Moving Through the Sales Cycle using Salesforce Lead Status
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:10 am
Salesforce Lead Status can identify exactly how leads move through the sales cycle, from Lead to Opportunity to Closed Customer, by pinpointing their recent engagements.
For the sales team, this means having fast and accurate visibility over which leads to prioritise with their time and conversion efforts and easier reporting on the quality of leads in the system.
Before we take a deep dive into exactly how to set up list phone number in cambodia custom Lead Status, let’s identify the key differences between Leads and Contacts within Salesforce.
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Moving Through the Sales Cycle using Salesforce Lead Status:
Leads vs. Contacts in Salesforce
What is Lead Status then?
Table explaining the picklist values
What is Lead Status then? (continued)
Path
Kanban View
Leads vs. Contacts in Salesforce
Leads
In a nutshell, Leads are individuals that have demonstrated an interest in our products or services.
Through continued engagement with our brand and campaign assets, these individuals may have been marked as Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQL’s) in Pardot and pushed through to Salesforce when they have been deemed ‘sales-ready’.
Once a sales representative has followed up regarding this opportunity, the lead will be converted into a Contact.
Screenshot showing how a lead is converted into a contact in SalesforceImage source: Trailhead
Contacts
Contacts are, therefore, the individuals who are our established point of communication within a target business.
In order for a Contact to have a direct link to an Opportunity in Salesforce, we must use Contact Roles. These roles specify relevant details regarding the person and make it possible to appoint them as the ‘decision-maker’ for an Opportunity, determining their importance.
What is Lead Status then?
Lead Status is a fundamental part of how we segment our Leads so we can quickly see whether we should follow up with them.
As part of the initial setup, Salesforce may have created the following four picklist values:
Open – Not Contacted
Working – Contacted
Closed – Converted
Closed – Not Converted
When a Lead is created, it will be assigned the value ‘Open’ as Default. This means that all leads will have the status of ‘Open – Not Contacted’ until activity on the record is populated.
Screenshot showing lead status picklist values in a table
When the Lead moves through the sales cycle, it will change Lead Status Value to reflect the type of engagement it has had with your organisation.
Value Definition
Open – Not Contacted This is automatically assigned as the default value, meaning that all new leads will be assigned as ‘Open- Not Contacted’. This simply means the Lead is either new and/or has not been contacted by a sales representative yet.
Working – Contacted There has been sales activity with this lead, it may be either one-way or two-way communication. We recommend adding additional custom values such as ‘Working – Response’ to further identify where the Lead is in the sales cycle if the lead has responded.
Closed – Converted To some organisations, this may be represented as ‘Opportunity – Won’, meaning the Lead has been converted to a Contact with an Opportunity associated with that Account. However, this could mean that the lead has simply been converted to a Contact through talks of an Opportunity.
Closed – Not Converted This simply means that the Lead has not been converted to a contact role, this could be due to an Opportunity being lost.
Like most of Salesforce features, the Lead Status Values can be personalised, renamed or replaced to accurately represent your company’s sales cycle and produce more in-depth reporting as a result.
You may wish to add additional steps or ‘values’ such as ‘Working – Response’, ‘Unqualified’, ‘Nurturing’ etc.
To add new values: head to Object Manager > Lead > select Fields & Relationships > select Lead Status > scroll to Lead Status Picklist Values > New.
Once on the setup page, there is an option next to the value to ‘Edit’, this will allow you to rename and/or mark the value as ‘Converted’ or ‘Default’.
For the sales team, this means having fast and accurate visibility over which leads to prioritise with their time and conversion efforts and easier reporting on the quality of leads in the system.
Before we take a deep dive into exactly how to set up list phone number in cambodia custom Lead Status, let’s identify the key differences between Leads and Contacts within Salesforce.
Pardot Training Banner
Moving Through the Sales Cycle using Salesforce Lead Status:
Leads vs. Contacts in Salesforce
What is Lead Status then?
Table explaining the picklist values
What is Lead Status then? (continued)
Path
Kanban View
Leads vs. Contacts in Salesforce
Leads
In a nutshell, Leads are individuals that have demonstrated an interest in our products or services.
Through continued engagement with our brand and campaign assets, these individuals may have been marked as Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQL’s) in Pardot and pushed through to Salesforce when they have been deemed ‘sales-ready’.
Once a sales representative has followed up regarding this opportunity, the lead will be converted into a Contact.
Screenshot showing how a lead is converted into a contact in SalesforceImage source: Trailhead
Contacts
Contacts are, therefore, the individuals who are our established point of communication within a target business.
In order for a Contact to have a direct link to an Opportunity in Salesforce, we must use Contact Roles. These roles specify relevant details regarding the person and make it possible to appoint them as the ‘decision-maker’ for an Opportunity, determining their importance.
What is Lead Status then?
Lead Status is a fundamental part of how we segment our Leads so we can quickly see whether we should follow up with them.
As part of the initial setup, Salesforce may have created the following four picklist values:
Open – Not Contacted
Working – Contacted
Closed – Converted
Closed – Not Converted
When a Lead is created, it will be assigned the value ‘Open’ as Default. This means that all leads will have the status of ‘Open – Not Contacted’ until activity on the record is populated.
Screenshot showing lead status picklist values in a table
When the Lead moves through the sales cycle, it will change Lead Status Value to reflect the type of engagement it has had with your organisation.
Value Definition
Open – Not Contacted This is automatically assigned as the default value, meaning that all new leads will be assigned as ‘Open- Not Contacted’. This simply means the Lead is either new and/or has not been contacted by a sales representative yet.
Working – Contacted There has been sales activity with this lead, it may be either one-way or two-way communication. We recommend adding additional custom values such as ‘Working – Response’ to further identify where the Lead is in the sales cycle if the lead has responded.
Closed – Converted To some organisations, this may be represented as ‘Opportunity – Won’, meaning the Lead has been converted to a Contact with an Opportunity associated with that Account. However, this could mean that the lead has simply been converted to a Contact through talks of an Opportunity.
Closed – Not Converted This simply means that the Lead has not been converted to a contact role, this could be due to an Opportunity being lost.
Like most of Salesforce features, the Lead Status Values can be personalised, renamed or replaced to accurately represent your company’s sales cycle and produce more in-depth reporting as a result.
You may wish to add additional steps or ‘values’ such as ‘Working – Response’, ‘Unqualified’, ‘Nurturing’ etc.
To add new values: head to Object Manager > Lead > select Fields & Relationships > select Lead Status > scroll to Lead Status Picklist Values > New.
Once on the setup page, there is an option next to the value to ‘Edit’, this will allow you to rename and/or mark the value as ‘Converted’ or ‘Default’.