The difference between leads and contacts for new or potential SugarCRM users can cause much confusion. The common questions are, "why don't I just use contacts" and "will all of the data in a lead convert over." These questions are particularly common in organizations that do not have a separation of duties in which one team generates and qualifies leads and a separate sales persons follows up post qualification.

Leads Module

The leads module is a place to store unqualified data or contact information so that it does not get mixed in with current clients. Unqualified contact data can come from many places including purchased lists, trade shows, or a web form.The goal is to put all of this information in one easy to use place so that a member of your organization can call or email the leads in order to qualify them. If the call or email goes well and this is a potential client then the lead qualifier can click Convert Lead and add any additional information into the contact record.

Converting a Lead

With SugarCRM the process of converting a lead into a contact record is extremely easy. Once you click the Convert Lead button all of the previously entered data will automatically get filled into the contact record area. SugarCRM also gives you the ability to create an Account, Opportunity, and schedule a follow up meeting from the same screen. Once all of the options have been selected and filled in the records are saved. Another way that SugarCRM simplifies the process is to automatically relate records associated with the lead. What I mean by this is that if you have calls associated to a lead and it is converted, the calls will now be associated with the Account and/or Contact.

Contacts Module

Contacts are the complete opposite from leads in that they are qualified or existing customers. This is one reason why when you meet people at various events you do not want start adding all of the information off of their business card to your contacts database. Many good networkers would end up having more random people in their contacts database than actual customers making the process of finding the right data a little more difficult.

Hopefully this has helped you gain an understanding into the differences in the Leads and Contacts module. Just remember that one is unqualified and the other is qualified and you will keep your SugarCRM instance cleaner, faster and more organized.