Understanding Leads

Leads are one of the most important pieces of the sales cycle. Leads represent possible sales opportunities to an organization. You use the CRM - Manage Leads program (P90CB010) to enter leads. The records that you enter are stored in these tables:

• F90CB010

• F90CB030

• F90CB01A

• F90CB042

• F90CB043

When you enter a lead into the system, you must include these required pieces of information:

• First name

• Last name

• Company name

You also specify the contact person's title, phone, and address information, the industry the lead is associated with, the source of the lead, and the date that the lead was established.

You can enter leads individually, or you can import a list of leads into the system by using the Import Leads program (P90CB015). After you enter a lead into the system, you can perform these tasks:

• Enter category codes for a lead.

• Enter additional addresses for a lead.

• Qualify a lead.

• Assign product interests to a lead.

• Assign activities to a lead.

• Link an action plan to a lead.

• Enter attachments to a lead.

• Assign partners to a lead.

Sales representatives use the information associated with the lead to assist them in determining if a lead is viable and worth pursuing. If the process is successful, you can convert the lead into an account. When you convert a lead, the system creates these records:

• Contact Record

• Customer Record

• Opportunity Record