Lead to Opportunity

Qualifying a lead, handing it to sales, and converting it into a tracked opportunity.

Workflow

  1. 01Lead Review
  2. 02Qualification Assessment
  3. 03Sales Handover
  4. 04Opportunity Creation
  5. 05Pipeline Entry

If you change this

It implies 6 topics across 2 modules, including Supply Chain Management which you might not expect.

See the path ahead →

Why it matters

This is where most organisations lose leads without noticing. Nothing breaks and no error is logged — the lead simply sits unactioned until it goes cold, because the handover was a notification rather than an accepted obligation.

The workflow

  1. 01

    Lead review

    A named person reviews the lead within an agreed time, not when they get to it.

  2. 02

    Qualification assessment

    Budget, authority, need and timing are tested against what is known.

  3. 03

    Sales handover

    The lead is accepted or returned with a reason — both outcomes are recorded.

  4. 04

    Opportunity creation

    An accepted lead becomes an opportunity with an estimated value, stage and close date.

  5. 05

    Pipeline entry

    The opportunity enters the pipeline and starts being forecast.

Make rejection a first-class outcome. A lead returned to marketing with a reason improves the scoring model; a lead silently ignored teaches the business nothing and damages trust between the two teams.

What you need in place

  • A service level on review: An agreed window for first contact, measured and visible.
  • Assignment rules: Territory, segment or round-robin — anything but a shared inbox.
  • Rejection reasons: A short, fixed list, so the feedback is analysable rather than free text.
  • Stage definitions: What each pipeline stage means, written down, so forecasts are comparable between reps.

Metrics and KPIs to track

Lead acceptance rate

Share of handed-over leads that sales accepts.

Time to first contact

Elapsed time from qualification to a sales approach.

Lead-to-opportunity conversion

Share of qualified leads that become opportunities.

Ageing unactioned leads

Leads past the review window, by owner.

Alongside this

All of Customer Relationship Management