Enter a Sales Lead

Use this routine to enter new sales leads and maintain existing leads. To produce specific lists of sales leads and report on existing sales leads, use the Manage Sales Leads routine.

The InTouch CRM Overview contact management feature has its own set of security restrictions designed to protect sales leads from unauthorized users. These restrictions are distinct from the security restrictions you can apply using the Regional Processing feature, although the two features can overlap.

Create a new sales lead by clicking the Add button or click Search to find an existing sales lead.

The creation date of the lead displays in the header portion of the screen.

CONTACT

If the sales lead is an existing customer, the customer's number displays in this field. To edit the customer record, select Customer Maintenance in the Actions button.

Use these fields to enter the contact's name, address, telephone numbers and email.

Use this mandatory field to specify the preferred method to be used when contacting the customer for this sales lead. If you indicated a default contact method in the Default Method of Contact field of your Sales Lead System Control Settings, that code displays here. If you click the Search button, you access a list of Method of Contact codes, from which you can make a selection.

To include the customer in mailing lists, check the box. Otherwise, leave the box blank. The Select Mail Flags fields in Export Quote Activity and Export Customer Sales Lead Activity use this setting to determine whether to include only customers with this box checked, only those with the check box blank, or all customers regardless of this Export to Mailing List check box.

Use this optional field to enter the contact's birth date, in MMDDYYYY format.

The day of the month on which this customer's open balance becomes due defaults from the Due Date field in Advanced Customer Settings.

DETAILS

Specify the code of the salesperson you want to associate with this sales lead. If a salesperson code appears at the Salesperson Code field in the login user's Create a User settings, that code defaults here. If you click on the Search button, you can choose a salesperson code from the list that appears. This is a mandatory field.

Indicate the code of the location where the sales lead is occurring. A location defaults from your login location and you may or may not have access to change it, depending on your CRM Security Level Settings. If this field is active, click the Arrow button to select another location. The locations available to you in the drop-down list are based on the CRM security (that is, not the standard Regional Processing access security).

Use this optional field to indicate the origin type for this sales lead. If you click on the Search button, a list of Sales Lead Origin types appears from which you can choose a code.

Use this optional field to indicate the referral for this sales lead. If you click on the Search button, you can choose a Referred By code from the list that appears.

Use this optional field to indicate the marketing source for this sales lead. Click the Search button to select a marketing code from the Read-Only Lookup Window. Note that this lookup listing may be restricted by activation/expiration dates established in Marketing Code Settings.

Use this mandatory field to indicate the merchandise that interests the customer. If you click on the Search button, you can choose one or more items from the Merchandise of Interest list.

Use this optional field to indicate the brand that interests the customer. If you click on the Search button, you can choose one or more brand codes from the list that appears.

Use this mandatory field to enter a probability code indicating whether the customer is more or less likely to make a purchase. If you specified a code in the Default Probability of Purchase field in your Sales Lead System Control Settings, that code defaults here when creating a new lead. If you click on the Search button, you access a list of closing probability codes, from which you can make a selection.

UPDATE

Use this mandatory field to enter the code representing the type of action taken during the current editing session. If you click on the Search button, you access a list of lead activity types, from which you can make a selection. For new leads, the Reason field defaults to the activity specified at the Default Activity Type for Adding a Lead field in the Sales Lead System Control Settings.

The list that appears when you click the Search button only displays lead activity types that are appropriate for the status of the lead. The inclusion of items in the list depends on whether the lead is new or existing and on the Class of Activity assigned in Type of Activity Settings. For new leads, only activity types with a class of A, O, or N are included in the list. For existing leads, only activity types with a class of F, D, M, or N are included in the list.

To close a previously created lead, click the Search button and select DELETE from the list that appears. The Reason Entry window displays, where you specify the reason you are closing the lead.

Use this mandatory field to indicate the date on which you expect to take the next action on this sales lead. If you click on the Calendar Icon, a calendar appears from which you can select a date. The date you select cannot be earlier than today and cannot be greater than the current date plus the number of days specified at the Maximum Days Next Contact Date Can Be Past Today field in the Sales Lead System Control Settings.

Use this optional field to enter the code representing the next action you expect to take on this sales lead. If you click the Search button you access a list of lead activity types, from which you can make a selection.

Each time an action is taken, entering a comment is mandatory. Click this button to enter a comment regarding the current state of the sales lead. If you are editing an existing lead, the comments you previously entered here are moved to the Comments section.

This field is display only. For existing leads, the date, time, initials, and comment text for all comments previously entered are displayed. The most recent comments are listed first.

Actions Menu

Click this Actions button at the top of the screen to display a menu with the following options.

Add New Service Order - This option is available if the following are true: The Customer Service module is active, and a check appears at the Allow Service Order in Lead Maintenance field in the Sales Lead System Control Settings.
Add New Quote - Use this option to enter a quote using Enter a Sales Order.
Add New Order - Use this option to enter an order using Enter a Sales Order.
Edit Existing Sales Order - Use this option to access the View a Customer's Open Transactions inquiry.
Customer Maintenance - Use this option to access Advanced Customer Settings.
Alternate Contact Information - Use this option to add alternate contacts to sales lead.
Special Occasion Dates - Use this option to add special occasion dates to sales lead.
Sales Lead User Defined Settings - Use this option to answer additional information/questions to the sales lead.

Right-Click Menu

The following options are available in this routine. Right-click your mouse, then select an option from the menu that appears.

Right-click menus are user-defined menus available in selected routines. The options listed above come delivered with STORIS, but you can edit these menus using the Dynamic Escape Settings. Note that to view a right-click menu, you must first make a valid entry in the key field (usually the first field in a routine).