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Overview
A lead is a potential opportunity for additional business. Within CRM.COM it consists of a set of processes performed to manage a prospective customer which can either be a physical person or company. Leads are created to manage the processes and resources involved until the outcome of the potential sale is determined ('Won' or 'Lost') and involve a number of Actions aiming to get the prospect interested in additional Physical Goods and Services.
Major features
- Convert won leads to actual customers directly through leads
- Automatically communicate information to prospect customers with areas they are interested in
- Schedule additional tasks to manage prospect customers, such as face to face appointments directly through the leads page
Setting Up Leads
Types
Types are used to determine operational characteristics of leads.
Configure the following entities before creating lead types and then add the ones you would like to make available from each type.
- Statuses are used to label leads life cycle states (used to progress a least) in a way that is meaningful to your organisation.
- Categories are used to provide a business classification to the lead, such as, business customer, physical person customer, business partner, TV. These classifications provide the user with input on how to handle the potential customer, and can also be used by the business to analyze the type of leads they have.
- Lost Reasons are reasons that can result in a lost lead.
- Competitors are used to define competitors that can reach the same lead for the same Product/Goal.
Type Fields
The table describes the sections of the Lead Type Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
| |
Allowed Attributes | |
| This area is used to designate the configurations that will be available for use with each type of lead. At least one status must be selected per life cycle state which must also be set as default. If nothing is specified for categories, physical goods, services and activity types then all are available. |
Status Transitions Defines the possible progression of status from each selected lead status. The next possible status depends on the current status of the lead, the type of the lead and on the user's or unit's authorisation. | |
| The initial status of the entity. There can only be one initial status and it must be included if allowed statuses are defined.
|
Status Transitions | The series of predetermined status changes which a lead can progress through. Each entry consists of the following:
|
Definitions
Leads definitions are business rules which are used to control the behaviour of leads throughout their life cycle. Allowed lead types must be specified in the definition. An active definition must be present to perform any lead process. There can only be one active definition at a time.
Definition Fields
This table contains an explanation of the sections of the lead Definition Data Entry page, a description of the usage of its fields and additional information.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Allowed Types | |
|---|---|
| Defines the Types of leads that can be used while creating new leads. |
| Automatic Conversion | |
Automatically convert a lead to a customer when won. If enabled, the system will create an accounts receivable (if one is not present) if the lead's life cycle state is updated to 'won'
| |
| Supported Preferences | |
| Priority levels set on leads can help during the planning phase as leads with higher priority are processed sooner. Create a label for priority ranging from '1' to '10' and select which ones should be available for selection when creating a new lead |
| Importance | Importance levels set on leads can help identify the critical ones so that agents give them special attention during processing. Create a label for Importance ranging from '1' to '8' and select which ones should be available for selection when creating a new lead |
| Other companies identified as company's possible competitors that may reach the same lead for same products or goals. Select the competitors which should be available for selection when creating a new lead. | |
| Select the lost reasons which should be available for selection when a lead is set to lost. | |
| Source Types | |
| Defines a list of source types that may introduce or propose possible leads to the company. Provide a label for each of the predefined sources (source of the lead) which will be available to be assigned on leads. | |
Related configuration areas
The following modules are related to Leads and may be configured for the Leads module to operate at its full capacity.
Optional modules may be configured for the Leads module to operate at its full capacity.
| Manual Link | Area | Description | Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activities | Activity Types | Configure the activity types that will be used by leads when required to schedule an activity | Optional |
| Products | Products | Configure the products that will be available to be added as products of interest in leads | Optional |
Using Leads
CRM > Leads > Manage Leads
A lead is a potential opportunity for additional business. Prospective customers, which can either be a physical person or company, can be managed using the Leads module.
Leads fields
The table describes the sections of Leads Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used
Mandatory
Configurable
Contact Information | |
|---|---|
The details of the customer that reported the issue. | |
| Account Information | |
| The account details of contact that became a customer through a won lead. | |
Lead Information | |
Lead Information |
Probability to Win (%): Define the likelihood of winning the lead which can vary from 0 to 100. Lower probability percentages can be used as indicators for greater effort. Target Amount: The amount that is predicted to be gained if the Lead is 'Won'.
Contact Email Address is the electronic address to which all communications will be sent. It can be typed by the agent or selected from a list of available contact addresses. Contact Phone is the phone number used to communicate with the contact. It can be typed by the agent or selected from a list of available phone numbers. |
Key Dates | The dates and time frames that are relevant to the lead: Start Date: The date on which the request was first saved. Estimated Completion Time: The difference between the start date and expected completion date. Expected Completion Date: The difference between the start date and expected completion date. It is editable and measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. Time to Completion: The time left up to the expected completion date. This information is dynamically calculated and updated based on the current date and the expected completion date. Time Overdue: The time past the expected completion date, calculated dynamically based on the expected completion date and the current date. Actual Completion Date: The date on which the lead life cycle state is set to 'Completed'. |
Products of Interest | |
A list of physical goods and services for which interest was expressed by the lead. For each product you can provide additional notes which may be related to changes or extra information requested by the lead, that may be useful when the lead is handled by other agents. | |
Lead Team | |
| |
Competitors | |
| |
| Activities | |
| A set of activities which are planned for the specific lead. | |
Action Panel | |
Status & Notes |
Life Cycle State: The progression of steps of a lead from the time it is created until it is completed. For example, in order to be able to provide a lost reason its status must be updated to one that has a 'Lost' life cycle state. The state of the lead depends on the selected status set in the 'status configuration'; it is not manually set by the user. The allowed states are the following:
Shared Notes: Use this section to record information regarding the lead. Every time the notes are updated the time and the name of the agent are registered. Owned by Group: Refers to the group that is responsible for handling the lead. The group defaults to that of the currently signed in user or it is automatically set based on the geographical area of the contact. Refer to Groups for more information. |
Assignments | The unit and/or user responsible for dealing with the lead. The user field may be left empty, in which case users from the defined unit will be able to accept the lead Refer to the Accepting Lead Action. |
Lead Actions | Actions: Used to progress a lead through its life cycle state.. For example, an agent can check for the coverage of a malfunctioning Roku box and plan a job for a replacement through the same page.
View History: A link that provides additional information related to the lead
|
Creating and processing Leads
Validations take place before an action is initiated (prerequisite) or after it is submitted (postcondition).
Selecting and creating a lead
Specify the criteria that match the lead you are interested in or use NEW from the Actions Menu to create a new lead. Provide the mandatory information in the leads fields table before you SAVE the lead.
New | |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites |
|
Modifying a lead
Use EDIT from the Actions Menu to enter edit mode.
Additional Information
While leads that are assigned to a unit and are pending acceptance by a user can be modified, the 'Assigned to User' can only be set through the Accept action. Refer to Accepting a lead.
Prerequisites |
|
|---|
Deleting a lead
Use DELETE from the Actions Menu to delete 'Pending' requests.
| Prerequisites |
|
|---|
Accepting a lead
New leads are assigned to a unit or a user. Leads assigned to a unit can be accepted by a unit member, by using the Accept action from the Actions Menu in the Data Entry page. For example, a lead regarding a business client is assigned to the B2B marketing department and then accepted by a specific agent.
| Postconditions | Users must be authorised to accept a lead ('Accept lead' action is enabled in their security profile) and they must be a member of a unit to which the lead is assigned to or a member of a unit in the same group. |
|---|
Starting the progress of a lead
In order to start processing a lead the lead must be progressed through the Start Progress action available through the action panel's actions. Select one of the available statuses which represent the 'In Progress' life cycle state.
The action will change the life cycle state from 'Pending' to 'In Progress'. Once the action is executed, EDIT is required to start working on the lead.
| Prerequisites | Life cycle state is 'Pending' |
|---|---|
Postconditions | All mandatory information is specified |
Winning a lead
Convert a lead to a customer by changing its life cycle state to 'Won', by selecting the Win Lead action available in the Action panel and selecting the appropriate status. If in the lead definition you have enabled the auto-conversion process, details to create an accounts receivable are required. (An accounts receivable is required in CRM.COM to consider a person or company as a customer)
| Prerequisites | Life cycle state is 'Pending' or in 'Progress' There are no scheduled activities which are not completed, deleted or cancelled. |
|---|
Losing a lead
When a lead does not yield to a customer then change its life cycle state to 'lost' by selecting the Lost Lead action available in the Action panel and selecting the appropriate status. Through the modal select one of the preconfigured reasons the lead has been lost.
| Prerequisites | Life cycle state is 'Pending' or in 'Progress' There are no scheduled activities which are not completed, deleted or cancelled. |
|---|
Cancelling a lead
Cancel a lead which was created by mistake by changing its life cycle state to 'Cancelled' by selecting the Cancel Lead action available in the Action panel and selecting the appropriate status.
| Prerequisites | Life cycle state is 'Pending' or in 'Progress' There are no scheduled activities which are not completed, deleted or cancelled. |
|---|
Applying business flows on leads
Scheduling an activity for a lead
Use 'Schedule An Activity' from the Action Panel area of the Data Entry page, in order to schedule additional necessary actions for leads, such as scheduling an appointment to visit prospect customer's in person.
View Activities for more information.
- The contact information and lead number are carried over onto the activity from the lead.
- Activities scheduled through the lead must be completed, deleted or cancelled to complete (win/lost) the lead.
Communicating Leads
Lead details can be communicated to customers by using the Communicate action available from the Actions menu of the Data Entry page. You can use tags related to lead (text that is automatically replaced by values specific to selected records) when creating communications. Tags can be selected by typing '#'. Refer to the Communications manual for a complete list of lead tags.
Leads Analytics
Reports
Information on Leads can be extracted in a structured format for analysis by using reports. The fields displayed in a report and the included Leads are selected and grouped based on user-defined criteria. Refer to Reports for more information.
Leads status report
The report displays a list of leads extracted based on their type and status.
Leads Business Examples
System Demo to leads
Scenario 1
Company ZX accepts requests from prospective customers to present its system's features through a demo.
Solution
Configuration
Activity Type
- Set up an activity type to be used for demo purposes
Lead Status
- Set up one status for each available lead life cycle state
- Pending
- In progress
- Win
- Lost
- Cancelled
Lead Type
- Set up a new lead type to be used for demos
- Define the configured statuses and set the default one for each available life cycle state
- Provide the Demo Activity Type in the allowed attributes
Lead Definition
- Add the new Lead Type
User Process
- Create a new lead of type Demo
- Start progress of the lead through the 'Start Progress' action in the Action Panel
- Schedule an activity of type demo through the 'Schedule Activity' action in the Action Panel
(The activity must then be progressed completed or closed) before you are allowed to set the lead as 'Won', 'Lost' or 'Cancelled'
Retrieve overdue leads
Scenario 2
Company ZX would like to be informed regarding prospect customers that should have been completed in the previous week.
Solution
User Process
The retrieval of leads should take place every Monday. Backoffice Manager will access the leads Summary page and search for leads matching the following criteria:
- Expected Completion Date:
- To: 3 days before current date (last Friday)
- Life Cycle State:
- Pending
- In progress
- Lost
- Won
The search will retrieve all leads that have an 'Expected Completion Date' up to and including the date defined in the Expected Completion Date field.
Notes
- If you are using a previous release, view CRM.COM Release Changes.
- Use the WEB API to create and manage Leads from an external system, such as a customer portal. Refer to the Leads WEB API for a comprehensive list of available actions.