Identifying a Lead and its Capabilities​

Let's take a look at the sales cycle in more detail, starting with Generate a Lead.  

A lead is a potential sales contact. It can be for an individual (B2C) or organization (B2B). Leads are generated through a referral or through a direct response to an advertising or marketing campaign. ​

Duplicate Check on Leads can be performed, for data consistency. When duplicates are located, you'll see separate tabs that contain duplicate information for, Leads, Account and Contacts and Accounts. After reviewing the duplicate check results, you can choose not to create the new lead, create the new lead if a similar one does not exist, or associate the new lead to an existing account and contact.  ​

Qualified leads can be converted to opportunities, with all the key information flowing automatically from lead to opportunity for further processing​

Linkage between the two documents is established for referencing as well as reporting. An audit trail of changes is logged automatically for key information updates.  Feeds are posted automatically for these changes, and key stakeholders and people following the leads are notified of the changes automatically. ​

Aging leads can be automatically tracked and monitored.  After they have been open too long, appropriate measures can be taken to qualify the lead.

Leads can be created with or without an existing customer and contact master. Leads created without master records must have account and contact information created. so that the leads can be converted to follow-up opportunities and other sales documents. You can also create a quick quote from a lead so that you can submit to a qualified customer. Lead management can be streamlined with an approval mechanism. You can configure a customer-specific approval mechanism with multiple steps. Notes and attachments can be used to associate specific information with to the lead. ​

Standard reports and dashboards help in analyzing lead generation, conversion, and aging. Machine learning can be implemented to score leads based on data within the lead document and certain qualification data. Lead scoring can indicate the likelihood of leads turning into opportunities.