lead management in sugarcrm series: lead statuses

Lead Management in Sugar 7

Written by: Josh Sweeney and Briana Gross

Lead Status

PREFACE

The goal of this document is to help you better understand the various ways to work with leads within SugarCRM.

The leads section of any CRM system can be confusing. Users that are new to CRM generally find a lack of definition around what qualifies as a lead. Why can’t we just use Contacts? The differences may be subtle, but the impact on the organization of your marketing campaigns and sales teams is significant.

The definition of a lead is often dictated by the business, but there are some generalities that can help get us started.

Many of the examples and all of the screenshots provided were create using SugarCRM 6 Pro but most of the content is applicable to other versions of SugarCRM.

DEFINING LEADS

In SugarCRM and most CRM systems a Lead is generically defined as unqualified data.

DEFINING LEADS

In SugarCRM and most CRM systems a Lead is generically defined as unqualified data.

Unqualified data could be, for example, a business card that one received from a networking event

or conference.

DEFINING LEADS

In general there is no “deal” in the works and the sales or lead qualification team has not identified a revenue amount to associate with the record.

DEFINING LEADS

The goal of your business is to convert these leads into revenue.

In SugarCRM, that means converting the Lead record into records to represent Contacts, Opportunities, Tasks and Accounts.

DEFINING LEADS

Lead Conversion is the process of converting unqualified data, a lead, to qualified data including an Account, Contact and Opportunity.

Account

Contact

Opportunity

Unqualified

Data

DEFINING LEADS

The lead conversion process determines and defines when a sales person should consider a lead qualified and then convert.

DEFINING LEADSIt is ultimately defined by the company using the system, but some common

examples include:

A lead should be converted when the sales person has spoken to the lead and can assign a value to the deal and accurately assign the

probability of closing.

DEFINING LEADSIt is ultimately defined by the company using the system, but some common

examples include:

A lead should be converted when the sales person has spoken to the lead and can assign a value to the deal and accurately assign the

probability of closing.

A lead should be converted after a certain amount of data is identified. This is

usually driven by a specific predefined process.

DEFINING LEADSIt is ultimately defined by the company using the system, but some common

examples include:

A lead should be converted when the sales person has spoken to the lead and can assign a value to the deal and accurately assign the

probability of closing.

A lead should be converted after a certain amount of data is identified. This is

usually driven by a specific predefined process.

A lead should be converted when a certain lead score is

met.

LEAD STATUS

The lead status field provides details about where the lead is at in the lead

qualification process.

Making sure to set the status properly ensures that sales teams or lead qualification teams can filter on the records that are important and

dismiss those that are not.

STATUS DEFINITIONS

New This stage indicates that the lead was just received or entered into SugarCRM.

STATUS DEFINITIONSNew This stage indicates that the lead was just received or

entered into SugarCRM.

AssignedAssigned is the status that is set when the lead is changed from new and assigned to an individual to follow up on.

STATUS DEFINITIONSNew This stage indicates that the lead was just received or

entered into SugarCRM.

In ProcessIn process means that the user it was assigned to has taken ownership as well as taken the first action to qualify the lead.

Assigned Assigned is the status that is set when the lead is changed from new and assigned to an individual to follow up on.

STATUS DEFINITIONSNew This stage indicates that the lead was just received or

entered into SugarCRM.

Converted The conversion process often triggers the creation of a Contact, Account and Opportunity.

Assigned Assigned is the status that is set when the lead is changed from new and assigned to an individual to follow up on.

In Process In process means that the user it was assigned to has taken ownership as well as taken the first action to qualify the lead.

STATUS DEFINITIONSNew This stage indicates that the lead was just received or

entered into SugarCRM.

RecycledRecycled Leads are often moved to the status of Dead for various reasons. Often times the lead is later recycled so that lead nurturing can be conducted.

Assigned Assigned is the status that is set when the lead is changed from new and assigned to an individual to follow up on.

In Process In process means that the user it was assigned to has taken ownership as well as taken the first action to qualify the lead.

Converted The conversion process often triggers the creation of a Contact, Account and Opportunity.

STATUS DEFINITIONSNew This stage indicates that the lead was just received or

entered into SugarCRM.

DeadThis stage is often the end of a lead and signifies that the lead is no longer of value. This can be decided for a multitude of reasons. The business should have predefined rules for when to convert a lead to dead.

Assigned Assigned is the status that is set when the lead is changed from new and assigned to an individual to follow up on.

In Process In process means that the user it was assigned to has taken ownership as well as taken the first action to qualify the lead.

Converted The conversion process often triggers the creation of a Contact, Account and Opportunity.

Recycled Recycled Leads are often moved to the status of Dead for various reasons. Often times the lead is later recycled so that lead nurturing can be conducted.

LEAD STATUS CUSTOMIZATION

Like all SugarCRM fields, the Lead Status dropdown can be customized to fit your business and represent definitions that increase productivity and accuracy.

LEAD STATUS CUSTOMIZATION

To change these options, click open in the Dropdown Editor from the Administrative panel.

Like all SugarCRM fields, the Lead Status dropdown can be customized to fit your business and represent definitions that increase productivity and accuracy.

LEAD STATUS CUSTOMIZATION

In the Dropdown Editor, select the lead_status_dom

LEAD STATUS CUSTOMIZATION

Should the business decide to change the lead statuses they should also define what each status means.

By defining the new statuses and disseminating this information to the sales organization the business ensures that all sales people are on the same page when setting statuses.

Without this the reports created will have less accuracy and will negatively affect decision making.

SKIPPING THE “LEADS” STAGE

Some situations may have a user skip the Lead and Lead Conversion process altogether.

In situations where a sales person receives a business card where the contact is clearly interested in getting a quote for products or services, the information can be entered directly as a Contact record and an Accountor Opportunity can be opened for the deal.

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