CRM · Daily operations · 7 min read

Qualify a lead and link a customer

Answer the qualification criteria, turn a lead into an opportunity, and link or create the customer.

Before you begin

• You must be able to change the lead (owner, team manager, administrator or covering colleague).
• Only an open, unarchived lead can be qualified: 'Only an open, unarchived lead can be qualified.'
• The pipeline needs at least one stage marked Qualification required. Qualify sends the deal to the first such stage.

Steps

Answer the qualification criteria

1. Open the lead and go to Criteria & score.
2. Answer each criterion that is not read from a deal field. Answers depend on the type: text, number, yes or no, date, or a choice from a list.
3. Press Save answers.

Criteria that are read from a deal field (budget, authority, need, expected close, expected value, partner, competitor, next step) are filled from the deal itself.

Qualify

1. On the lead, press Qualify. (Convert to opportunity opens the same dialog.)
2. Enter the Expected close date and the Customer need / requirements.
3. Press Save.

Link or create the customer

1. On the opportunity, press Link / create customer.
2. To use an existing customer, choose Link an existing customer, search for it and press Save.
3. To make a new customer (administrators only), choose Create a new customer, check the name, e-mail and phone, and press Save.

What happens next

• The lead becomes an Opportunity. It moves to the first qualification stage with that stage's starting probability. A qualified date and a stage-history row are written. Qualify is replaced by Mark won and Mark lost.
• The score rises by the points of any qualification rule your policy defines.
• A linked customer shows on the record and in the Customer button. A new customer is created as a customer contact with the record's market.

Good to know

• If the need or date is missing, you see 'Record the customer need and the expected close date before qualification.' or one of its two shorter forms.
• If required criteria are open: 'Answer the qualification criteria first: Site visited.'
• A customer must be active. A supplier-only or archived contact gives 'Select an active customer.'
• When a contact with a matching name, e-mail or phone already exists, creating a new customer is refused: 'Matching contacts already exist. Select the existing customer; review supplier or archived matches in Contacts.'
• A record that already has a customer gives 'This record already has a customer. Select that customer instead of creating another.'
• Once a quotation exists, the customer cannot change: 'A quoted opportunity cannot be moved to another customer.'
• A non-administrator who tries to create a customer sees 'Administrator access required.' Ask an administrator, or link a customer that already exists.
• If a required criterion changes later, its version goes up. The deal shows which version it answered.