Create or edit leads

Use leads to keep track of business prospects. This article explains when and how create leads.

Tip

If you’d like to try Dynamics 365 Sales for free, you can sign up for a 30-day trial.

License and role requirements

Requirement type	You must have
License	Dynamics 365 Sales Premium, Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise, or Dynamics 365 Sales Professional More information: Dynamics 365 Sales pricing
Security roles	Any primary sales role, such as salesperson or sales manager More information: Primary sales roles

How to create or edit a lead

In Dynamics 365 Sales, you use leads to keep track of business prospects that you haven't yet qualified through your sales process. A lead can be an existing client or someone you've never done business with before. You might get leads from different sources, such as advertising, networking, or email campaigns.

1. In the site map, select Leads.

2. Select New.

3. Follow the process bar to enter data into fields to move the lead to the next stage.

4. If you're creating the lead for new customers, enter name, contact details, and company name in the Lead form.

   -OR-

   If you're creating the lead for an existing account or contact, in the Qualify stage of the process bar, select the existing account or contact.

   • When you select an existing account while creating a lead record, the company name is automatically populated.

   • When you select an existing contact while creating a lead record, the following information is automatically populated in the Lead form: First Name, Last Name, Job Title, Business Phone, Mobile Phone and Email.

     Note

     • Auto-population happens only when creating a new lead and when the corresponding fields in the Lead form are empty. If fields are auto-populated or data is manually entered, the auto population doesn't override the existing values.
     • On new (unsaved) lead records, the Existing Contact and Existing Account fields allow you to choose any records. Once you save the lead record, these fields are filtered to show only the records that meet the duplicate detection rules to avoid duplicates.

5. In the Timeline section, add any notes or activities (for example, phone calls or tasks) related to this lead. More information: Track and manage activities

6. In the Stakeholders section, select the More Commands button , and then select New Connection to add a contact as a stakeholder. A stakeholder is a key contact at the account who will be involved in decision-making.

   In the Lookup Records dialog box, enter a name or select the Lookup icon to choose from a list of suggestions. When you've entered the name you want, select Add. To create a new contact, select New. By default, the contact you add is assigned the Stakeholder role. Select the role corresponding to the contact to select a different role such as Decision Maker or Technical Buyer.

   Important

   The "New" button on Connection sub-grids is supported only for the out-of-box "Stakeholders" views on the Lead entity. For any other Connection sub-grid or "Stakeholders" sub-grids that are based on custom views, the "New" button doesn't appear on the sub-grid. In such case, navigate to the Connection Associated view for the record and use the Connect button to create a new connection.

7. In the Details area of the Lead form, enter information about your lead's industry and preferred contact method.

8. On the command bar, select Save.

Additional considerations

• Nurture your leads through a marketing campaign. Get started with in-app marketing

• Research leads through social media channels like LinkedIn and Twitter. Get sales Insights, powered by InsideView

• Increase your marketing and sales effectiveness. Boost sales with Versium Predict (applies to the Sales app only)

Tips and tricks

Need a faster way to enter leads? Try Import accounts, leads, or other data

Typical next steps

Qualify a lead and convert it to an opportunity
Get introduced to the lead through who knows whom

Learn about the sales process, nurturing sales from lead to order
View relationship analytics and KPIs for the lead

Can't find the options in your app?

There are three possibilities:

• You don't have the necessary license or role.

• Your administrator hasn't turned on the feature.

• Your organization is using a custom app. Check with your administrator for exact steps. The steps described in this article are specific to the out-of-the-box apps such as, the Sales Hub or Sales Professional app.

See also

Print quote, invoice, or other records