Question

How do CRM Lead Stages work?

  • 8 September 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 187 views

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

If I’m creating a Lead, I see a field called Stage. How do I set up the basic data so I can use it?

So far I’ve found the screens for CRM Process Template, CRM Process, and Default CRM Process, but I can’t figure out how they work together. I want to set up a simple set of stages that apply to every new lead.


4 replies

Userlevel 4
Badge +9

In earlier versions like Applications 10, the lead stage was just a basic data field. In IFS Cloud 21R2, we extended the lead functionality to also support a lead qualification process where the process is used to define a sequence of stages a lead should follow. In the same way as the sales process controls the business opportunity stages, the lead qualification process will now control the lead stages. For each stage of the process, you can also define which actions the user should take to move the lead to the next stage. 

To configure a lead qualification process you start by creating a CRM Process Template (Process Type=Lead) with the sequence of stages you want the lead to follow. Then you go to the CRM Process page and Create a Process from your template. For each stage you can also define actions you want the user to perform. For example you might want to make sure that some specific fields in the lead page are updated or that a business activity is created before the lead moves to the next stage.  

When you create a new lead, you select which qualification process to use and confirm the process. Then the qualification process tab appears in the lead page and you can work with the stages and actions. If you don't have any actions defined, you can manually complete the stages. When a stage in the qualification process is completed, the lead stage field will be updated accordingly.

It is possible to have different processes for different leads and opportunities. For opportunities you can use the Default CRM Processes page to define which process to use depending on the representative, account category etc. That feature is not yet available for lead processes so you have to manually select the qualification process for a new lead. 

I hope this answered your question.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

That feature is not yet available for lead processes so you have to manually select the qualification process for a new lead. 

Ok, I can get it to pick up the process by manually picking one when creating the lead. Thank you.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Then the qualification process tab appears in the lead page and you can work with the stages and actions

The lead process we developed in IFS Sales and Marketing 9 isn’t strictly linear, and I’m trying to recreate this in Embedded CRM in Aurena. The user needs to jump around across branches, like if the lead is getting assigned to another user, assigned to a third party who isn’t an IFS user, etc. I can’t see how to get a lead to jump stages from A to C without going through B.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

We ended up recreating our own version of this out-of-the-box lead status field by using a custom field and a custom enumeration.

Reply