Online Help > User Manual > Working with Leads

Working with Leads

Tags:  

Leads are raw details gathered about an individual or representatives of an organization. They play a very important role in an organization's  Sales & Marketing department and are useful in identifying potential customers. Collecting leads and managing them are the initial stages in the sales process. Leads can be obtained through trade shows, seminars, advertisements, marketing campaigns etc. Once the leads are collected, it is essential to manage them and follow them up till the leads qualify to prospective customers. The sales department's approach in managing leads can significantly impact the success of an organization.

The terminology related to lead management may differ across industries, but the basic process remains the same. The Leads module in Zoho CRM helps you manage your leads. In Zoho CRM, lead details contain a combination of company (account), person (contact), and business opportunity (potential), depending on your CRM requirement - for managing Business to Business (B2B) industry or Business to Consumer (B2C) industry.

Lead Management Process

  1. Customize Leads module in lead page according to your organization's Sales & Marketing processes.
    (You may use the existing fields, disable some of the standard fields, or add new custom fields).
  2. Setup lead generation process by filling the lead form, importing lead data from external sources, or capturing leads directly from your Web site using web-to-lead forms.
  3. Assign leads to the correct sales persons using the Lead Assignment rules.
  4. Follow-up with the lead till it reaches a certain stage then convert the lead to potential. While converting leads to potentials, accounts and contacts are created automatically.
  5. Follow up the leads further in the Potentials module, till the deal is either won or lost.


Sales Funnel Diagram

From a Lead to a Customer:

  1. Every person who signs up with Zoho CRM becomes a lead and probably a prospective customer.
  2. Once a lead is generated, the Zoho CRM system automatically assigns the particular lead to a sales person, provided the Lead Assignment Rules are defined.
  3. The sales person performs the validation (or background check) of the lead and analyzes the opportunities that are available. The leads are then filtered based on these opportunities.
  4. If the opportunities are positive, the lead becomes a potential or a possible customer ("Prospect").
  5. A Potential becomes a Customer once the deal is finalized.
Note:
  • Standard fields in the Leads module are applicable to most of the industries. You can add your organization specific fields by customizing the leads module.
  • In Zoho CRM, a lead is a combination of company as well as the person's contact information.

Navigate Leads

Search Leads

Create Custom List Views

(Access Privilege: Read/Write)

The Leads module consists of Standard and Custom views. By default, Zoho CRM provides a list of standard views that are ready to be used by all users in your organization. In addition, you can also create customized views and share with colleagues in your organization.

  • Standard Views: You can modify the standard views and sort the order of the columns in the list. You can delete this view mode, provided you have been given the access to do so by the administrator.
  • Custom Views: You can create, modify and delete the custom views and you can even sort the order of the columns in the list.

By default, the following standard view modes are available in the Leads module:

  • Predefined Views
    • All Open Leads
    • My Leads
    • Today's Leads
    • Converted Leads
    • Unread Leads
    • My Converted Leads
    • Mailing Labels
  • Recent Views
    • Recently Created Leads
    • Recently Modified Leads
    • Recently Viewed Leads

Note: The User Created Views displays the new custom views.

To learn more on creating list views, refer Managing List Views.

To create custom views

  1. Click on the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click the Create View link.
  3. In the Create New View page, do the following:
    a. In View Information section, enter the custom View Name.
    b. In Specify Criteria section, specify the filter criteria. 
    c. In Choose Columns section, select the columns to be displayed in the View mode. 
    d. In Accessibility Details section, define the user accessibility to view the custom lists. 
  4. Click Save. 

Note: The View drop down list displays the standard view modes. You can only rearrange the order of the columns or add more columns.

Create Leads

(Access Privilege: Write)

In Zoho CRM, you can create leads by:

  • Entering data in lead details form (manually)
  • Importing leads from external sources
  • Capturing leads from Web site through Web-to-Lead form

Note: Some of the standard fields listed below may not be visible/editable depending on your organization's business process. In case you want to added/modified fields, please contact your System Administrator for more details on the use of other fields.

To know the List of Standard Lead-related Fields, click here.

Create Leads Individually

You can create leads manually by entering the details in the lead page. For instance: While traveling you met a person who showed some interest in your product/service. You exchanged business card and assured that you would contact him again with more details about the product/service. The next day, you create a lead manually with the available details and contact the person. In such cases, it is easy to manually feed in the available details and create new lead records instantly.

You can create individual leads by:

  • Filling details in the lead creation form.
  • Using Quick Create option; a quick create component present in left pane of the Leads Home page.
  • Duplicating the lead with few changes in the existing lead details.

Note: By default, the person who creates the lead, owns it. If you want to assign the lead to a different user, click the Change link in the Lead Owner field from the Lead Details page and select another user as the lead owner .

To create leads individually

  1. In the Leads module, click New Lead.
  2. In the Create Lead page, enter the lead details.
  3. Click Save. For more details, refer Associating Leads with Other Records.

To create leads instantly

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. On the left pane of the Home page, select Leads from the Quick Create list.

  3. Enter the relevant details.
  4. Click Save.

To create duplicate leads

  1. In the Leads tab, click a particular lead that is to be duplicated.
  2. In the Lead Details page, click Clone.
  3. In the Clone Lead page, modify the required lead details.
  4. Click Save. 

Import Leads

Capture Leads from Website (Using Web-to-Lead Form)

Merge Duplicate Leads

Over a period of time, there may be a chance of accumulation of duplicate leads. You can merge these duplicate leads for a better organization of your data.

To merge duplicate leads

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click the required lead.
  3. In the Lead Details page, click Find & Merge Duplicates.
  4. In the Find and Duplicate Leads page, do the following:
    a. In the Search Criteria section, by default, some of the matching criteria are displayed. 
    b. Add additional criteria if required, and then click Search.  
    c. In the Matching Records section, select at least two leads to be merged.
    d. Click Next.
  5. In the Merge Lead page, select the lead that you want to maintain as the Master Record.
  6. The double entries are highlighted. Select the data that are to be retained.

  7. Click Merge.
Note: The lead(s) merged to the master lead record will be deleted permanently and the action cannot be reverted. The attachments and activities will also be transferred to the master lead record.

Associate Leads with Other Records

(Access Privilege: Read/Write)

The next important thing after creating leads is to follow it up with activities, tasks, e-mails and attachments. Hence, you may need to associate leads with other records, until the lead reaches a certain stage where it can be converted to Potential as per your organization's sales process.

To associate lead with other records

  1. In the Lead Details page, you can update the following details:
    • Open Activities: To add tasks and events (meetings and calls).
    • Closed Activities : To archive the closed activities.
    • Products: To add products.
    • Attachments & Notes: To attach documents and notes.
    • Mails: To send e-mail messages to the selected lead.
To attach documents

This feature enables you to attach documents, spreadsheets and presentations to the leads. You can attach them in the following ways:
To add products
  1. In the Lead Details page, the existing product details, if any, are displayed.
    • Click Product Name, Product Code, Product Active, Manufacturer, Support Start Date, or Support Expiry Date links to sort the display order of the records.
    • Click the relevant Del link to delete the record. 
  2. Click Add Product. 
  3. Select the check box(es) corresponding to the product. Note, that the products will be available in the list only if you add them using the Products module.
  4. Click Add to Lead.
To create a tasks or events
  1. In the Lead Details page, the existing task or event details, if any, are displayed.
    • Click Subject, Activity Type, Status, Due Date or Owner Name  links to sort the display order of the records.
    • Click the relevant Edit, Del, or Close link to modify, delete, or close the task respectively.
  2. Click New Task/New Event. 
  3. Do the following:
    • The system displays the name of the Task Owner. Click to change the task owner.
    • Enter the Subject name, or click to select the subject name from the list.
    • Enter the Due Date in mm/dd/yyyy format, or select the date from the calendar displayed.
    • Select Contact or Lead from the list, and then enter the lead name in the adjacent box.
    • Select the Status and Priority from the respective lists.
    • Select the Send Notification Email check box, if required.
    • Select the Remind At check box, if required. 
    • Enter the Description in the text box. 
    • Click Save.
Note: Once the activity is over, you can close the activity using the Close link.

To send e-mails
  1. In the Lead Details page, the existing e-mail details, if any, are displayed.
    • Click Sent Or Received, Subject, Date or Sent By  links to sort the display order of the records.
    • Click the relevant Del link to delete the mail details.
  2. Click Send Mail. 
  3. In the Send Mail page, compose the e-mail message and send it. Make sure that you have a valid e-mail address.
To add notes
  1. In the Lead Details page, the existing note details, if any, are displayed.
    • Click Title, Note Content, Modified Time, Created Time, or Owner Name  links to sort the display order of the records.
    • Click the relevant Edit or Del link to modify or delete the notes respectively.
  2. Click New Note.
  3. Do the following:
    • Enter the Title. It is mandatory.
    • The system displays the Owner Name. Click to change the owner's name. 
    • Enter the Note Content in the text box.
    • Click Save.

Change Lead Status

(Access Privilege: Read/Write)

When the prospecting is in progress, it may be very useful to change the status of some of the leads in a single step. Lead status is customizable. You can change the status of individual lead or a group of leads.

To change the status of leads individually

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, select the lead record.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • In the Lead Details page, click Edit. In the Edit Leads page, make the required changes to the status of the lead,  and then click Save.
    • Point to Lead Status field, and then click the Edit link. Select the status from the list, and then click Save.
Note: You can also point to the lead record, and then click (Edit icon) to edit the required details. Use this operation carefully. If you are not sure of using this operation, change the status of leads one-after-another. The other way of overcoming this problem is to first search the leads with a required status then change the status in bulk. 

Change Lead Owner

(Access Privilege: Change Owner)

Lead Owner refers to the user who creates a new lead, or imports them. The lead owner owns all the leads that he creates or imports, and has the access to assign them to other users, provided he has users added to his Zoho CRM account.  You can change the owner of an individual lead or a group of leads.

To change owner of leads individually

  1. Click the Leads tab. 
  2. In the Leads Home page, select the lead record.
  3. In the Lead Details page, do one of the following:
    • Click the Change link next to the Lead Owner details. In the pop up window, select the owner from the list, and then click OK.
    • Click Edit. In the Edit Leads page, change the lead owner, and then click Save .
To change owner of leads in bulk
  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, select the required check boxes.
  3. Under More Actions, click Change Owner.
  4. In the Change Lead Owner page, click and then select the new user from the Change Owner pick list
  5. Click OK.
Note: Leads ownership will be changed to another user, irrespective of its existing owner. Use this operation carefully, otherwise leads belonging to different users will be changed to new user. To overcome this problem, you may first search the leads with a required owner name and then change the owner in bulk.

View Reports

(Access Privilege: Read/Write)

Zoho CRM reports are the detailed and informative list of records. Each report provides access to important data required for various purpose. You can directly access some of the standard reports pertaining to leads from the Lead Reports section in the Leads Home page.

The following reports are the standard reports:

  • Leads By Source
  • Leads By Status
  • Today's Leads
  • Leads by Ownership
  • Converted Leads
  • Leads by Industry

Note: You can view the other reports related to leads by clicking the Other Reports link. This will take you to the Reports module, where you can generate various other reports.

To view lead reports

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click any of the reports' link under the Lead Reports section. (Leads By Status, for example)



  3. In the Reports page, the system displays the Filter Options and the selected report details.
  4. You can do the following:
    • Export: Use this option to export and save the report in Excel, PDF, or CSV format in your local disk. 
    • Save As: Use this option to save the report with a new name. This option is useful when you filter a specific set of data and save it for future reference.
    • Customize: This feature is used to customize the report with regards to the report types, columns, grouping, filter criteria in the report, etc. For more details, refer Customize.
    • Reload: Use this option to update or refresh the contents of the page.
    • Hide Details/Show Details: Click Hide Details to hide the details of the report and click Show Details to see the hidden details of the report.
    • Create Chart: This feature enables you to create charts, (such as Bar diagrams, Pie charts, Line charts, Funnel charts) based on the selected report details.
  5. Do one of the following, and then click Apply Filter to filter records and view report based on the filter options specified:
    • Select Last Created Time or Last Modified Time from the Column list.
    • Select the option from the adjacent list. (Next FQ, for example). On selecting this option, the system will automatically display the Start and End date in the respective boxes.
    • Enter the Start Date and the End Date in MM/DD/YYYY format, or select the date from the calendar displayed.

Note:

  • FQ refers to Financial Quarter and FY refers to the Financial Year.
  • You can view a maximum of 2000 records in a report.

Print Lead Details

(Access Privilege: Print)

You can view the lead details in printable form and print them using browser’s print function.

To print lead details

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click the required lead that you want to print.
  3. In the Lead Details page, click Print Preview. 
  4. In the pop up window, click Print Page.
Note: You can also print the details using the Web browser's print function.

To print lead records

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click the Print View link.

  3. In the Print Preview page, the system displays the list of lead records.
  4. Click Print Page.

Delete Leads

(Access Privilege: Read/Write/Delete)

Occasionally you may need to remove some of the unnecessary leads from the Zoho CRM system for a better organization of data. You may consider removing leads that are not useful for future reference.

Note: The deleted leads are temporarily stored in the Recycle Bin. If required, you can restore the deleted leads but if you delete from the Recycle Bin, you cannot restore them again.

To delete leads individually

  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, click the lead record. 
  3. In the Lead Details page, click Delete.

Note: You can also point to the lead record, and then click (Delete icon) to delete the record. For more details, refer Mass Delete Leads.

Convert Leads to Other Sales Records

(Access Privilege: Lead Conversion)

Once the lead status has reached a certain stage, where it can be qualified as an potential, (i.e. when there is a chance of further negotiations with the lead), it can be converted into account, contact, and potential.

Note:
  • Once a lead is converted into potential, lead status will be changed to Converted in Leads Home page.
  • You can view the list of converted leads by selecting the Converted view mode.
  • Once the lead is converted to account, contact and potential, you cannot revert to the original state.
Lead Conversion Rule
While converting a lead to a potential first a new account and contact are created with the relevant lead data, and then a new potential is created. The following table provides descriptions of the various fields converted to account, contact, and potential (optional) during lead conversion:

    Lead FieldConverted To
    Salutation Contact: Salutation
    First Name Contact: First Name
    Last Name Contact: Last Name
    Company Account: Name
    Designation Contact: Title
    Lead Source Potential: Lead Source
    Industry Account: Industry
    Annual Revenue Account: Annual Revenue
    Assigned To Account, Contact, Potential: Assigned To
    Phone Account: Phone
    Contact: Phone
    Mobile Contact: Mobile
    Fax Account: Fax
    Contact: Fax
    Email Contact: Email
    Skype ID Contact: Skype ID
    Web site Account: Web site
    Lead Status Potential: Status
    Rating Potential: Rating
    No of Employees Account: No. of Employees
    Street Account: Street
    Contact: Street
    City Account: City
    Contact: City
    State Account: State
    Contact: State
    Postal Code Account: Postal Code
    Contact: Postal Code
    Country Account: Country
    Contact: Country
    Custom Fields Users can map their own custom fields

To convert leads to other sales records
  1. Click the Leads tab.
  2. In the Leads Home page, select the lead to be converted.
  3. In the Lead Details page, click Convert.
  4. In the Lead Conversion page, enter the following details:
    • Click to select the Assigned To user name.
    • The system displays the Account Name. Note, that if the Account Name already exists, you will have an option to select the existing company name or create a new account name using the same company name.
    • Enter the Potential Name.
    • Enter the Potential Close Date or select the date from the calendar displayed.
    • Select the Potential Stage from the list.
    • Select the Contact Role from the list.
    • Enter the Amount.
  5. Click Save. 

Map Custom Fields

(Access Privilege: Customize Zoho CRM)

When a lead is converted into an account, contact and potential, field values of a lead are mapped with the corresponding account, contact, and potential. Only when the fields are accurately mapped with those of the corresponding modules, data will get transferred correctly. By default, the standard fields are mapped with the corresponding fields of the other modules (Accounts, Contacts, and Potentials) . With the lead conversion mapping tool, you can easily map other fields that you create.

To map lead fields with other modules

  1. Click the Setup link.
  2. Under Lead Settings, click Fields list.
  3. In the Lead Fields List page, click Map Fields.
  4. In the Custom Field Mapping page, custom fields are displayed under Lead Fields column.
  5. Select the appropriate options from the corresponding lists to map the fields.
  6. Click Save.

Customize Leads

(Access Privilege: System Administration)

Customization of the Leads module includes renaming the tab name, modifying the pick list values in standard fields, adding new custom fields, modifying page layout, and show/hide the related list views according to your requirements.

For more details, refer Customizing Zoho CRM

2 Comments  Show recent to old
georgi.b.stoilov, 59 - days ago  

How can I put a security image in order to prevent leads submission from computers?

vidyapriya, 53 - days ago  

Please refer to this sample script and add it in your web page along with
your Web form :

<script>

function randomgen()
{
var rannumber='';
for(ranNum=1; ranNum<=6; ranNum++){
rannumber+=Math.floor(Math.random()*10).toString();
}
document.getElementById('varifyNum').innerHTML=rannumber;
document.getElementById('varifyNumHidden').value=rannumber;
}
randomgen();
//Varification number genarate code End here


//Validation Start Here
function validateForm()
{

var thefrm=document.contactForm;
alert(thefrm);
if(thefrm.enterVerify.value=="")
{
alert("Enter your Verification Code");
thefrm.enterVerify.focus();
return false;
}
else if(thefrm.enterVerify.value!="")
{
if(thefrm.enterVerify.value!=thefrm.varifyNumHidden.value)
{
alert("please Enter Currect Verification Number");
randomgen();
thefrm.enterVerify.select();
thefrm.enterVerify.focus();
return false;
}
else
{
return true;
}
}
else
{
return true;
}
}
</script>


and add the following tag at the end of the form

<tr>
<td style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"
class="feature-border" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"
width="29%">Verification Code:</td>

<td class="feature-border" align="left" valign="middle"
width="66%"><input name="varifyNumHidden" id="varifyNumHidden"
value="701469" type="hidden">
<input name="enterVerify" id="enterVerify" type="text"> <div
id="varifyNum" style="font-size: 14px; font-family:
Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"></div></td>
</tr>

and also change the form tag as "<form
action='http://crm.zoho.com/crm/WebToContact' name="contactForm"
method='POST' onSubmit='return validateForm()'>" instead of "<form
action='http://crm.zoho.com/crm/WebToContact' name="contactForm"
method='POST' />"

This will help you to prevent the spam.If you need any further
assistance

 RSS of this page


New to Zoho CRM?  Sign up for Free!  or Request a Demo
 
© 2009, Zoho Corp. All rights reserved.