Help centre / CRM

Leads

One enquiry, from whoever it came, worked from the first call until it is qualified and becomes a customer - or is honestly written off.

1Overview #

A lead is an enquiry: somebody asked about what you sell. This screen is where that enquiry lives - who they are, how to reach them, what they want, what it might be worth, whose job it is, and everything anyone has done about it since.

It is deliberately the cheapest record to create: a name and one way to reach them is enough. Everything else can be filled in as you learn it. The point is that no enquiry is left on a notepad, in one person's phone, or in a mailbox nobody else can see.

A lead is a question, not a deal. When it turns out the person really will buy, press Convert: the lead becomes a contact (the person), an account (the customer in your books, if you want) and an opportunity (the deal you will now chase). The lead is then closed and read-only - it has done its job, and the work moves to the opportunity.

2Who it is for #

Keep every enquiry in one place, whichever way it came in - a phone call, a walk-in, a WhatsApp, your website, an exhibition, a referral.
Make sure somebody owns each one, and that a next action is always planned, so nothing goes quiet by accident.
Record what they asked for - the products, the rough value - so you can tell later which sources and which products are worth your money.
Show the whole history: who called, what was said, what changed, which e-mails and messages went both ways.
Turn a good enquiry into a deal with Convert, without typing it all in again.

3What it is not for #

Chasing a deal you have already won or quoted for. That is an opportunity - CRM > Opportunities, or the board.
Keeping a person you already do business with. That is a contact - CRM > Contacts; the lead's Convert makes one for you.
Billing, quoting or taking money. A lead is before all that. Once they are a customer, the books take over (Sales Quotation, Sales Invoice).
Logging today's calls in bulk. Open CRM > Follow-ups for the day's list; come here when you want the whole story of one enquiry.

4Step by step #

Press Add (F3). - The screen opens empty, with today's date and, if lead intake is licensed, no owner yet.
If the person is already in your contacts, pick them under Contact first. - Their name, firm, phones, e-mail, address and territory fill in by themselves - correct whatever is different for this enquiry.
Give the Name, and at least one of Mobile, Phone or E-mail. - Those two are all the screen truly insists on. A lead nobody can reach is not a lead.
Say where it came from: Source, and optionally Lead type and Territory. - The source is what tells you later which channel is worth paying for - be honest and consistent here.
Set the Owner - whose job this is. - You can hand a lead to yourself, to your team, or to anyone if you are a sales manager. With lead intake licensed, leave it blank and the assignment rules pick the owner when you save.
Say what they want: Requirement, Estimated value, and the Products of interest lines. - Type straight into the blank product line; Enter moves across it and, off the last cell, starts the next line.
Rate it - three stars Hot, two Warm, one Cold. - Your honest feel for it. The board and the reports group by this.
Set the First follow-up on date and time, then Save (F5). - The lead is saved together with that follow-up, so it is already on somebody's list for that day.
From then on, work it with Follow-up (F7): what you did, what came of it, and when you will act next. - Each follow-up is kept; the lead's Next action always shows the earliest open one.
When it is real, press Change status through Contacted - Qualified, then Convert. - When it is not, set it to Disqualified and say why - that reason is a report of its own, and it is how you learn.

5The fields #

Comes from - Where this enquiry sits in the chain Contact -> Lead -> Opportunity. Both fields are optional; they save typing now and join things up later.
Contact - Somebody already in your contacts. Pick them and every field the contact has - name, company, designation, phones, e-mail, address, territory, consent and ledger account - is copied into this lead. Not there yet? The foot of the list has Create new contact, which opens the contact screen right here, starting from what you have already typed. Ties the lead to that person, so the contact's own screen and the customer view show this enquiry too. A contact of this company
Ledger account - The customer account in your books, when this enquirer is already one. The foot of the list has Create new ledger account, which opens the Ledger master in a dialog. The opportunity made by Convert starts with this account, and the customer view can show their invoices and outstanding beside the enquiry. A ledger account under your customer group
Who - The person and the firm. Name is the only thing the screen insists on here.
Name - Who the enquiry is from. A person's name normally; the firm's name when no person was given. Shown everywhere the lead appears - lists, board, reports, messages. Up to 128 characters
Company - The firm the person is enquiring for. Names the opportunity and the prospect when you Convert. Up to 128 characters
Contact person - The person to ask for, when the Name above is the firm itself. Becomes the contact when you Convert. Up to 128 characters
Designation - Their role - Purchase Manager, Proprietor, Site Engineer. Tells the next caller who they are speaking to; carried to the contact on Convert. Up to 128 characters
Industry - Their line of business, from the Industries master. Not in the list? Create new industry at the foot of it. The board can band by industry, and the lead reports group by it. From CRM > Masters > Industries
GSTIN - Their GST number, if you know it. Convert uses it to find an account you already have, so you do not create the same customer twice. Exactly 15 characters when given
How to reach them - At least one of Mobile, Phone or E-mail is required - the rest is as much as you know.
Mobile - The number you will actually call or message. Used to spot duplicates (the last ten digits), and it is the number SMS and WhatsApp go to. Up to 30 characters
Phone - Office or landline number. Counts towards the reachable-lead rule and the duplicate check. Up to 30 characters
Alternate phone - A second number to try. Counts towards the reachable-lead rule and the duplicate check. Up to 30 characters
E-mail - Their address. It is checked the moment you leave the field - a red note appears under it - and again when you save. Where e-mail from the CRM goes, and how a reply finds its way back onto this lead. A real address, up to 255 characters
Website - The firm's site. Up to 255 characters
Call / E-mail / Message - How this person has agreed to be contacted. Untick any way they refused. The messaging screens obey these: a person who refused messages is left out of a bulk SMS or WhatsApp. Three tick boxes
Address - Street address. Enter moves on; Ctrl+Enter starts a new line inside the box. Carried to the contact and the account on Convert. Up to 512 characters
City - City or town. Searched by the Find list, and assignment rules can send a city's leads to a particular team. Up to 128 characters
PIN - Postal code. Up to 50 characters
Country - Picked from the Country master. Decides how State behaves, below. From the Country master
State - For India it is picked from the list of states. For any other country the list is empty and you simply type it. Carried to the account on Convert, where it matters for GST. A state of the chosen country
The enquiry - What they want, whose job it is, and when you will act.
Lead date - The day the enquiry came in - today by default. Every lead report and the funnel count by this date. Not in the future
Source - Where the enquiry came from - walk-in, phone, website, Facebook, referral. Create new source at the foot of the list. The Leads by source report, and the first-response target when lead intake is licensed. Its channel is stored with the lead. From CRM > Masters > Lead sources
Lead type - Your own classification of enquiries - retail, project, dealer, spare. Filters and groups the lead lists and reports. From CRM > Masters > Lead types
Territory - The sales territory it falls in (the desktop called this the lead's Location). Reports and sharing by territory. From CRM > Masters > Territories
Owner - The executive whose job this lead is. You may hand it to yourself, to your team, or - as a sales manager - to anyone. Decides who sees it, whose follow-up lists it appears on, and who is answerable for it. An executive with a login. With CRM Lead Intake licensed this may be left blank and the assignment rules choose.
Rating - Three stars Hot, two Warm, one Cold. Click the lit star again to clear it. The board bands by it, and bulk messages can pick an audience by it. Hot, Warm or Cold
Estimated value - A rough figure for what the business is worth. The lead's budget band, the pipeline and forecast reports, and the opportunity's amount on Convert. With product lines, their total is what Convert carries. Not negative
First follow-up on - Only while adding: the moment the first call or visit is planned for. The lead is saved together with this follow-up, so it is already on somebody's list. Not in the past
Next action - Only when viewing: the earliest open follow-up on this lead. You cannot type here. Changed by logging a Follow-up (F7).
Requirement - What they want, in your words. Read by whoever picks the lead up next, and searchable. Up to 512 characters
Customer's remarks - What the customer said, as close to their own words as you can. Up to 512 characters
Internal remarks - Notes for your colleagues. Never shown to the customer and never sent in a message. Up to 512 characters
Disqualify reason - Appears only when the status is Disqualified: why this enquiry is being written off. The Lost reasons report - this is how you learn which enquiries are not worth chasing. Required while the status is Disqualified, up to 255 characters
Products of interest - What they asked about. Optional, but it is what makes the product-wise reports worth reading. A blank line is ready as soon as you add or modify - type straight into it.
Product - The item they asked for, from your product list. Not there yet? Create new product at the foot of the list opens the Product master here. Product-wise lead and revenue reports; the lines travel to the opportunity on Convert. From your product masters
Description - What they asked for in words, when it is not one of your products yet. Free text
Application - What they will use it for, from the Applications master. Groups reports by use. From CRM > Masters > Applications
Class - Your product class or grade, from the Product classes master. Groups reports by class. From CRM > Masters > Product classes
Qty - How many. Qty x Rate makes the line Amount. Not negative
Rate - A rough rate - an indication, not a quotation. Qty x Rate makes the line Amount. Not negative
Amount - Qty x Rate, worked out for you. The total of these lines is what Convert carries to the opportunity, ahead of Estimated value.
Sharing - Who else may see this lead, besides its owner and their seniors.
Share with - An executive, a user group or a branch. They see the lead in their lists; with Edit they may change it too. Anyone with a login, any user group, any branch
Access - View lets them read it; Edit lets them work it. View or Edit
Effective from / Effective to - The window the sharing lasts - leave To empty for open-ended. Outside the window the share simply stops applying. Dates
How it came in (with CRM Lead Intake) - Shown only on a lead that arrived by itself. Every box here is filled by the system and cannot be typed into.
Came through - Facebook or Instagram lead form, website form, click-to-WhatsApp ad - and the form's name.
Campaign / ad set / ad - The Meta advertisement that brought the enquiry. Lets you see which campaign actually produced business.
Owner given by - The assignment rule that chose the owner, and when.
First response - When the first answer was due, and when it came. The chip beside the status says Answer by ..., Answer overdue or Answered late.
Consent given - What the person agreed to on the form, in the form's own words, and when. Your evidence that they agreed to be contacted.
Answers - Every answer they gave on the form, mapped to a field or not.

6Rules and integrity #

A lead must be reachable - Name, plus at least one of mobile, phone or e-mail. A number counts only if it has seven digits or more.
Duplicates are pointed out, not blocked - On save, leads with the same last ten phone digits, the same e-mail or the same GSTIN are listed for you. You decide whether it is really the same person - the CRM never merges behind your back.
Every lead has an owner - The database itself refuses a lead without one. With CRM Lead Intake licensed you may leave the Owner blank and let the assignment rules choose; without it, you must pick somebody.
Saving stays on the record - After Save (F5) the lead stays on screen in view mode. Press Add (F3) when you want the next one - nothing is ever cleared without you asking.
Status moves in one direction of meaning - New - Contacted - Qualified is the ladder; Disqualified ends it with a reason; Converted is set by Convert, never by hand. Use Change status, which records who changed it, when, and why.
A converted lead is read-only - Once converted, the work belongs to the opportunity and the contact. The lead stays as the history of how it started, and the screen offers to open what it became.
The follow-up is the unit of work - Follow-up (F7) records what was done and plans what is next in one go. The lead's Next action is always the earliest open follow-up, so a lead with nothing planned stands out in the reports.
Reassigning may need approval - Handing a lead to another owner or branch goes through Reassign. Where a workflow says so, it waits for a senior's decision, and a banner on the lead says it is waiting.
Who sees it - The owner, their seniors through the sales team, anyone it is shared with, and sales managers. Everything is cut further by your login's report option (branch or group), so two people can look at the same list and honestly see different rows.
Delete is a last resort - Deleting takes the lead and its follow-ups away for good. Disqualify with a reason instead - a written-off lead you can count is worth more than one you cannot find.

7Shortcut keys #

F2 - Find - the lead list; type to search by number, name, firm, phone or city.
F3 - Add a new lead.
F4 - Modify the lead on screen.
F5 - Save - every mistake is listed at once, numbered.
F7 - Follow-up - log what was done and plan the next action.
Esc - Cancel the editing; in view mode it closes the tab.
Enter - Next field; inside the product lines it moves across the row and, off the last cell, starts a new line. Ctrl+Enter for a new line inside Address, Requirement or Remarks.

8If something does not work #

"That record is not yours to see."

Why: The record belongs to somebody else's circle - its owner, their team lead, a sales manager, or somebody it is shared with. Reading it, its calls, its score or its telephone numbers is refused to anybody else, whichever screen asks.
What to do: Ask its owner to share it with you, or ask a sales manager to hand it over.

"That record is no longer there."

Why: The lead, contact or deal was deleted, or merged into another, after this screen read it.
What to do: Refresh the list and open it again.

"This lead is not yours to change." / "This lead is not yours to convert."

Why: Changing or converting a lead is for its owner, an Edit share, their team lead or a sales manager.
What to do: Ask the owner to share it with Edit, or to hand it over.

"Say which lead to convert."

Why: Convert was pressed without a saved lead behind it.
What to do: Save the lead first, then convert.

"Say which lead or deal is handed over." / "Nothing changes - it already belongs to ..."

Why: Hand over needs a record and a new owner different from the present one.
What to do: Pick a different person, or close the dialog - it is already theirs.

"CRM is not licensed for this company - leads, contacts, opportunities and their follow-ups need the CRM module. Contact your software vendor."

Why: The company's licence has no CRM module, so the page draws the cover and nothing else.
What to do: Ask your vendor to add CRM to the licence, then sign out and in.

"Requested action denied due to security restrictions. Leads needs the View right on 'CRM Leads' in User Manager (CRM module)."

Why: Your login has no View right on CRM Leads.
What to do: An administrator grants View on CRM Leads in User Manager; a role or a template can carry it.

"You are not signed in."

Why: The session ended between opening the page and pressing the button.
What to do: Sign in again and re-open the lead.

"The lead cannot be saved yet:" and a numbered list

Why: One or more of the checks below failed. Every one is listed at once.
What to do: Work down the list; the same checks run again on the server.

"Name: say who the enquiry is from - a person or a firm."

Why: The Name box is empty.
What to do: Type the person's or the firm's name.

"Phone or e-mail: a lead nobody can reach is not a lead - give at least one."

Why: No mobile, phone or alternate number with seven digits or more, and no e-mail.
What to do: Fill any one of them. Seven digits is the minimum a number needs to count.

"E-mail: that does not look like an e-mail address."

Why: The address does not have the shape name@firm.com.
What to do: Correct it, or clear the box - blank is fine when there is a phone number.

"Owner: a lead must belong to an executive."

Why: No owner was picked, and the auto-assignment that would have chosen one is not running here.
What to do: Pick an owner. Assignment rules choose for you only with the CRM Lead Intake add-on licensed and installed.

"Lead date: give the date of the enquiry." / "Lead date: it cannot be in the future."

Why: The date is empty, or later than tomorrow.
What to do: Give the day the enquiry actually came in.

"Status: pick one of the listed statuses."

Why: The status held is not one the CRM knows - usually an old record touched by another tool.
What to do: Pick a status from the list and save again.

"Disqualify reason: say why this lead is being disqualified."

Why: The status is Disqualified and the reason is blank.
What to do: Pick or type the reason - it is what the lost-reason reports read.

"GSTIN: it has 15 characters."

Why: A GSTIN was typed but is not 15 characters long.
What to do: Correct it, or clear the box.

"Estimated value: it cannot be negative." / "Products: quantity and rate cannot be negative."

Why: A money or quantity box holds a number below zero.
What to do: Correct the figure. A blank is allowed where a zero is not meaningful.

"First follow-up: its date cannot be in the past."

Why: A new lead was given a first follow-up dated before today.
What to do: Give today or a later date - a follow-up already past cannot be planned.

"This lead is not yours to change - ask its owner to share it with Edit access."

Why: The lead is not yours, was not shared with you with Edit, and you are not a manager.
What to do: Ask the owner to share it with Edit access, or ask a sales manager to hand it to you.

"This lead has been converted - it is read-only. Work on the contact and the opportunity it became."

Why: A converted lead is history and is never edited again.
What to do: Open the contact or the deal it became - the links are on the lead.

"That lead is no longer there."

Why: Somebody deleted it while you had it open.
What to do: Press F2 and pick another; nothing you typed was saved.

"A lead cannot go from ... to ..." (sometimes with "Use Convert.")

Why: Lead statuses move along a set path; this jump is not on it.
What to do: Move it a step at a time, or use Convert where the message says so.

"A new lead cannot start as Converted - save it, then use Convert."

Why: Conversion is an action, not a status you can type.
What to do: Save the lead as New or Qualified, then press Convert.

"Ledger account: that account is no longer there - pick it again."

Why: The ledger this lead pointed at has been deleted or renamed away.
What to do: Pick the account again from the list.

"You do not have the Create right on CRM Leads. Ask an administrator (User Manager > permissions > CRM)."

Why: You may read leads but not add, change or delete them - the message names which right is missing.
What to do: An administrator grants Create / Alter / Delete on CRM Leads.

"This lead is not yours to delete." / "A converted lead is part of a customer's history and cannot be deleted."

Why: Delete is for the owner or a manager, and never for a converted lead.
What to do: Disqualify it instead - that keeps the history and takes it out of the working lists.

"That does not look like an e-mail address - name@firm.com." under the E-mail box

Why: The address is checked as you leave the box.
What to do: Correct it; the note goes by itself.

The Owner list does not show the person I want

Why: You may hand a lead to yourself or to a member of a team you lead - a sales manager sees everybody.
What to do: Ask a sales manager, or have the sales team set up on CRM > Sales Teams.

"You can give a lead only to yourself, or to a member of a team you lead. To let someone else work on it, share it with them; to hand it over, ask your team lead or a sales manager."

Why: The owner picked is outside your reach.
What to do: Share it instead, or ask a team lead or sales manager to hand it over.

The products grid is empty when I open it

Why: Product lines load when you press Add or Modify - and only if your login may read the product master.
What to do: Switch to Add or Modify. If it stays empty, ask for rights on the product master.

"Say what was done, or plan the next action."

Why: The follow-up dialog was saved with neither half ticked.
What to do: Tick what was done, or plan the next action - or both.

"What was done: write a line about the follow-up."

Why: The done half is ticked but both Outcome and Subject are blank.
What to do: Write what came of it - it is what the follow-up reports read.

"Next action: its date cannot be in the past." / "Next action: give it a date." / "Next action: say whose work list it lands on."

Why: A planned action needs a date that is not past and an owner.
What to do: Give today or later, and name whose list it lands on.

"What was done: it cannot have happened in the future - plan it as the next action instead."

Why: The done-on time is more than five minutes ahead of now.
What to do: Correct the time, or move it to the next-action half.

"This record is not yours to follow up." / "Disqualify the lead from its own page - it needs a reason."

Why: A follow-up needs edit access, and a follow-up may not quietly disqualify a lead.
What to do: Use Change status on the lead itself, where the reason is asked for.

Convert is greyed out, or "Only a Qualified lead is converted - this one is ... Set it to Qualified first."

Why: Only a Qualified lead becomes a contact and a deal.
What to do: Change the status to Qualified, then convert.

"Pick an open stage for the new opportunity (not Won or Lost)." / "Give the opportunity a name."

Why: Convert was asked to make a deal but was not told where it starts, or what to call it.
What to do: Pick an open stage and give the deal a name - or untick Create opportunity.

"This lead has already been converted." / "The account picked is no longer in the ledger master." / "The contact picked is no longer there."

Why: Somebody converted it first, or the account or contact you chose has since gone.
What to do: Re-open the lead and follow its links, or pick the account or contact again.

"... needs approval here (workflow '...'). Save the lead with its status left at ..., then use Change status - that sends it for approval."

Why: The status change was made in the form, but a workflow holds that action for approval and wants it asked for properly.
What to do: Save with the old status, then use Change status - that raises the request.

A banner saying the lead is waiting on an approval

Why: A request is open on this record; it cannot change again until the request is decided.
What to do: Follow it on CRM > Approvals - the approver decides, or you withdraw it.

"This lead is waiting on approval request #... It must be decided or withdrawn first - CRM > Approvals."

Why: Only one request stands on a record at a time.
What to do: Decide or withdraw the open one first.

"This needs approval under the workflow '...', but ... has nobody who can approve it (an empty user group, a team with no lead, or only yourself)."

Why: The workflow's level resolves to no living approver for this record.
What to do: An administrator corrects the level on CRM > Approval Workflows.

"... is not allowed here: under the workflow '...' none of its approval levels applies to this record, and the workflow refuses the action then."

Why: The workflow is set to refuse when no level applies.
What to do: Ask your administrator - either a level should cover this case, or the workflow's no-level rule should change.

"It cannot be handed over yet:" - "Pick the new owner, the new branch, or both."

Why: Reassign was pressed with nothing changed.
What to do: Choose a new owner, a new branch, or both.

"New owner: that user cannot sign in any more - pick another." / "New branch: that branch is no longer there."

Why: The person or the branch picked has since been disabled or deleted.
What to do: Pick another from the refreshed list.

"This lead is not yours to hand over." / "This lead has been converted - it is read-only. Reassign the deal it became."

Why: Hand-over needs edit access, and a converted lead is closed to change.
What to do: Ask a manager, or reassign the deal instead.

"Every share needs someone to share with - a user, a user group or a branch." / "... is listed more than once - keep one row and set its period." / "... the To date is before the From date."

Why: The sharing panel has an empty row, a repeat, or a period the wrong way round.
What to do: Fix the row - one row per person, From before To.

"Somebody claimed it first, or it is not in a queue of yours."

Why: Two people pressed Claim on the same queued lead, or the lead is in a group you are not in.
What to do: Refresh the queue - the lead now shows its new owner.

"... has asked not to be contacted by ... (do not contact). Clear it on the record's Communication panel first, if they have agreed again."

Why: A do-not-contact flag is set for that channel on this person.
What to do: Nothing goes out until it is cleared on the Communication panel - which only somebody who may edit the record can do.

"They have not written to you on WhatsApp in the last 24 hours, so WhatsApp allows only an approved TEMPLATE now."

Why: Meta's rule, not ours: free text reaches only somebody who wrote to you within 24 hours.
What to do: Pick an approved template; free text and files are allowed once they answer.

"This record has no telephone number." / "You have no telephone set up - ask an administrator to add you on CRM > Telephony."

Why: The Call button needs a number on the record and an agent row for you.
What to do: Add the number to the lead; an administrator adds you on CRM > Telephony.

A lead I was told about is not in my list

Why: You see your own leads, your team's if you lead one, and anything shared with you - cut further by your branch or group.
What to do: Ask its owner to share it, or ask a sales manager, who sees them all.

"Possible duplicates - the lead is saved, but check these before working it:"

Why: Somebody with the same phone, e-mail or GSTIN is already on the CRM. The lead IS saved - this is a warning, not a refusal.
What to do: Open the one listed. If it is the same enquiry, disqualify this one as a duplicate rather than working both.

"This lead is not yours and has not been shared with you - or it is no longer there."

Why: You opened a lead by its number or a link, but it is outside your reach - or it has been deleted since the link was made.
What to do: Ask its owner to share it; if it was deleted, it cannot be opened again.

9For an administrator #

Executives need a login link - In Ledger Master, open the executive's own ledger account, tick Has Login and pick the login name. The CRM finds a user's executive account - and an executive's user - only through that link. Without it the person cannot own a lead.
Who sees everything - In Designation Master set the Category of the sales heads' designations to Sales Manager. Everyone holding such a designation sees all CRM records, still cut by their report option.
Teams decide seniority - CRM > Sales Teams: a team lead sees their members' leads. Escalation and the missed-response alerts go up the same ladder.
Masters first - Lead sources, types, territories, industries and lost reasons (CRM > Masters) are what every report groups by. Agree them before people start typing free text.

10Settings it uses #

CRM: a lead is unattended after N days - how long with no follow-up before it shows in the Unattended leads report and the alerts.
CRM: escalation days - after how long an ignored follow-up is escalated to the team lead.
Link ledger accounts to CRM leads (Accounts settings) - shows the Lead picker on the Ledger master.
Track Lead ID (Voucher Type master) - lets a voucher of that type carry the lead it came from, which is what the Lead revenue report reads.

This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Leads screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.

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