When should an inquiry become a deal?
Keep the early inquiry as a Lead while you find out what the person needs. When the inquiry is worth pursuing, Zoho CRM can convert the Lead into a Contact and Account. Add a Deal at conversion when there is a specific potential purchase to track.
An Account is the organization. A Contact is the person. A Deal is the sale you are working on. Decide how you would identify an existing person or organization before importing a list.
How does someone know whose turn it is to reply?
Give the next task a subject, owner and due date. For example, “check whether the pilot needs three logins” tells the teammate what to find out. Decide which event, such as a confirmed pilot date, should move the sale to the next stage.
What should a small team check in the edition list?
Zoho CRM Free allows up to three users including the main administrator. Paid editions are billed by user, monthly or yearly. Check the edition if you need fields for information specific to your sales process.
How do you take a usable copy of your records?
A user with export permission can download records from a section such as Leads or Deals in CSV or XLSX. Zoho lists Notes separately as an export choice and distinguishes these files from a complete backup. Check that your destination can reconnect notes to the intended records.
How would you handle an inquiry that becomes a pilot?
Use paper and a fictional inquiry. Leave inboxes and integrations disconnected and send no messages.
- Draw the recordsWrite a Lead card for a fictional bakery asking about your order app.
- Hand off the next stepWhen the bakery confirms it wants to discuss a pilot, draw its Contact, Account and Deal. Assign someone to confirm the number of staff logins.
- Sketch the exportDraw the fields you would export from each section. Include a stable label that lets you match a note to its deal.