Published at: 2026-09-17
Sales lead overview
Overview
A Sales Lead is the starting point of the sales funnel. This article explains the concept, statuses, and common scenarios.
Business value
Sales Lead management helps your company collect and follow up with prospects in one place.
A structured routing mechanism improves Lead conversion efficiency.
Data analysis helps you optimize campaign channels and reduce acquisition costs.
Core concepts
| Concept | Definition | Related objects |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Lead | Initial contact information for a prospect, such as name, phone number, and company name. | Campaign, Account, Contact, Opportunity |
| Lead pool | A virtual container that groups Sales Leads by dimensions such as industry or region. | Sales Lead, department, employee |
| Return reason | The reason a sales rep enters when returning a Lead to a Lead pool. | Sales Lead, Lead pool |
Lifecycle and operating mechanism
Sales Leads move through acquisition, assignment, follow-up, conversion, and data analysis.
The Sales Lead lifecycle is managed by Lead status.
graph TD
A["Not Assigned"] -->|Assign or claim| B["Pending"]
B -->|Add Sales Records or processing result| C["In Follow-Up"]
C -->|Mark as invalid| D["Invalid"]
D -->|Reactivate| C
C -->|Convert successfully| E["Converted"]
A -->|Confirm as junk data| F["Voided"]
B -->|Confirm as junk data| F
C -->|Confirm as junk data| F
- Not Assigned: The initial status after a Lead is entered or returned to a Lead pool.
- Pending: An Owner is assigned, but follow-up has not started.
- In Follow-Up: The Owner has added Sales Records or a processing result.
- Invalid: The prospect cannot be reached for now or has no intent. You can reactivate the Lead later.
- Converted: The Lead is converted to an Account, Contact, or Opportunity.
- Voided: The Lead is identified as junk data. Only CRM administrators can view or restore it.
Applicable roles
| Role | Main actions |
|---|---|
| Sales rep | Create Leads, claim Leads, follow up with Leads, return Leads, and convert Leads. |
| Sales manager or Lead pool administrator | Assign Leads, reclaim Leads, transfer Leads, and monitor Lead status. |
| CRM administrator | Configure Lead pool rules, duplicate-check rules, and restore Voided Leads. |
Business scenarios
Scenario 1: Enter and assign trade show business cards
Your company collects many business cards at a trade show.
A sales rep scans cards on mobile, and the system extracts information to create Leads.
The Lead pool administrator assigns the Leads to sales reps responsible for each region.
Scenario 2: Route Leads from online promotion
Marketing obtains many Leads from online ads and imports them into a Lead pool.
Sales reps claim Leads from the Lead pool based on their expertise.
If follow-up does not produce a result, the sales rep returns the Lead to the pool for rerouting.
[!NOTE] Glossary alignment:Assigned Owner,Promotion Channel.