Salesforce Lead and Lead Processes

Leads in Salesforce are prospective clients who have shown some interest in your offering but are still deciding whether to purchase at this time. They may have attended webinars, downloaded whitepapers, or filled out online forms to give their contact information.

The Salesforce lead process outlines the stages a lead must go through in order to qualify for a sales opportunity. It describes the procedures for qualifying leads, fostering them, and finally turning them into paying clients.

Your sales and marketing activities are guided toward nurturing high-quality leads by a well-defined lead process in Salesforce, which eventually raises conversion rates.

What are Leads in Salesforce?

Leads in Salesforce are used to store information about a person interested in the product or service we are delivering. In business terms, leads are the people who are your potential customers.

It contains some information about a company and the information of a person working in that company. Hence, a Lead in Salesforce can be considered a business card.

Here is a brief on some essential terms concerning the lead process in Salesforce.

1. Leads are prospects who’ve expressed interest in our product but need to be qualified to buy it. Hence, they can also be called unqualified prospects.
2. Lead conversion means qualifying a lead for the sales process.
3. Lead management is a process that allows us to measure and monitor lead conversion. It helps inside opportunities, or the sales teams qualify leads before passing them on to sales.
4. Sales reps get instant access to the latest prospects and ensure that leads are never dropped.

Necessary Fields of Leads in Salesforce

Some of the fields that are included in the lead process are as follows:

1. Company: Name of the company with which the lead is affiliated.
2. Title: Position of Lead within their own company.
3. Lead Status: This field specifies the status of which the lead. For example, Open, Contacted, Working, Closed-Converted, or Closed-Not Converted.
4. Lead Source: This field specifies the source from which the lead is captured. It can be anything like Web, Purchased List, Partner Referrals, etc.

What is the Lead Process in Salesforce?

The lead process in Salesforce allows the creation of different process cycles a Sales representative follows for leads. You can set up different lead processes to control the steps your users follow for leads.

This is because there are different stages through which a lead gets in the process of qualifying and converting, and these stages vary from one company or department to another.

By implementing different lead processes, we can have different lead life cycles for each kind of lead. In the Salesforce Lead process, defining the picklist values of the Status field available to the user helps them while using that lead process.

Lead processes are included in record types, which can be assigned to the user’s profile to have a different lead life cycle.

Setting up each process takes several steps:

Step 1:  Create the lead status needed in the lead process.

Step 2:  Name the lead process and select what lead status is included in that particular process.

Step 3:  Create a record type for the sales process. Record types link the sales process to the page layout that goes with it.

Campaign History

Leads & Campaigns are related through a junction object, i.e. Campaign Member. Campaign History-related list describes which campaign this particular lead has been added as a member of and also the status of that campaign. When we initially create a lead record and add the campaign through a lookup dialogue, it is also added to the campaign history, not as a field.

How to Create Lead Process in Salesforce?

Creating a Salesforce lead process is relatively easy. You can follow the steps below to do so:

1. From Setup, enter Processes in the Quick Find box.
2. To create a lead process, such as for lead distribution, select Lead Processes.
3. Select the stages best suited to the lead and your business needs.
4. Save the process.

Lead Management in Salesforce

Lead management in Salesforce is a process through which you can easily manage your customers or leads. The process starts from the moment you add your leads to your account until the customer has purchased your product or services.

Lead management is helpful in addressing customer needs, providing value and meeting customer expectations to help you close deals faster. 

Sales cycle speed is a significant benefit of lead management. Leads flow through the pipeline more rapidly when the right ones are hooked and adequately nurtured. This implies that you squander less time and money. Focusing on the leads with the highest conversion rates is another option.

It’s simple to pass up prospective clients who might be interested in what you have to offer if you need to handle leads. Missed sales opportunities result from that.

Additionally, you may be wasting a lot of time on leads that are unlikely to become sales. This can be irritating and ineffective. Even worse, it can result in failed sales goals and quotas.

Stages of Lead Management

There are five stages of lead management in Salesforce. This ensures that each potential customer is guided efficiently through the sales journey.

1. Lead Capture

Capturing is the first step of lead management, which is when you collect information about potential leads. This can be done through channels like email, social media, webinars, and other marketing activities.

2. Lead Qualification

In the next stage, an assessment of leads is performed to decide how likely they are to make a purchase. You need to understand their needs and categorise them to fit your ideal customer profile.

3. Lead Distribution

After a lead has been qualified, you need to allocate it to the right sales team according to the lead type, industry, or product interest, among other things. This guarantees that each lead is handled by the appropriate team for the most significant result.

4. Lead Nurturing

It involves maintaining a relationship with your leads through regular communication and marketing efforts, addressing needs, and keeping them engaged until they are ready to buy.

5. Lead Tracking

You may monitor lead activities and interactions with your business using a customer relationship management (CRM) application during the lead management process. This gives you the information required to enhance training and direct forecasts by assisting you in understanding typical lead behaviours, interests, and demands.

Next Topic