What are Record Types and when would you use them?

Record Types allow you to offer different picklist values, page layouts, and business processes to different users based on their profile. Use cases:

1. A company sells to both B2B and B2C customers — two Account record types present different fields and industry picklists.
2. An HR team uses two Case record types: "Employee Inquiry" and "Benefits Request" — each with a different page layout.
3. Opportunity stages can differ for New Business vs Renewal record types. Users are assigned access to record types via their profile. When creating a record, if a user has access to multiple record types, they are prompted to choose one.