Leads
Leads is the primary sales workspace for buyer inquiries and prospects. It brings together the information staff need to understand the buyer's interest, document communication, coordinate the next action, and move the relationship through the housing-project sales process.
A lead is not the same as an approved application, customer account, reservation, contract, or payment. It is the working sales record that connects these events and preserves the buyer's history.
What a lead should tell you
Before contacting or updating a buyer, the lead should help you answer:
- Who is the buyer and how can they be reached?
- Where did the inquiry come from?
- Which project or lot are they interested in?
- What stage are they currently in?
- Who owns the relationship?
- What was the last meaningful interaction?
- What is the next action and when is it due?
- Are there linked visits, reservations, applications, or customer records?
- Is there a Possible Duplicate indicator that needs review?
If one of these answers is missing, add or assign the work needed to clarify it.
Reviewing the lead list
Use the lead list to find and prioritize records. Typical list information may include the buyer, contact details, stage, owner, preferred lot, next action, follow-up date, and duplicate-review status.
Recommended filters include:
- owner;
- stage;
- due or overdue follow-up;
- new/unassigned leads;
- site-visit status;
- reservation context;
- Possible Duplicate; and
- inactive or closed records when reviewing history.
A clean list is useful, but do not change several lead stages from the list without opening the detail view and reviewing the activity history.
Reviewing a lead detail
Use this order:
- Confirm identity. Check name, phone, email, and any duplicate context.
- Confirm interest. Review project, preferred lot, intended use, budget or payment context where recorded.
- Read the current stage. Decide whether it matches the latest verified activity.
- Read recent activities. Understand calls, messages, notes, visits, and buyer commitments.
- Review linked work. Check follow-ups, site visits, reservations, application, and customer context.
- Confirm owner. Make sure someone is responsible for the next step.
- Update the next action. Set a specific task and realistic date.
Lead stages
Use each live stage according to the business process and the current system labels. The principles are:
- The stage describes the buyer's present position.
- A conversation does not equal qualification.
- A planned visit does not equal a completed visit.
- A completed visit does not equal a reservation.
- A reservation does not equal a deposit or payment.
- An application does not equal approval.
- Approval does not equal a signed contract or completed sale.
When the correct stage is uncertain, record the activity and ask the responsible supervisor rather than moving the lead forward speculatively.
Activities and notes
Every meaningful contact should leave useful context for the next staff member. Include:
- channel and date;
- the buyer's question or decision;
- verified lot or project information discussed;
- promises made by either party;
- documents or actions still required; and
- the next step.
Do not paste entire private conversations when a concise factual summary is enough. Do not include unnecessary sensitive information.
Follow-ups
A follow-up should be an actionable commitment, not a reminder without purpose.
Good follow-up:
Confirm whether the buyer accepts the alternative available lot and, if yes, schedule a site visit by Friday.
Weak follow-up:
Check buyer.
When completing a follow-up, record the outcome first. If another action is needed, create the next follow-up instead of repeatedly postponing the same item without explanation.
Site visits
A site visit helps the buyer inspect the project or lot. The lead should record the planned date, assigned staff member, outcome, and next action.
After the visit:
- mark the visit with the truthful outcome;
- record which lots were discussed;
- document the buyer's feedback;
- create the next sales action; and
- create a reservation only through the approved reservation process.
Reservations and deposit readiness
A lead may show reservation and deposit-readiness context. Treat these as operational signals:
- confirm the linked lot and reservation dates;
- check expiry and release conditions;
- review expected proof or deposit status;
- verify payments separately in the financial records; and
- avoid telling the buyer that funds are confirmed based only on a lead or reservation status.
Possible Duplicate indicators
Possible Duplicate may be based on normalized email, phone, or a combination such as buyer name and preferred lot. Staff should:
- open both records;
- compare identity and context;
- avoid creating additional parallel work;
- decide which record should receive the next activity according to business policy; and
- escalate any required merge or correction rather than deleting history.
The indicator does not automatically merge, block, or reject a lead or application.
Lead Smart Summary
Where available, a Lead Smart Summary can help staff understand recent context or suggested attention. It is advisory only. Verify its statements against activities, follow-ups, visits, reservations, applications, and customer records.
Do not let a generated summary replace reading the latest human-entered activity when making a customer, inventory, financial, or approval decision.
Example: moving from inquiry to site visit
A fictional buyer, Andre Training, asks about Lot 14.
- Staff search for an existing lead and review duplicate indicators.
- Lot 14 is checked in Lots and appears Available with no conflicting active reservation.
- Staff call Andre and confirm he wants a family residential lot and can visit Saturday.
- The activity records the conversation and verified lot discussion.
- The lead stage is updated to the appropriate current stage.
- A site visit is created for Saturday with an assigned staff member.
- A follow-up is scheduled after the visit to record the outcome.
- No reservation is created until the buyer completes the required next step.
Closing or making a lead inactive
Do not close a lead merely to clear an overdue task. Before closing or marking inactive:
- review the contact history;
- confirm the approved closure criteria;
- record the reason;
- complete or cancel open follow-ups and visits appropriately;
- review any active reservation or application; and
- preserve the record for future reference.
Common mistakes
- Creating a new lead without searching email, phone, name, and lot context.
- Leaving the lead unassigned after first contact.
- Updating the stage without recording the supporting activity.
- Treating a preferred lot as a confirmed available lot.
- Marking a visit completed when it was only scheduled.
- Treating deposit proof as a reconciled payment.
- Closing a lead while an active reservation, application, or customer process remains unresolved.
- Using a Smart Summary as the only source of context.