I assume that any new prospect should be entered as a "lead" however once I engage that lead and begin a live deal, how do I progress them in my system. Intuitively I would think this should convert to an "opportunity" and if that closes they would become an "Account". However, it appears that as soon as I convert a lead they are an Account which doesn't make sense to me because I am still just in the "opportunity" stage. I assume I am missing something obvious?
HELP!!
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
My take is a little different.1) If you don't need a bucket to DISqualify prospects, don't use leads. Just use Contacts & Accounts. I think of Leads as a threshold to cross (and to measure the rate of crossing).
2) You are right that for finserv the contact/account isn't always perfect. That is why we have Person Accounts (depending on which edition you are using)
What is a Person Account?
Business accounts available in: All Editions except
Database.comPerson accounts available in: Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions
Note
_img src="
https://help.salesforce.com/img/help/helpNote_icon.gif" /_Person accounts are not enabled by default in Salesforce. To quickly
verify whether your organization uses person accounts, see if you have
an option to select Person Account as the record type when you create
a new account. To request person accounts, check with your administrator or
contact salesforce.com.
A person account is an individual consumer with whom you do business, such as a financial
services client, an online shopper, or a vacation traveler. Person accounts are applicable to organizations that operate on a business-to-consumer model as opposed to a business-to-business model
https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=account_person.htm&language=en
