What are Sales Leads?

Leads in SalesLogix are unqualified potential customers. Use lead qualification criteria to determine if a lead has valid information, does not already exist as a lead or a contact, or is ready to convert to a sales opportunity. Once qualified, you can convert or merge a lead with a contact and an account to create a new sales opportunity. Use the Lead Detail view to work with and qualify information for a single lead, or the Lead List view to work with multiple leads in a spreadsheet-type format.

Features to help manage leads:

Create groups to work with a subset of leads
Create groups based on specific sets of conditions or by individually choosing contacts
Export leads to Excel
Qualify leads
Use mail merge to communicate with a group of leads

Using the Lead Detail view

Use the Lead Detail view to see, add, and edit in-depth information for a lead. The Lead Detail view consists of three sections: lead information boxes in the top section, the tabs in the lower section, and a user-defined middle section.

To open the Leads Detail view:

Click Leads, or press the [Shift] + [F4] keys.

Upper section - lead information boxes contain primary information about the lead, and below them are qualification boxes. Users with appropriate permissions can edit these boxes.
Lower section - default Lead Detail view tabs. Each tab shows specific information you can use for lead related activities.
Middle section - the user can populate the middle section with a tab from the lower section. To do this, click the tab you want to move, and then drag the tab to the middle area. The tab will display in this area until you remove or replace it with a different tab.

Using the Lead List view

The Lead List view displays leads in a spreadsheet format. You can customize the information displayed by modifying the appearance of columns. Each tab in the Lead List view contains a group of leads.

To switch to the Lead List view:

On the toolbar, click the List View/Detail View button.
-OR-
Press [F8].

Features in the List view include:

Click the heading of the column by which you want to sort.
The number of records for the selected group display just below the center of the standard toolbar.

To add a lead:

From the Insert menu, click Lead. The New Lead dialog box displays.
Double click in the Name field and enter known data.
Enter a Company name. If none is given, use the lead’s first and last names. The OK button is disabled until a company name is entered.
Enter information in the fields for which you have accurate data.
Click the Look for Matching Records button to search the database for leads, contacts, and accounts that have matching information.

If there are no potential matches, click OK to close the dialog box and continue entering lead information.
If there are potential matches, the Matching Leads dialog box opens.

In the Matching Leads window, click the Filters button to review criteria to search for matches; change it if necessary.
Complete the remaining lead information boxes. Click OK to save, and then close the window, OR click Save & New to save the current lead information and clear the boxes so you can add another lead.

Deleting a lead

From the Lead Detail or Lead List view, select a lead to delete.
From the Edit menu, select Delete Lead(s).
Click Yes to confirm.

To delete multiple leads:

In the Lead List view, hold down the [Control] key while selecting each lead. OR, if leads are grouped together, highlight the first record, hold down the [Shift] key and highlight the last record. All the records between the first and last selected are highlighted.
Right-click anywhere in the grid, and then select Delete Selected Leads.

Importing leads from a list

The text file must be either ANSI or ASCII delimited.

To import leads from a list:

From the Insert menu, click Lead. The Insert Lead window displays.
In the Insert Lead window, click the Import button in the lower-left corner.
In the Lead List File field, click the Folder icon, browse to the list, and then click Open. The Import Leads Preview dialog box displays.
In the Import Leads Preview window, select delimiter and options, changing as needed to achieve desired result, and then click OK. The Import Template field displays.
If there is a saved import template in the Import Template field, click the arrow in the field to select from the list.
If no template exists, create one (to save or for this import). See Creating a new template. If you want to display all fields in both lists and a template, select the Show All Fields option.

Match the field from the list box, then select the external list field you want to match. If you need to preview the imported list, click Preview button.
In the SalesLogix box, select the SalesLogix field that the list field should match, and then click the Match button.

Matching Fields: box displays your selections. Repeat Step 6 for each field you want to match.
Change the Default Owner, if needed, to the person or team who will own the imported leads.
Click the Default Lead Source button to select how imported leads were generated.
Click the Save As Import Template button, if this template format may be used again. Enter a Description for the template, and then click OK.
Click Import. The leads are imported {using the selected template}. A prompt displays, asking if you want to review the Import log. If there are errors, view the log; if not, don’t.
Click the Import button again, and then click Cancel to exit the dialog box.

Qualifying Leads

A lead may contain unqualified information. You can use lead qualification criteria to validate information and determine if the lead should become a sales opportunity. If your qualification criteria was customized by your administrator, the items in your workspace may be different.

To qualify a lead:

Open the Lead Detail view for the lead to qualify.
In the Qualification box, click the arrow, and then select a qualification category from the list.
Click Is lead already a customer? to determine if the lead already exists in SalesLogix as a contact or account. If no records match, click Cancel.
For each of the qualification criteria, select the option if the criteria is satisfied, and then enter any notes in the text box (dates, results). The system automatically saves option and note changes.
When the lead meets all criteria, convert it to a contact and account.

Converting Leads

Once lead information is qualified, a lead can be converted to a contact and account. The system checks for existing leads, contacts, and accounts for matching information to minimize duplicates. Leads with matching information can be merged with an existing contact, added to an existing account, or the lead information can replace existing contact and account information.

To convert a qualified lead:

Open the Lead Detail view for the lead to convert, and click Convert Qualified Lead.
The Convert Lead window opens with lead information displayed at the top and any matching contact and/or account information will be displayed below.
If no matches exist, the bottom fields will be blank. Skip to step #4.
If matching contacts or accounts are found, do one of the following:

Merge the lead with a matching contact
Add a contact to a matching account
Continue converting the lead to a new contact/account

Select the Create Opportunity after Lead conversion check box to create an opportunity.
Click the Convert button.

To change the filter criteria used to find matching records

Click the Filters button to view the filter information. Select or clear a filter, or select the Select All, Select Only, or Clear All options. If you select the Select Only option, select the filter combination that you want to apply from the menu.
If you only want records that match all of the filters (using an AND condition), select the Match all selected filters check box.
If you only want records that match exactly, select the Match exactly check box. (For example, Acme Inc. and Acme Incorporated will not match).

Configuring Lead Qualifications

Qualification categories are a collection of qualification criteria used to validate lead information or determine if and when a lead is ready to become a sales opportunity. Administrators can create and edit Qualifications.

To open the Configure Qualifications dialog box, go to the Tools menu, then click Manage, and then select Qualifications.