The Lead Center is where you keep people and businesses who might buy from you but have not yet. Each lead has contact details, where it came from, a rating of Hot, Warm or Cold, a list of To Dos (calls, emails, meetings) and notes. When a lead becomes a customer, Convert to Customer turns it into a customer with its notes and To Dos, and it leaves the Lead Center.
Opening the Lead Center
Customers ▸ Lead Center. It opens over the Home Page; Esc takes you back to the Home Page. It needs permission for the Customer Centre.
The page has two parts: the leads down the left, and the selected lead on the right.
The list of leads
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| New Lead | Adds a lead. |
| Search leads… | Type part of a name and press Enter to narrow the list. |
| All, Hot, Warm, Cold | Shows every lead, or only leads with that rating. |
Each lead shows its name in bold, its company and source underneath, and its rating as a coloured pill: Hot (red), Warm (amber), Cold (blue). Click a lead to show it on the right. With no leads the list says No leads.; with none selected the right side says Pick a lead, or add one.
Add or edit a lead
- Click New Lead (or Edit on the selected lead).
- Fill in the fields below.
- Choose Hot, Warm or Cold.
- Click OK.
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Lead name | The person's or business's name. |
| Company | The company they are with. |
| Their email address. | |
| Phone | Their phone number. |
| Address | Their address. |
| Source (referral, website, trade show…) | Where the lead came from. Shown under the name in the list. |
| Hot / Warm / Cold | How likely they are to buy. New leads start as Warm. |
If the save fails, the reason is shown at the bottom of the screen (Not saved. when there is no other detail).
The selected lead
The right side shows the lead's name, Edit and Convert to Customer, then:
- COMPANY, E-MAIL, PHONE, ADDRESS, SOURCE and ADDED (the date the lead was added). Empty fields show —.
- TO DOS — follow-ups for this lead.
- NOTES — what was said, with the date and who wrote it.
To Dos
- Click Add To Do.
- In Add To Do — (lead), choose the Type — Call, Fax, E-mail, Meeting, Appointment or Task.
- Set Due (tomorrow by default) and describe it in To Do.
- Click OK.
Each To Do shows its type and due date; an overdue one shows in red. Tick the box when it is done (untick to reopen it). A lead's To Dos also appear on the company-wide To Do List.
Notes
Click Add Note, type the note and click Save. Notes are listed with the date and the user who added them. Use them for what was discussed and what was promised.
Convert a lead to a customer
When the lead buys:
- Select the lead and click Convert to Customer.
- Confirm Convert (lead) to a customer? — Its notes and To Dos come with it, and it leaves the Lead Center. — with Convert.
SeroBooks confirms (lead) is now a customer. and opens the new customer's ledger. The customer then appears in the Customer Centre, where you can complete their details — province, terms, price level — with Edit. If the conversion fails, the reason is shown (Not converted. when there is no other detail).
Tips
- Add a To Do for every promised call-back as soon as you hang up; overdue To Dos turn red.
- Record the Source consistently (Website, Referral, Trade show) so you can see which channels bring leads.
- Write an estimate for a warm lead once you have converted them; estimates are written for customers. See Create Estimates.