Dynamics 365 Leads vs Prospect Accounts

The idea of using Leads in Dynamics 365 for Sales is attractive as it allows you to completely separate “suspects” from prospects and customers however this is an area that we see sales teams struggle with. Why? Mainly because the structure of leads in Dynamics 365 is very different than accounts/contacts requiring sellers to spend time on proper data hygiene which in many cases does not happen.

Lead records in Dynamics 365 contain a company and a person in one record. This is very different than the accounts/contacts are where a single account record can have many contacts associated. When a seller is working on a lead and they have a need to track more than one person they can either create a second lead record or qualify the lead to a prospect account just to be able to manage more than one contact at the company, neither is a great option.

Creating a second lead record is not recommended because it creates a second completely separate record in the system and when it is time to qualify one of the lead records for the company the seller should then go back, open each lead record for the company, set the parent account field and then qualify the lead record. This will create a contact record that is regarded to the account created when the first lead for the company was qualified.

Confused? Imagine how your sellers feel. Watch this short video to see the common issues using leads in sales and a much better way to manage suspects and prospects.

If your team is struggling with lead management in Dynamics 365 we can help. Schedule a call with one of our experts.