Utility of having leads AND contacts

đź’¬ General Discussion
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I’m wondering about the utility of maintaining both leads and contacts.

Up until now the system had 2 modules leads and contacts (contacts essentially being a copy of a lead that has converted), but I’m starting to doubt that we really need this. Leads module already has a built-in field “converted” to indicate that the person made a purchase.

Anyways, I guess it would really depend on the individual setup, but I just wanted to see what other people think. For example wondering how many people use “leads” only and are okey with it.

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it’s definitely worth considering using less entities. Sometimes a dropdown contact_type or contact_stage is all you need to manage your processes.

I remember this oldie helped me “back then”

http://resources.accentgold.com/pdfs/Strategic_Considerations_regarding_Leads_and_Targets_in_SugarCRM.pdf

Strategic_Considerations_regarding_Leads_and_Targets_in_SugarCRM.pdf (166.1 KB)

it brings into consideration factors like how long does it take for a user to go through a conversion. Is it worth it? How many conversions will happen? A few, one for each client, or will they include a lot of useless, irrelevant interactions?

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thank you, that’s a great read! After much deliberation I think we’ll stop using the contacts module and stick with modules only.

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hi @pgr
thank you for sharing such a valuable resource !

it really helped me …

do you have recommendation on resources like books, reports etc… to understand crm application workflow deeply … and to use it effectively …

Thanks

abhijit

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Hello Abhijit,

understanding CRM comes with experience from many different projects.
It’s interesting to see how well it works for some companies to use targets, leads and contacts and for others only contacts.
Depending on the approach and business processes, a complete different approach to CRM fits very well.

Additionally, what role do you play in your CRM setup?
Marketing? Sales? Customer Service? CEO? Admin? IT?
CRM is amazing and many roles learn a CRM in different ways.

There are a couple of good CRM book. Some are specific to a software, others are more general and talk about concepts.
CRM for dummies is rather general.

I’m recording a video from time to time about some more generic CRM topics:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsFGHEmMr2qfEMjqSH-l0y1pslPyxpoU4

There are multiple good podcasts out there as well - but it really depends on your angle / role.

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Hi @BastianHammer,

My very first interaction with open source software was around 2010, when a service provider introduced me to a range of education tools and also CRM systems. That moment opened up not just the world of CRMs to me, but also the field of marketing. Over time, I came to really understand what marketing is, and where sales fits within it.

One of the most important realizations I’ve had is that the real success of implementing any CRM lies in understanding the overall business process — from idea to revenue generation. Over the last 16 years, I’ve tried and tested different CRM applications, and SuiteCRM is the one that has consistently stood apart from the competition.

Your words — “Additionally, what role do you play in your CRM setup? Marketing? Sales? Customer Service? CEO? Admin? IT?” — really resonated with me. For the past 25 years, I’ve been transitioning daily across all of these roles. For me, the most important part has always been learning. As I keep learning, my understanding evolves along the way, and SuiteCRM has been a great companion in that journey, because after many failed attempts to implement SuiteCRM, I finally came to the decision that now I am truly ready for it — to survive and grow exponentially.

P. S. - Also, your introductory videos on SuiteCRM on YouTube have been very helpful — thank you for putting them together!

Warm regards,
Abhijit

1 Like