Iman Matt Rory from Salesforce led a comprehensive Lead Management 101 webinar, attended by Salesforce customers and facilitated by Crystal.
The session covered the fundamentals of lead management, including best practices, feature overviews, and practical demonstrations within Salesforce, followed by an extended Q&A.
Key topics included the differentiation between leads and contacts, data import, deduplication, automation, and marketing integrations such as Pardot.
Attendees were encouraged to provide feedback on future webinar topics, with particular consideration for content relevant to remote work due to the coronavirus situation.
Action Items
(No specific due dates or owners mentioned in the transcript; the following are general reminders and references for attendees)
All attendees: Fill out the post-webinar survey to provide feedback and suggest relevant topics for future webinars.
Attendees interested in lead management setup: Access demo environment via salesforce.com/edo for hands-on practice.
Anyone needing implementation help: Contact partner consultants (via WiserSpread) for two free hours of support by mentioning Iman.
Attendees requiring data cleanup: Explore AppExchange for deduplication tools such as DupeBlocker, DemandTools, or Cloud Dingo.
Lead Management Fundamentals
Leads in Salesforce represent unqualified prospects—combining elements of account, contact, and opportunity—but are intended to keep main databases clean until qualification.
Converting a lead creates separate account, contact, and opportunity records; this process is one-way and helps maintain data quality.
Features include assignment rules (route leads based on criteria), auto-response rules (trigger instant emails), and duplicate management (flag and manage potential duplicates, with custom criteria).
Lead scoring can be implemented via formula fields or through advanced add-ons (Einstein for predictive scoring, Pardot for engagement-based scoring).
Data enrichment and cleansing can be supported by third-party apps (e.g., Clearbit) and Salesforce's own light enrichment features for addresses and company info.
Best Practices and Tools
Use web-to-lead forms (basic HTML, customizable with developer assistance) to capture prospects without complicating main databases.
Apply duplicate and matching rules to prevent and manage data redundancy; merging is encouraged over rigid blocking.
Employ assignment rules and queues to distribute leads efficiently, including escalation processes (“shark tank”) when leads are unaddressed.
Use the console interface for high-volume lead work; consider High Velocity Sales for structured cadences and work queues (add-on).
Measure lead performance and activities with pre-built dashboard packs from the AppExchange; customize as needed.
Email and Marketing Automation
Standard Salesforce automation (Process Builder, list emails, campaigns) supports triggered and scheduled communications, though limited in response to recipient engagement.
High Velocity Sales (add-on) allows branching automations based on email opens/clicks.
Pardot (add-on) offers advanced marketing engagement, dynamic content, grading/scoring, and sales-visible alerts on prospect activity. Pardot Engage for sales is only available with Pardot.
Nurture lists and “add to campaign” functionality can be replicated without Pardot, but advanced features require the add-on.
Data Management and Import
When importing leads, use the import wizard (from the Leads tab), ensure each data field is clean and mapped, and disable assignment rules if wanting to bypass automated routing.
Automation (e.g., assignment, deduplication) will still run on imported data unless deactivated.
Use Excel/text formatting best practices (plain text for fields) before loading.
For cleanup of legacy/bad data, consider using specialized AppExchange apps for deduplication.
Q&A Highlights
Leads and prospects are equivalent; field and tab labels in Salesforce can be renamed to match company terminology.
Field mapping for lead conversion should be set up in Object Manager to ensure information is transferred to correct records (description fields, custom fields, etc.).
Automating follow-up tasks is possible via actions and Process Builder; escalation for unread leads can be scheduled, but daily reminders are discouraged in favor of more impactful escalations.
Deduplication rules can operate across leads, contacts, and accounts, and can be based on custom criteria including exact and fuzzy matching.
Marketing and sales teams can collaborate using Pardot for nurturing, campaigns, and real-time alerts.
Handling repeat inquires from existing contacts: If duplicate, work from the contact; if it's a new individual from an existing account, business process determines lead vs. contact creation.
Data enrichment apps and deduplication features generally work across leads, contacts, and accounts.
Decisions
Webinar focus for next month to be determined based on attendee survey feedback, especially on topics relevant to remote work during the coronavirus situation.
Open Questions / Follow-Ups
Crystal and Iman will finalize and publish next month’s webinar topics based on attendee survey input within the next two days.
Attendees with unique use cases (e.g., need for tracking leads under existing contacts, advanced deduplication jobs) are encouraged to detail their scenarios for more tailored advice or to explore specialized AppExchange apps for current data challenges.