CRM manages prospects and customer interactions before and around sales. A Lead is a prospect, Source describes where it came from, Life stage describes its relationship stage, and a Follow-up is a dated action assigned to staff. Completing a follow-up does not necessarily make a lead a paying customer. Campaigns send external communications; templates do not send by themselves.
SCREEN GUIDE CRM — module overview. Select the screenshot to enlarge; optional fields may differ in your business.
Field reference
Use this while completing the form. A required field is marked with *; conditional fields appear only when enabled.
Field / control
What to enter or understand
Lead name / mobile / email
Identify the prospect and intended contact channel. Search first to avoid duplicates.
Source / life stage / assigned staff
Acquisition channel, relationship state and person responsible.
Follow-up title / contact / type / category
What action is needed, with whom, and how it will occur.
Start / end / status / description
Appointment period, real progress and useful discussion notes.
Notify via / notify before
Reminder channel/timing where configured; separate from permission for external marketing.
Campaign name / type / recipients / subject / body
Outbound message content and audience. Review actual recipients before sending.
Proposal / template
Prepared offer; check customer-specific terms before sharing.
Contact login
Customer portal account scoped to its contact, not a staff/admin role.
Before you start Have a specific action and the intended contact.
Steps
Enter Title, Contact and follow-up Type/category. Describe the purpose, such as checking approval for a quotation.
Set Start/End date-time and assigned Users. Choose initial Status and relevant Description.
Review reminder channel and lead time where offered. Save and check the follow-up list/calendar for the intended date.
After the call/visit, enter the outcome through the log/edit action and update status.
Create the next action with a new date if needed. Do not mark a missed call as a completed agreement.
SCREEN GUIDE Schedule and complete a follow-up — look for the controls described in the steps. Select the screenshot to enlarge; optional fields may differ in your business.
Check the result The interaction and next commitment are traceable.
Where to go CRM → Contact login / enabled portal controls
Before you start Use an authorised administrator and the intended customer contact.
Steps
Select the correct contact and enter the customer user details required by the form.
Assign only the portal permissions needed; this is not a staff administrator account.
Use your business’s approved credential handover/reset procedure rather than printing passwords on customer documentation.
Have the customer check their own permitted bills/orders through their portal account.
If a customer can see unrelated records, stop using that access and ask the administrator to correct its contact/permission scope.
Check the result Customer access is restricted to the intended portal scope.
IN PRACTICE
A practical example
A prospect from a shop visit has Source = Visit and an assigned salesperson. The follow-up is a Tuesday call to discuss the quotation. Record its outcome, then either schedule another call or use the actual sale workflow when the customer orders.
Common questions
Does a campaign template send immediately?
Saving a template and sending a campaign are separate actions. Review the actual recipients and send controls.
Why does my colleague not see a follow-up?
Check assignment, period/status filters and CRM permissions.
