Converting a Lead

CRM concept: Conversion is the moment a possible customer becomes a real one. Before this point you have a lead. After it you have a contact, and — when the sale is real — a deal you track through the pipeline.

What conversion creates

Conversion does not always create the same records. It creates:

• A contact — always. Every conversion produces one contact from the lead.
• A company — only when the lead names one. If the lead has a company name, FlyCRM creates the company and links the contact to it. A lead with no company name produces no company.
• A deal — only when you choose to open one. Turn on the deal option in the conversion panel to create a deal. Leave it off to convert the person without starting a sale.

Note: This means a lone individual with no business becomes a single contact. A buyer at a named company, ready to purchase, becomes a contact, a company, and a deal.

Nurture the lead first

A lead is rarely ready to convert the moment it arrives. You nurture it — you build interest and trust with steady, relevant contact — until the lead is qualified.

A nurture example

A lead named Sara fills in your contact form. Her lead source is Website. She is interested, but not ready to buy. You nurture her:

1. Log a call to introduce yourself and learn what she needs.
2. Send a helpful email with a case study, logged as an activity.
3. Set a task to follow up in one week.
4. After the follow-up, Sara asks for a price. Raise her lead score (coming soon).
5. Sara is now qualified. You convert her.

Every call, email, and task you logged stays with the lead and carries into the new contact. See Logging activities.

Know when a lead is qualified

Convert a lead only when it is qualified. A qualified lead has:

• A real name and a way to reach the person
• A clear fit for what you sell
• Interest in buying now, not "someday"

If the lead is not ready, keep nurturing it. See Capturing and qualifying leads.

Run the conversion

1. Go to FlyCRM > Leads and open the qualified lead.
2. Select Convert to Contact.
3. In the conversion panel, choose what to create:
   • Contact Status: Choose a contact status like qualified, or you can edit this in settings. Default is Converted.
   • The company — creates one from the lead's existing company name.
   • The deal — turn the deal option toggle on to open a sale. Set a deal name, a value, and a pipeline stage. Leave it off to convert without a deal.
4. Review the mapped fields.
5. Select Convert Lead.

FlyCRM creates the records you chose and links them together. The lead is marked as converted.

What happens to the data

Conversion carries the lead data forward:

• The name, email, and phone move to the new contact.
• The activities logged on the lead link to the new contact, and to the deal when you create one.

Convert without a deal

You do not need a deal every time. Convert without a deal when you want the person in your CRM but have no active sale yet. For example, convert a newsletter signup into a contact to nurture later. You can open a deal for that contact at any time. See Deals and sales pipelines.

Avoid duplicates

If a contact or company with the same email or name already exists, link to it instead of creating a new one. Choose the existing record in the conversion panel. This keeps one profile per person and per business.

After conversion

You now have a contact, and a deal if you created one. Work the sale through the pipeline.