How to create leads in Dynamics 365: the best practices

What is the benefit of creating a lead in Dynamics 365 instead of directly creating a contact? We often encounter this question. If your company does not require prospecting to generate revenue, then, well, we envy you! In this case, the topic of lead creation may be irrelevant. However, there are still tips and tricks related to leads that can benefit your business, regardless of whether you need to prospect or not. Would you like to learn more? Let’s get started by learning the definition of a lead in Dynamics 365.

What is a lead?

In simple terms, a lead is a customer or contact you have yet to do business with, but one who can potentially be interested in what you offer. A lead can be someone who has downloaded your ebook or filled out a form on your website. Perhaps, it is someone you met at an event and kept their contact information. Once you have that person’s contact, you must take certain steps to find out if they qualify as a potential customer or if they can be disqualified. Typically, we won’t pursue a contact as a lead if our products or services do not match their interests or expectations. For instance, it doesn’t make much sense to market winter jackets to someone who lives in the desert heat. Therefore, you should disqualify this person as a lead.

Leads in Dynamics 365 (qualify or disqualify)

In the case of CRM, the action of qualifying a lead will instantly generate a contact and account in Dynamics 365. It will also convert your lead into a sales opportunity, allowing you to pursue further action in order to build a business relationship, increasing your closing ratio for sales or contracts. Along with CRM, you will be assisted by built-in artificial intelligence that will suggest what further actions you should take with this prospect. The app can even interpret the nature of your communications with this person to assess your relationship. If you disqualify the lead, CRM simply prevents you from adding that person as a contact. This ensures the optimization of your contact list by retaining only the entries that offer growth potential for your business.

Why is it important to research your leads?

Conducting research into your leads will allow you to avoid unnecessarily contacting someone who typically isn’t interested in the goods or services that you sell. If your prospect lives in the Sahara Desert, then you would likely be wasting your time by contacting them to sell hats and mittens. Thanks to the internet, it has become very easy to obtain this information without having to hire private investigators to stalk the person.

How to properly conduct research on our leads?

• For starters, visit the company website of your lead’s employer. It should provide you with an interesting first opportunity, especially if your goods or services are geared for B2B (Business To Business). Most websites feature an “About” page and a “Contact us” section where you can get in touch with the company directly.
• If the person is on LinkedIn, their profile can potentially reveal interesting information, giving you a clearer idea of their role within the company, which, in turn, will allow you to build a more personalized action plan for pursuing that lead.
• If the company offers a product with a well-defined sales vertical, the NAICS or SIC code of your lead’s company can help you determine if that person is part of your target audience. In Quebec, there are 2 other sources that provide more information on the matter: the Quebec Business Registry and ICRIQ. In fact, these websites will offer much better insight than just the NAICS or SIC code; they present you with crucial information, like the number of employees within the company, their turnover, and the identity of shareholders or owners.

If you are fortunate enough to employ a marketing team, encourage them to get as much information on their leads as possible, and to put those details to good use in your sales force. By making sure that a wealth of relevant information populates your lead’s profile, you bring more value and increase your sales team’s conversion rate from lead to sales opportunity.

(H2)  – 5. How to create a lead in Dynamics 365

It is quite simple. Here is one way to create a new lead within Dynamics 365:

• In the right-hand menu, select Lead

• In the top menu, click on “New” to get the full lead creation form, or simply click the + sign for the quick CRM creation form

• Fill in all the fields

• Click the “Save” or “Save and Close” button if you want to proceed to your Dynamics 365 CRM

How to use the Dynamics 365 lead form to the best of its ability

Your lead’s file should contain only the essentials. It is more efficient to keep this file as clean as possible in order to ensure that your salespeople have everything readily at hand. Also, the lead form’s native version is terribly clunky. Take some time to check with your sales team to determine which elements are essential to their successful prospecting. While Dynamics 365 allows you to manipulate multiple tabs in parallel, make sure that you have everything on the same page. Generally, your salespeople only need the following fields to succeed in their tasks:

• Firstname/Lastname
• Phone number
• Email
• Job description
• Company Name
• Company address
• SCIAN or SIC code (if your company has segmented the market according to its verticality)
• The prospect’s origin
• Details
• Interests (Products)

These fields can serve as a starting point. Dynamics 365 allows you to customize your form over time, which is great if you need to quickly change or improve it as your needs evolve. In our next blog, we will demonstrate how to create an automation that allows you to send email notifications to your sales team whenever a new lead is created in your Dynamics 365 CRM. Don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of experts if you have any questions about managing your leads! Our experts will be happy to guide you through this important phase of client acquisition.