Convert a lead

When a lead becomes real business, convert it so the customer continues as an account, with the lead’s person as its contact and, if you like, a deal. This page is for the salesperson who owns the lead; see Accounts and contacts for what each record is.

Before you start

You need Lead Edit on the lead, and the lead must not be converted already.

Converting also needs Add and Edit on each record it creates, the same as creating it directly: Account for a new account, Contact for a contact on a business account, and Opportunity for an opportunity. The dialog offers only what you can complete; if you can complete nothing, the lead has no Convert lead button.

Decide where the customer belongs: a new company, a private person, or an account you already have.

Steps

1. Open the lead and select Convert lead at the top of the page. The Convert lead dialog opens.
2. Under Customer account, choose New business account, New personal account or Existing account.
3. For a new account, check the Account name. It starts as the lead’s company, or the lead’s name for a personal account or when there is no company. For an existing account, choose the Account.
4. Choose the Owner of the new records. It starts as the lead’s owner.
5. For a business account, keep Add … as a contact ticked to make the lead’s person its contact. A personal account always takes the person as its own contact.
6. To file a deal at the same time, tick Also create an opportunity and check the Opportunity name, the Expected Close Date (one month from today) and the Expected amount.
7. Tick Then start a quotation if you are ready to quote.
8. Select Convert. If a required field is empty, the dialog says so at that field.

What happens next

easySales creates everything in one go and opens the account, or a new quotation for it when you ticked Then start a quotation. It copies what the lead holds:

• New account — the industry, website, remark, phone, fax and address (as the billing address).
• Contact — the name, salutation, title (business accounts only), email, phone numbers and address (as the mailing address), plus the lead’s Consent history. On an existing account, the remark goes to the contact.
• Opportunity — the name, close date and amount you entered. It starts on the first stage of your pipeline, and its Stage history notes that it was converted from the lead.

The lead’s status becomes Converted. Its page says “This lead was converted and can no longer be edited.” with links: Open the account it became, Open the contact and Open the opportunity.

Caution

A lead converts once. You cannot undo a conversion or convert the same lead again, so choose the account carefully.

Rules to know

• A contact joins a business account only. With Add … as a contact ticked, Existing account lists business accounts only.
• The lead keeps its details, activities and history. Its activities also show on the account’s Activities tab.
• The lead’s campaign, lead pool, status and source are not copied; they stay on the lead.
• If the conversion would take your company past a plan limit, nothing is created and the lead stays as it was.

Why it works this way

One lead becomes one customer record. If a lead could convert twice, the same company would end up as two accounts with its quotations and invoices split between them. Locking the converted lead keeps a single record of the customer and a fixed note of how they arrived.

One step, so nothing is left half done. The account, its contact, the deal and the lead’s new status are saved together. Either all of them exist afterwards or none does, and you never have to remember the second form.

Converting needs the same rights as creating. Converting is another way of creating an account, contact or opportunity, so it follows the same permissions. A role that may not add accounts cannot add one through a lead either.

Consent travels with the person. An opt-out recorded on the lead is copied to the contact with its original date, so the person’s choice is still respected after they become a customer.

Work faster

• Fill in the lead before you convert. The company, address, phone and remark are copied, so details typed on the lead never need typing again.
• Quote straight away. Tick Then start a quotation and the new quotation opens already linked to the account, contact or opportunity. See Create a quotation.
• Add a deal for a customer you have. Choose Existing account, untick the contact if the person is already there, and tick Also create an opportunity. See Opportunities.
• Press Enter to convert. In the dialog, pressing Enter in a field does the same as Convert.
• Know when to convert. First contact lists the questions that decide whether an enquiry is worth pursuing.

Examples

A new company. After a site visit, Marcus Tan selects Convert lead on the Harbour Café lead. He keeps New business account, where the Account name already reads “Harbour Café”, and keeps Add … as a contact ticked. He ticks Also create an opportunity with an Expected amount of SGD 2,080.00 and Then start a quotation; after Convert, a new quotation opens for the café’s new opportunity, and the lead shows Converted.

A new deal for an existing customer. On 14 October, Mei Tan converts a lead from an architect at Orchard Dental, which is already an account. She chooses Existing account, picks Orchard Dental, keeps the architect as a new contact, and ticks Also create an opportunity named “Orchard Dental — second clinic” with the Expected Close Date of 14 November. After Convert, the account opens with the new contact and the deal on the first stage of Lim & Co’s pipeline.

Common questions

• Which account do I choose? A new company becomes a New business account, a private customer a New personal account. For a customer you already have, choose Existing account.
• Why is there no Convert lead button? The lead is already converted, or your role cannot complete any conversion: you need Lead Edit plus Add and Edit on the records to create.
• I converted a lead into the wrong account. What can I do? The lead stays converted. Deactivate the records it created if you do not need them, then create the right ones directly from Accounts, Contacts or Opportunities.
• Can I convert a lead straight into a quotation? Not directly. Tick Then start a quotation and the quotation opens as soon as the account exists.
• Is the lead’s consent kept? Yes. Its Consent history is copied to the new contact.
• Are the campaign and source copied when I convert? No. They stay on the lead, which you can still open from the Converted view of the Leads list.

Related

• Leads
• Create an account
• Opportunities
• First contact
• Close the deal