Leads — User Guide

Who can use Leads

Your workspace must have the Leads module installed (included by default on new workspaces). Your role must include the relevant permissions (view, create, update, delete, restore, force.delete, assign, export, import, convert as needed).

Without assign, you only see leads assigned to you.

Page tour

Use the help icon in the Leads page header to walk through KPIs, filters, create actions, and the board/table. The first visit may open this tour automatically once; you can re-run it anytime from the same icon.

Board & table

Open Leads from the sidebar under CRM. The default view is the Kanban board (columns = pipeline stages). Switch to Table when you prefer a list.

• Search by name, email, phone, or company
• Each stage column header and its cards use that stage’s color; Stage badges in the table and record page use the same colors
• Filter by stage, status, priority, tag, assignee, and lead value range
• KPI cards summarize totals, pipeline value, follow-ups, and conversion metrics for your scope
• Table and board both show lead type, tags, the latest note, and next follow-up; hover a truncated preview to read the full note or follow-up details
• With update permission, click tag badges (or Add tags when empty) on a table row or board card to open an inline tag picker — no need to open the lead record. Applying Follow Up Later still requires a follow-up due date in the popover before Save tags
• Manage tags (requires update) opens the workspace tag catalog — create, edit, reorder, delete. Seeded tags include Direct Lead / Company Lead (synced from lead type), Not Contacted (default), Contacted, No Response (auto follow-up after N days), Invalid Number, Not Interested, Not Applied, and Follow Up Later (forces a follow-up when applied)
• Users with restore (workspace admin by default, plus owner) can filter Active / Include deleted / Deleted only, then Restore a soft-deleted lead from the row menu
• Delete permanently (force delete) requires leads.force.delete — granted to the workspace owner by default (or any role you assign it to)

Create & edit

1. Click New lead, or press N when not typing in a field (requires create; browsers reserve Ctrl+N for a new window). This opens a side sheet on the list so you can create without leaving the board or table.
2. Enter name (required), lead type (Direct or Company), and optional contact / company / source / lead value / priority / status
3. Optionally set stage and tags. New leads default to you as assignee (same as Contacts and Projects). Users with assign can pick another teammate or clear assignee before save; applying Follow Up Later requires a follow-up title and due date
4. Create saves and closes the sheet (you stay on the list). Create & open saves and opens the full record page. Use Full page in the sheet header (or go to /leads/new) when you prefer the dedicated create page.

Press ⌘F / Ctrl+F to focus the Leads search box (filters this list only). Click a lead name or board card to peek in the sheet (Overview, Notes, Follow-ups, Activity tabs). Use Edit in the sheet or Open full page for convert, AI, assignment history, and other deep work. Row menu Open full page also jumps straight to the record page. Notifications and ?lead= deep links still open the full record page.

High Priority (dashboard)

With update permission, open a lead’s record page and click Mark High Priority on Overview. That sets priority to High; click again to clear it. If you marked High from another priority in this browser tab, clear restores that previous priority (for example Urgent → High → Urgent). If High was set elsewhere and no restore value is known, clear falls back to Medium.

The Dashboard High Priority widget lists open-pipeline leads with priority High only. Urgent is intentionally excluded from that widget (use the Leads priority filter for Urgent). Existing Urgent open deals that previously appeared on the widget will leave the card after this change until marked High.

Pipeline vs status vs tags

• Stage — where the lead sits in the sales pipeline (New … Won / Lost). Drag a card on the board to move stages — the change saves immediately (no drawer). You can also change stage from the record page and Save.
• Status — lifecycle state managed separately: Active, Waiting, On hold, Closed, Archived. Changing stage does not automatically change status.
• Tags — multi-select disposition labels. Applying tags never changes stage or status. No Response schedules an auto follow-up using the tag’s day count (workspace timezone).
• Lead type — Direct or Company. Saved on the lead and mirrored by the system tags Direct Lead / Company Lead (only one type tag at a time).

Assignment

New leads created manually (or imported without an assignee column) default to the creator as assignee, matching Contacts, Opportunities, and Projects. Users with assign can set or clear the assignee on the create/edit form. Assignment changes are recorded in Assignment history. The assignee receives an in-app realtime notification when someone else assigns them. Lead-assignment email is disabled in v1.

Eligible assignees exclude:

• Workspace owners (superadmin)
• Suspended users
• Users flagged Exclude from lead assignment in Administration → Users (create/edit)

Those users do not appear in lead assignee pickers and are skipped by import auto-distribute and bulk equal distribute. A lead already assigned to someone who is later flagged can still be kept or cleared from the lead drawer.

Receive website leads is a separate opt-in for the custom webhook website-recipient pool when an endpoint has automatic assignment enabled. It does not remove users from assignee pickers or equal distribute.

When a lead is assigned or reassigned, the assignee’s Default lead commission % (set in Administration → Users) is copied onto the lead as a read-only Commission rate for reporting. Unassign clears it. This is display/export only — EloSync does not calculate payouts.

Notes & follow-ups

• Notes — free-form history on the lead. Type @ to mention a teammate (the composer shows their name; the system keeps the user id for notifications). They get an in-app notification (and optional email if Settings → Notifications → Mentioned in a lead note is on)
• Follow-ups — titled reminders with due dates in the workspace Timezone (Settings → General); edit/reschedule or complete when done
• Assignees receive notifications when a follow-up is created for them (by someone else) and when due/overdue reminders run (workspace-local “today”)
• Inactivity alerts — when an assigned open lead has no meaningful activity for the configured number of Mon–Sat working days (Settings → Leads; default 3), the assignee is notified. Department managers (or workspace owners if none) receive an escalation alert. Sundays do not count. Notes, follow-ups, stage/status changes, CRM activities, and tag changes reset the timer; assignment alone does not.

WhatsApp (Communication Templates)

When the Communication Templates module is installed and you have use permission:

1. Open a lead that has a phone number
2. Click WhatsApp next to the phone
3. Choose a template, preview the filled message, then Open WhatsApp

WhatsApp opens with the message pre-filled. EloSync does not send the message for you. See Communication Templates.

Convert

Users with convert can convert a lead from the record page. Behavior depends on which Marketplace modules are installed:

• Contacts — creates a linked Contact from lead fields (name, email, phone, job title) with lifecycle On Boarded Clients. Requires contacts.create. No separate contact form.
• Companies — when the lead has a company name, creates a Company or reuses an existing one (case-insensitive name match) and links it to the Contact. Requires companies.create when a new company must be created.
• Opportunities (optional) — check Also create an opportunity, enter a name (defaults to the lead name), and optionally an amount (defaults from lead value). Requires opportunities.create. The opportunity is linked to the lead, contact, and company when those exist.

The lead is stamped with converted_at, status becomes Closed, and activity is recorded. After convert, the drawer shows View contact / View company / View opportunity links when those records were created and you can view them.

If Contacts is not installed, convert still closes the lead (converted_at / Closed) without creating a contact. Company and opportunity can still be created when those modules are installed.

Lifecycle on contacts is independent of soft-delete (trash). See Contacts.

Export

Users with export can download the current filtered set as CSV or XLSX (includes Commission Rate % when the lead is assigned).

Import

Users with import can bulk-load leads from CSV or XLSX:

1. Open Import and download a sample template if needed (CSV or XLSX — both include a Note column with a sample value)
2. Upload a file (drag & drop or browse)
3. Map spreadsheet columns to lead fields (Name is required; optional Note creates a first note on create, or appends a note on Update existing)
4. Choose unique fields (Email / Phone) and duplicate behavior (Skip, Update existing, or Keep duplicate)
5. Preview counts and validation errors (nothing is written yet)
6. Start the import — it runs in the background; watch progress until complete

When another lead with the same email or phone was already created today (workspace timezone from Settings → General), EloSync applies the Duplicate tag and notifies the existing lead’s assignee, creator, and the person importing — even if the row is skipped. Manual create and inbound webhooks follow the same same-day rule (manual create still adds the new lead).

Update existing also requires the update permission.

Automatically distribute (equal split) is available only when you have assign and you are a department manager of at least one active department. Newly created leads are shared equally among eligible members of your managed department(s) (owners and users marked Exclude from lead assignment are skipped). Non-managers cannot enable this mode.

Use Import history to review past imports, download the original file, failed_records.csv, or error_report.csv. Fix failed rows and upload again.

Integrations (webhooks)

Users with manage integrations can open Integrations from the Leads page.

Custom webhooks — create endpoints for Zapier, website forms, etc. Use Copy URL and Copy JSON on each endpoint: the JSON is an example POST body (name, email, phone, …; extras under custom_fields) with that endpoint’s default source filled in. Authenticate separately with the API key (Bearer) or HMAC — do not put secrets in the page. Each endpoint can enable Assign to website recipients. When on, new leads from that webhook are shared equally among users who are eligible assignees and have Receive website leads enabled in Administration → Users. If nobody is in that pool, the lead stays unassigned (ingest still succeeds). Meta Lead Ads does not use this pool.

Activity timeline

The Activity tab shows create, update, stage, assignment, note, follow-up, convert, and related events.