A set of processes performed to manage prospective customers (a physical person or company). A Lead consists of a set of Physical Goods and Services that the prospective Customer is interested in and a set of Activities and Communications performed until the prospect is 'Lost' or 'Won' and converted to an Accounts Receivable.

A value set to determine the priority that will be given for the processing of a Lead. A default value is established in the Lead Type.

A value set to determine how important the Lead is for the company. A default value is established in the Lead Type.

Significant dates related to the Lead thathelptrack its progress. Key Dates include the following:

• Start Date: the date on which the Lead is created.
• Estimated Completion Time: An estimation of the time necessary for the Lead to be completed ('Won' or 'Lost').
• Expected Completion Date: The date on which the Lead is expected to be completed.
• Actual Completed Date: The date on which the Lead is completed and its Life Cycle State set to 'Won' or 'Lost'.
• Time To Completion: The time that is left until the Lead is completed, based on the Expected Completion Date.
• Time Overdue: The time past the Expected Completion Date.

The source which introduced or proposed the Lead to the company. Lead Source Types are predefined in the System and can be renamed through the Lead's Definition.

An explanation that must be supplied whenever the Life Cycle State of a Lead is set to 'Lost'.

Leads may be directly handled by agents and closed instantly, or may require follow-up Actions. Uncomplicated Actions can be handled through Activities which are easily planned through the 'Schedule An Activity' Action, available through the Lead.

In addition to the automated Communications sent to prospective customers, Communications (email and SMS) may be triggered by agents, using the 'Communicate Lead' Action which is available through the Lead's Data Entry page. When the Communication is created, the Contact Information and Accounts Receivable (if applicable) are carried over together with the Lead's Number, which is added as the 'Referring To Entity' of the Communication.

Pre-configured Communication Templates may be selected when creating the Communication thatincludethe information to be communicated to the prospective customer.

When a Lead is created, it can be assigned either to a Unit or a specific User. To avoid assigning specific tasks to specific people, it is possible to assign the Lead to a department (i.e. a Unit) whose employees can access the Lead and accept it themselves. 

A Lead cannot be processed further unless assigned to a specific User.

A Lead is considered Completed once its Life Cycle State is set to either 'Lost' or 'Won'.

• If the Lead is 'Lost', then a Reason must be provided for future reference.
• If the Lead is 'Won', then the Lead is considered as a new Customer. If an Accounts Receivable was not provided when the Lead was created, then one can be created. The System will check whether the 'Automatic Conversion' is enabled in the Lead Business Definitions and automatically transfer the Lead's existing information to the Accounts Receivable, leaving the rest of the fields empty for the Agent to provide. If, however, Automatic Conversion is not enabled, the Lead can be saved without an Accounts Receivable.

• Assignable Entities 
• Explicit Viewing Access Entities

• The Lead must be assigned to a User that will be responsible for processing and completing it.
• Lead records can be accessed, viewed and modified by Users defined as members of the Lead's Owned By Group, by Users that belong to a Group that collaborates with the Owned By Group, or by Super Users.

• Controlled Selection Access Entities 

• A Type can be added to a Lead, as long as the User adding the Type belongs to one of the Allowed Organisational Units (AOUs) defined in the Type, or a collaboration exists between their Unit and the AOU of the Type, or the User adding the Type is a Super User.