Clients: Prospects, Leads, and Your Book of Business

The CRM is your book of business. It’s under Office › CRM in the left menu, and it tracks everyone from a cold prospect to a paying client, plus the companies, deals, quotes, and contracts tied to them.

Where everything is

• Office › CRM › Contacts · /office/crm/contacts — every person in your CRM. The “Type” filter narrows it to “Clients” (contacts who’ve become customers) or “Contractors” (people you pay, for W-9 / 1099 tracking).
• Office › CRM › Companies · /office/crm/companies — the organizations.
• Office › CRM › Sales · /office/crm/sales — the funnel, in tabs: “Search Tool”, “Prospects” (raw names you haven’t worked yet; promoting one turns it into a full contact), “Leads” (contacts you’re actively working), and “Pipeline” (your deals on a board).
• Office › CRM › Contracts · /office/crm/contracts.
• Office › Money › Quotes · /office/money/quotes.

A contact’s lifecycle stage follows its deals, so most of the time you don’t move people by hand. When a lead becomes a client, open the “Leads” tab of Office › CRM › Sales and click “Convert to Client” on their row.

Add a contact or a company

Add a contact:

1. In the left menu, click Office › CRM › Contacts.
2. Click “Add Contact”. The “Add Contact” box opens.
3. Fill in “First Name” and “Last Name” (the only required fields; company, job title, lead source, payment terms, tax ID and “Type” are optional).
4. Click “Save Contact”.

To add a lead instead: Office › CRM › Sales → “Leads” tab → “Add Lead”.

Add a company:

1. Click Office › CRM › Companies.
2. Click “Add Company” and fill in “Company Name” (the only required field).
3. Click “Save Company”.

Pipeline, quotes, and contracts

• Pipeline — Office › CRM › Sales → “Pipeline” tab. Click “New Deal” to add one. The default stages run Lead → Qualified → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Won / Lost, and you can tailor them for your business.
• Quotes — Office › Money › Quotes → “New Quote” opens the quote editor; click “Save”. Open the quote and click “Send Email”. It moves through draft, sent, viewed, accepted, or rejected, and on an accepted quote “Generate Contract” makes the contract for you.
• Contracts — Office › CRM › Contracts → “New Contract” → fill in the title → “Create”. Open it and click “Send for signature”, then “Copy signing link” to share it. It tracks draft, sent, signed, and executed.

Common questions

What’s the difference between a Prospect and a Lead? A Prospect is a raw, unworked name on the “Prospects” tab of Office › CRM › Sales. A Lead is a full contact you’re actively pursuing (“Leads” tab). Promoting a prospect creates the contact.

Can I set a contact’s lifecycle stage myself? Mostly it follows the contact’s deals, so it stays honest as work progresses — close a deal and the stage moves on its own. To make a lead a client yourself, click “Convert to Client” on their row in the “Leads” tab of Office › CRM › Sales.

Where do contractors fit in? Contractors are people you pay, kept separate so their tax details (W-9 / 1099) stay with them. In Office › CRM › Contacts, click “Add Contact” and set “Type” to Contractor, or pick “Contractors” in the “Type” filter to see them.