Leads are prospects. In many ways, they look and feel like contacts, but they have one big distinction. You haven’t qualified them yet. You can add new leads manually, or you can import lists of leads. Then, as the leads go through your sales cycle, you’ll come to a point where you either disqualify them or convert them to active customers.
At any point, you can enter a new lead into the system manually. Maybe someone called with an inquiry about your services. Perhaps someone sent an unsolicited e-mail from a link on your website. Maybe you came back from a conference with someone’s business card. All of these prospects can be entered into Microsoft Dynamics CRM as leads.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
In the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Records group, click the New button.
Enter information about your lead into the form that appears.
On the Lead tab of the ribbon, in the Save group, click the Save & Close button.
Outlook 2003/2007:
In the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
On the Leads menu, click the New button.
Enter information about your lead into the form that appears.
Click the Save and Close button at the top to save your changes.
Using the Import Data Wizard, you can mass import lists of leads from a spreadsheet (XML), comma-separated value (CSV) file, delimited text (TXT), or ZIP file. Importing leads saves a lot of keystrokes, and you can use this saved time to focus on selling to customers.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Data group, click the Import Data button.
In the Data File area, click the Browse button to select a data file for import.
Check to make sure that your text delimiters are accurate.
Click the Next button.
Choose a data map. If this is your first time importing this format of file, you may need to create a data map.
Follow the wizard steps until you have finished your import. The steps may vary depending on the nature of your import job.
Outlook 2003/2007:
On the Leads menu, highlight Import Data, then click the Import Data button.
In the Data File area, click the Browse button to select a data file for import.
Check to make sure that your text delimiters are accurate.
Click the Next button.
Choose a data map. If this is your first time importing this format of file, you may need to create a data map.
Follow the wizard steps until you have finished your import. The steps may vary depending on the nature of your import job.
If you no longer need a lead in the database, you can delete it. Deleting a lead is different from disqualifying, closing, or converting a lead. When you delete a lead, the lead and all related activities are removed from the database and is no longer available for reporting purposes. Most of the time, you won’t want to delete a lead; rather, you’ll disqualify it. If you accidentally enter a duplicate lead, however, you’d want to permanently delete the duplicate.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
In the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to delete.
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Records group, click the Delete button.
Confirm your deletion by clicking OK.
Outlook 2003/2007:
In the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to delete.
On the Leads menu, highlight Delete, then click Delete.
Confirm your deletion by clicking OK.
If you’re a salesperson, your lead list is probably the most important thing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It’s easy to find a specific lead in a one-off situation. If you find yourself looking for a set of leads often, you can create a view to instantly bring up leads that match a specific query.
One of your prospects calls you, and you want to record information about the lead in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You can perform a quick search in the Leads view to bring up any specific lead. When searching, all fields are searched, so you can enter a name, company name, lead topic, or any other information to bring up related leads.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Enter a search term into the Quick Find field above the list of leads on the left and press Enter.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM will search for your search term in all lead fields.
The list of matching leads will appear on the screen. To remove the search filter, click the X button to the right of the Search field.
Outlook 2003/2007:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Enter a search term into the Quick Find corner field above the list of leads on the right and press Enter.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM will search for your search term in all lead fields.
The list of matching leads will appear on the screen. To remove the search filter, click the X button to the right of the Search field.
By default, the Leads view will show you all of your open leads. The view that appears by default is called My Open Leads. If you want to look at a different list of leads, you can just switch to a different Lead view. For example, instead of showing all of your open leads, you might want to see all of the leads that are older than six months. Just switch views, and you’ll see a whole different set of records on the screen.
Internet Explorer/Outlook 2003:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Choose a view from the View drop-down at the top of the leads list.
All leads matching the query for your view will appear.
Outlook 2007/2010:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
At the top of the leads list, you will see tabs representing the views that have been pinned. Click the furthest tab to the right to add a new tab/view to your list of existing tabs.
Leads are temporary, and all leads will be either qualified or disqualified at some point. If someone purchases from your company, you’ll probably convert the lead to an account or contact. If you lose the sale, you’ll disqualify the lead, which will remove it from the list of active leads but still retain all communication history.
A lead is an unqualified prospect. It’s probable that you haven’t yet spoken with the lead. Maybe it came in from a list you bought, or perhaps you got the information from a trade show. Once you have determined that there is a potential to sell something, you’ll want to qualify the lead. After converting a lead to another record type, the original lead will be deactivated and set to read-only and all relevant information will transfer to the new record.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to convert.
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Actions group, click the Qualify button.
Place a checkmark next to the Account, Contact, and/or Opportunity fields. If you choose all three, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will create an account, a related contact, and a related opportunity based on this lead record.
Click OK.
The new entities will be created, and the original lead record will be deactivated.
Outlook 2003/2007:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to convert.
On the Leads menu, click the Qualify button.
Choose Qualify and convert into the following records option.
Place a checkmark next to the Account, Contact, and/or Opportunity fields. If you choose all three, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will create an account, a related contact, and a related opportunity based on this lead record.
Click OK.
The new entities will be created, and the original lead record will be deactivated.
There’s no sense in chasing a dead lead, so Microsoft Dynamics CRM lets you disqualify a lead. Disqualified leads will be removed from your active lead views, but all lead information and activity history is retained in the system. This way, if the customer ever calls again, you’ll know that you tried to do business with him or her before.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to convert.
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Actions group, click the Qualify button.
Choose the Disqualify option.
From the Status drop-down, choose a reason for disqualifying the lead.
Click OK.
Outlook 2010/2007:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
Highlight the lead you’d like to convert.
On the Leads menu, click the Qualify button.
Choose the Disqualify option.
From the Status drop-down, choose a reason for disqualifying the lead.
Click OK.
If you disqualify a lead, you can always reactive the lead. For example, perhaps you determined the prospect did not have budget allocated for the project. A few weeks later, they call back and inform you that they have received executive sponsorship for the project. In this case, you’d reactivate the lead.
Outlook 2010/Internet Explorer:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
From the View drop-down, choose a view that will display the lead you’d like to reactivate. (For example, you could choose the Closed Leads view.)
Highlight the lead.
On the Leads tab of the ribbon, in the Records group, click the Activate button.
You will now be able to work with the lead, and it will show up in your list of active leads.
Outlook 2003/2007:
On the Navigation Pane, click Sales and then Leads.
Your current leads list should appear.
From the View drop-down, choose a view that will display the lead you’d like to reactivate. (For example, you could choose the Closed Leads view.)
Highlight the lead.
On the Leads menu, click the Activate button.
You will now be able to work with the lead, and it will show up in your list of active leads.
