Lead Management

What is a Lead?

A lead is an unqualified prospect who has shown interest in your products/services but hasn't been validated as a sales-ready opportunity. Leads require nurturing and qualification before becoming opportunities.

Lead Sources

• Website Forms: "Request a Quote" or "Contact Us" submissions
• Marketing Campaigns: Responses to email/SMS campaigns
• Trade Shows: Business cards collected at events
• Social Media: LinkedIn InMail responses, Facebook lead ads
• Referrals: Existing customers recommend prospects
• Purchased Lists: Third-party lead databases

Lead Scoring

Automatically rank leads based on engagement and fit to prioritize sales follow-up.

Scoring Criteria

Lead Qualification (BANT)

• Budget: Does the prospect have money allocated? ($50K-$500K range)
• Authority: Is this person a decision-maker? (VP of IT? CFO approval needed?)
• Need: Do they have a business problem we solve? (Slow network? High costs?)
• Timeline: When will they decide? (This quarter? Next fiscal year?)

Qualified Lead: All 4 BANT criteria met → Convert to Opportunity

Lead Assignment

• Round Robin: Distribute leads evenly (Lead 1 → Alice, Lead 2 → Bob, Lead 3 → Carol, repeat)
• Territory-Based: Assign based on geographic/account rules (NY leads → Northeast rep)
• Score-Based: Hot leads (60+ points) → Senior reps, Cold leads → Inside sales
• Queue-Based: All leads in pool, reps self-select

Lead Conversion

When a lead is qualified (BANT met), convert to:

• Account: Create company record (if not exists)
• Contact: Create person record
• Opportunity: Create sales opportunity with revenue estimate

Example: Lead "John Smith at RetailCorp" converts to Account "RetailCorp", Contact "John Smith", Opportunity "$500K 5G Network Upgrade"

Example: Inbound Lead Flow