves right away. On the Edit screen, click Save Changes