CRM Software Help Desk | Leads

A lead is a prospective customer or opportunity. This could be a person you were talking to at a trade show or someone who submitted registration form using your company's web site.

Use the Leads tab page to create and update your leads. There are numerous sort and filter options available to help you locate key leads quickly. You can generate and print standard as well as customizable reports. The Leads tab page is divided into two sections. The Featured Leads section displays a lead summary based on criteria chosen from the Show drop down box. The Manage Leads section contains tools to help you create and manage your leads.

Viewing Leads

Use options found in the Show drop down box to generate a summary of leads based on a variety of criteria. Simply select one of the options from the drop down box and a summary of all leads matching your selection will be displayed in a few seconds. You can also select a letter from the alphabet list located at the top and bottom of the summary. This will display a summary of leads beginning with the selected letter. To view a listed lead in detail, click the View link located to the left of the lead.

See Also: Sorting Reports and Views

Custom Lead Views

See: Creating Custom Views

Manage Leads

The Manage Leads section contains three subsections:

Quick Addition allows you to create a new lead.
Generate Reports contains a variety of reports you can generate.
Lead Tools contains a list of helpful tools.

See Also:
Generating Lead Reports
Creating a New Lead
Lead Tools

Creating a New Lead

There are two ways that you can add a new lead. Use Quick Addition if you want to quickly add a new lead without entering a lot of information. Further details can be filled in at a later time. Use Detailed Addition if you want to add a new lead with a detailed profile.

Quick Addition

Choose the Leads tab located at the top of the page.
Scroll down to the Quick Addition section.
Enter the information for the new lead in the fields provided. Fields highlighted in red and marked with an asterisk are required fields. The other fields may be left blank if you wish.
Click the Save Lead button to create the new lead.

Detailed Addition

Choose the Leads tab located at the top of the page.
Click the Add Lead button located in the upper right region of the Leads tab page. THis will take you to the New Lead page.
Fill in your lead information using the Lead Information, Address Information and Description Information sections of the form. Fields highlighted in red and marked with an asterisk are required fields. All other fields may be left blank if you wish.
Save your lead using either of the following two methods:

i. Select the Save & New button to save your new lead. You will then be presented with a blank form on which you can create another new lead.

ii. Select the Save button to save your new lead. This will bring you to a summary page for your new lead. From this page you can Edit, Delete, Clone (make a copy) and Print your lead information.

Edit, Clone or Delete a Lead

Sending Notification

When creating a new lead you can send notification to any number of users within your organization. This is especially useful when assigning a lead to another user. You can notify the user that a lead has been assigned to them. Upon receiving notification, the user can then view the lead from their Leads tab page. Follow these steps to send notification:

In the Notification section, use the Add ( ) and Remove ( ) buttons to add or remove users from the Notified Users list.
Type your notification message in the Notification Message text box.
Notification will be sent to the selected users when the Save button is clicked to save the lead information.

Edit, Clone or Delete a Lead

When a lead summary is displayed on the Leads tab page or in a generated report, click the View link to view a lead in detail. You can now Edit, Clone or Delete the lead.

Edit: Click the Edit button to change the information for the lead. Be sure to fill in all required fields. These are highlighted in red and marked with an asterisk. When you want to save your changes select the Save or Save & New button.

Clone: Click the Clone button to create a copy of the lead. You can now change or add information to the copy if you wish. Select the Save or Save & New button to save the cloned lead.

Delete: Click the Delete button. You will be prompted to verify that you want to delete the lead. Click OK to delete the lead. Click Cancel to cancel the deletion.

Converting a Lead to an Account

When one of your leads turns into a customer, or some other business relationship, you can create a new account in salesboom.com by converting the lead into an account. In addition, a contact will be created that will be linked to the account. You also have the option of creating an opportunity. To convert a lead:

Go to the Leads tab page.
Use the Featured Leads section to display the lead you are interested in converting.
Once displayed, click the View link to view the details for the lead.
Click the Convert button. This takes you to the Convert Leads page.
The company that the lead was associated with is used for the account name.
The name of the lead is used for the contact name.
You also have the option of creating an opportunity since the lead is now a customer and is conducting business with you. The default name for the opportunity is the company name associated with the lead. Click the Create Opportunity check box to create an opportunity when you convert the lead.
Click the Convert button.
You now have the option of creating an opportunity. Check the Create Opportunity checkbox if you want to create an opportunity when the lead is converted. As well, enter a name for the opportunity in the Opportunity Name field.
Click the Convert button to convert the lead. An account, contact and opportunity, if selected, will be created using information obtained from the lead.
The new contact and opportunity, if selected, will be visible in the Related Records section when viewing the account details for the new account.

Generating Lead Reports

Running Reports

The Generate Reports section contains a number of reports you can run. These reports have predefined search criteria. All you have to do is click a listed report to run it. Other lead reports are listed on the Reports tab. Click the All Reports button in the Generate Reports section or click the Reports tab at the top of the page.

Import Leads

See: Importing Data

Lead Web Capture Tool

The web capture tool allows you to create an HTML form that can be filled out on your web site. When the user fills in and submits the form, a new lead is created in your salesboom.com organization containing the information entered by the user. This tool is invaluable for tracking potential customers.

See: Web Capture Tool

See: Notes

See: Tasks