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Lead Object SOP

This SOP outlines how to use the Lead object in HubSpot to vet prospects before converting them into deals, bridging the gap between Contacts and Deals in the sales process.

What is a Lead?

In HubSpot, leads are contacts or companies that are potential customers who have shown interest in your products or services.

What is a Lead object?

The Lead object is a tool for the sales team to easily manage the process of engaging a prospect and qualifying them for new opportunities (Deals).

What it is not:

Not a replacement for contacts and companies.
Not a replacement for lifecycle stages.

How does it work?

It is always associated with contact and/or company.
Represents a single instance of a salesperson-driven prospect engagement journey, similar to how a deal represents a single instance of an opportunity process.
Leads can be created multiple times for a single contact, each representing a separate prospect engagement journey.

Why should you use it?

Provides greater clarity on the pre-opportunity sales process.
Helps the sales team focus on revenue-driving activities.

How is a Lead created via Automation?

When a contact has an owner assigned and the Lifecycle Stage is moved to “Prospect,” the system automatically creates a lead and assigns it to the contact owner. The contact owner becomes the lead owner and receives an email notification from HubSpot. The new lead will appear in the Sales workspace under the “Leads” tab.

How to access the leads created in Sales Workspace?

Login to HubSpot > Go to Sales Tab in the left navigation bar > Sales Workspace > Click on the “Leads” tab to view all your leads.

Working with Leads:

Leads should only be managed from the Sales Workspace.
Lead information can be viewed on contact and company records but cannot be edited there.
Click “View lead in workspace” to access the lead directly from other objects.

Sales Workspace View:

Useful columns such as Lead Types, Associated Companies, Lead Stage, Last Activity, etc., help review information or take actions without entering the record.

The “Next Activity” column allows scheduling the next activity directly from the screen (call, email, or to-do task).
Just like any other view on HubSpot, these columns are editable so you can have your own customized view that better suits your needs.

Click on the lead name and it will open the lead record on the right-hand side of your screen.

This window will give all the information you need about the lead such as the associated contact, companies, notes, previous activities, etc.

It will also allow you to take actions such as sending an email, scheduling a meeting, adding a note, creating a task and many more things without having to go into the contact record.

Lead Stages and Automation:

New:

- Description: This is the default stage when a lead is created. It indicates that the lead has been identified but no outreach has been made yet.
- Automation: Automatically assigned when a lead is created.

Attempting:

- Description: This stage is used when the sales team is actively trying to reach out to the lead. It signifies that initial contact attempts are being made.
- Automation: The lead stage changes to “Attempting” when a user completes outreach activities such as sending or logging an email, making or logging a call.

Connected:

- Description: This stage indicates that the lead has responded to the outreach efforts. It shows that there has been successful communication between the lead and the sales team.
- Automation: The lead stage changes to “Connected” when a lead replies to an email, a call is logged as "Connected," or a meeting is booked and logged as "Completed."

Qualified:

- Description: This stage is used when the sales team has determined that the lead is ready for a deal. It signifies that the lead has been thoroughly vetted and is considered a viable opportunity.
- Automation: This stage must be manually changed to “Qualified” by the sales team. Changing the lead stage to “Qualified” opens the deal creation form, allowing the sales team to create a deal for the contact. If a deal is created without marking the lead as qualified, the lead can be marked as qualified later, and the existing deal can be added by clicking “Add Existing” on the deal creation tab.

Disqualified:

- Description: This stage is used when the sales team has determined that the lead is not a viable opportunity. It signifies that the lead will not be pursued further for a deal.
- Automation: This stage must be manually changed to “Disqualified” by the sales team. Selecting the “Disqualified” lead stage opens a panel with two properties: Disqualification reason and Lead Disqualification Note. The disqualification reason must be selected from a drop-down menu, and the Lead Disqualification Note is optional.

If the disqualification reason is “Bad Timing” or “Budget Constraint,” the system will prompt the creation of a follow-up lead. The sales team can decide when the follow-up lead should be created by selecting the appropriate period from the drop-down menu.

Additionally, while scheduling a follow-up lead creation, a task can be created to follow up via email, call, or to-do task. This is optional and can be unchecked if not needed.

How to create a lead manually?

First – create a lead from the sales workspace.

Click on Leads tab and Create Leads

Select Contacts > Search for contact > Enter a name for the Lead > Click Create Lead in the bottom.

Second – create a lead from the contact object.

Go to a contact record > navigate to the Leads section in the right panel > Click Add.

Lead name will automatically populate but you can modify it and click “Create Lead” button at the bottom.