Lead Entry

Watch this 11-minute video on Lead Entry record types and terminology. This video includes the difference between Account Record Types and the records created for both Customer and Vendor Accounts. 

See also: Glossary of Terms 

See also: Lead Source Costs and Marketing Reports 

From any page in the improveit 360 Console app, in the lower-right corner click Quick Lead. 

To add Custom fields to the Quick Lead tool, see also: Intro to System Administrator Training to learn about Adding Fields to Field Sets. 

Note: Before entering new leads using the Quick Lead feature, be sure your system has Matching Rules activated on the Contact object to prevent duplicate leads from being created. 

See also: Standard Matching Rules for Contacts and Accounts

In this example, Ryan Ortiz is the homeowner and has requested an Appointment to evaluate his gutters and roof. 

In the Interested In, select the Product(s) or Services the customer has asked about.

Choose the appropriate Lead Source. 

Lead Source - The primary marketing effort that a specific lead should be attributed to. Examples of Lead Sources are: 2017 Home and Garden Show, Home Depot Store #351, Spring 2023 Postcard Mailer, etc. Source and Source Type within each Lead Source are used to track the broader categories of marketing effort that the lead should be attributed to. For example: Shows and Events, Retail Outlet, or Direct Mail, etc. If you have not yet setup Lead Sources in your system, see also: Creating Lead Sources 

Enter as many Contact details as possible. 

Scroll down to complete the Account and Address information.

Note: An Address is required to schedule a Sales Appointment. 

To Schedule this customer for a Sales Appointment click Save & Schedule. 

If you need to create a Sale, click Save & Create Sale. 

To simply save the lead data and create a Sales Opportunity and related Task, click Save. 

Watch these short videos on using the Quick Lead tool.

Next up... 

Where to see Tasks for new leads who need to be Scheduled for a Sales Appointment: 

Overview: Creating Contacts, Accounts and Sales Opportunities manually

Before creating a new Contact, always search the 'All' Contacts list view to ensure you do not create any duplicates in your database. 

See also: Standard Matching Rules for Contacts and Accounts

Use the search bar at the top of the page to search a name or phone number. To search a partial name, enter at least two characters and then enter an asterisk (*). In this example, I'm searching for "Towns*" and the search tool has returned a Contact with the last name Towns and an Account with Towns in the same.

Note the Related List Quick Links show Addresses, Sales Appointments, Quotes, Sales and Projects for that Account when you hover over it.  

If you have searched the system and do not find a match, click the New button to the upper-right of the list view. 

Be sure to enter as much contact information as possible for the lead. 

In the Communication Preferences section you'll select if the Contact has opted out of Email, Mail or asked to be on the Do Not Call list. 

Note: If you know the Account already exists in the database, you can link it now. If you're unsure if the Account exists in the database, leave the Account Name field blank, and Save. 

Next, we will search for the Account in the Account Name field. Again, you can enter a partial name and use as asterisk (*) to return more potential matches. In this case, we're looking for Towns Property Management Account but it doesn't exist yet, so we can click New Account and create it. 

In this example, we're entering a commercial Customer record, so we will select Customer record type. 

Then click Next

The first field you'll enter will be Primary Contact. This field is required, which is why we create a Contact record first, before the Account record. This ensures we have a Primary Contact to link when creating the new Account.

Next enter the name for the Account. If this is a residence the name might simply be the Contact's full Name with the word "Household" following. In this example, we are working with a property management company which flips real estate. To send the New Account Welcome Email to the Primary Contact's email, simply check the checkbox. 

The Not Qualified Reasons multi-select picklist field is used to mark an entire Account as Disqualified to purchase. If you find that someone is a Renter, or is outside of your geographic territory, you can select the appropriate Reason which will prevent new Tasks from being opened for this Account. Note: The field values can be customized. For example: Your company might want to add a value of "Sent to Collections" so that you do not continue re-marketing to a past customer who never paid their final balance. 

Click Save when finished. 

The system will automatically fill the Account Name on the Contact record with this new Account. Be sure to Click Save at the bottom of the Contact page to ensure the Contact and Account you've created are linked. 

Next we'll need to add an Address record, and Sales Opportunity to record what the lead is interested in purchasing. 

Address - Address records are related to the Account and is required when creating a Sales Appointment, Sale and Project. The Address contains the physical location of the property including Latitude and Longitude and (if applicable) Territory designation. Street Address and Zip Code are required fields. 

From the Contact page, click on the Account record:

Then click the Create Address button

The Account lookup will default to the Account you clicked from.

Enter the full Street Address including City, State and Zip code. Keep in mind, Territory may be auto-populated based on Territory Weighting and whether or not your system has Territory automation enabled. 

If this Address will be used for a Sales Appointment, or a Project installation, be sure to select the Scheduling Calendar checkbox. You can also use the Type field to indicate when our team might be going to this Address. 

Next, we'll need to create a Sales Opportunity. The Sales Opportunity record is required in order to schedule a Sales Appointment. From the recently created Address record, click on the Account. 

Then click on Related to see all related lists.

Scroll down to the Sales Opportunity related list, click the New button. 

Sales Opportunity - an Account can and should have multiple Sales Opportunity records throughout the life of their relationship with your business. The Sales Opportunity represents the unique Lead Inquiry record and contains the Date the lead was taken, what they're interested in, as well as the Lead Source and Source Type data of where that lead heard about your company. Sales Opportunities are not tasks, but rather future chances at selling products or services to current or past leads. Tasks are generated on the Sales Opportunity as a reminder for your staff to call, text, or email the Contact in an attempt to set them for a Sales Appointment. Each Task will have a Due date to alert your team when a Contact should be called. 

NOTE: You can also create a New Account and Contact directly from the Accounts tab as well. 

Before creating a new Account, always search the All Accounts list view to ensure you do not create any duplicates in your database. 

If you have searched the All list and do not find a match, click the New button to the upper-right of the list view. 

When creating an Account you are first prompted to enter the type of Account. Either Customer or Vendor: 

This selection will dictate which Fields are visible on the Account page. NOTE: Vendor and Lender fields will be different than Customer fields. Some fields will behave differently. For example, the Address fields for Lender and Vendor accounts behave differently than the fields on the Address object records. There is no address verification built into the native Salesforce fields on the account page, however Salesforce does provide address suggestions from Google. improveit 360 implores address verification on the Address object to ensure when scheduling Sales Appointments and Projects that your staff is going to a legitimate verified street address. 

Billing Address and Shipping Address suggestions on the Account record for Vendors and Lenders are populated via Google data. 

Whereas, the data populated on the Address record is populated via SmartyStreets data. 

Next, check out our content on Working Sales Opportunities and the Account Page Overview. 

When you're ready, move on to the next Training Module: Appointment Scheduling and Resulting.