Good document on workflow

[alanholmes]

Im looking for a good reference on workflow. In particular, what module do you enter a new person to start the flow.

I have been using the contact module as basic contacts, much like my outlook contacts. The issue is that I now have a contact that is interested in our products so I now want to convert him to a lead. Based on some quick searching in the forums it doesn';t look like this is possible. It seems like everyone must go in as a lead.

this is counter intuitive to me. Not everyone is a lead initially. Many people are classified as contacts and then they may express interest in our products which then converts them to a lead. When th project is well defined and budgeted then an opportunity is created and finally, iof they buy then there company becomes an account.

This seems like a logical flow, but Sugar doesn't lend itself to this flow. Since you can not convert a contact to a lead it seems like everyone must start as a lead, even if they likely are not a lead in the normal business definition.

Additionally, you can not convert a lead to an opportunityy without creating an account, but in my mind they should not be an account until they purchase something.

Any one else struggling with the workflow inposed by sugar and finding that it doesn't lend itself very well to a standard business workflow?

Anyone have any suggestions on navigating around this issue?

[sugarcane]

Hello,

it seems like you are getting stuck on terminology. What you consider a lead and a contact is the opposite of how the majority of CRM systems are set up. The normal flow within Sugar is as follows:

Enter non qualified people in as Leads.
If they become qualified, or once you are ready to create an opportunity, you can convert the Lead into a Contact/Account/Opportunity.

You can check out this KB article and this wiki article to read more about leads and contacts.

You could always store all your leads and contacts in one module if you wish, and just use a type field to denote whether it is a prospect or customer. The account module by default already has a type field.

Keep in mind that Sugar is very customizable, so you can always customize it or hire a developer to customize it to fit your business flow.