How to Create a Lead in Salesforce

Salesforce is a subscription-based business software company. They are known for the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) efficiency of their software, which allows its users to keep track of correspondence, data and sales for their business contacts in 1 place. Each new contact is also known as a "lead" because in sales terminology this new information is the first step in the sales process, a contact that may result, or lead, to a new sale. If you need to add a new contact into your database, you must go through a few steps to save it into your system. You or your company must first contact Salesforce and set up the software or begin a trial to take advantage of Salesforce's software features. This article will tell you how to create a lead in Salesforce.

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 Steps

1. 1
   Sign into your Salesforce account. You will be asked for an email and a password. Although companies usually sign up for Salesforce, there is a unique login for each user. Salesforce's software is based on "cloud computing" where the database is stored on more than 1 server and made available through an Internet connection. This frees up space on a company's computer network.
   
   
2. 2
   Go to the "Leads" tab, which will be toward the left hand side of your horizontal options for your Salesforce account. Check if you have an option to "Add New" at the top. Most user accounts will not have this option. In general, mainly administrators add new Salesforce leads. Most leads are generated from a company's connected website or through various lead sources or mass imports.
   
   
   • If you do not have an "Add New" button, you will need to add your lead in as a "Contact," a name for a lead that has been qualified as useful.
     
     
3. 3
   Go to the business account with which the lead is associated. You can do this by clicking on the "Account" tab, most likely the third tab on the horizontal list of Salesforce options.
   
   
   • Although this is not strictly necessary, if the lead is an individual, Salesforce is most often used for Business to Business sales where there may be many different people in a company's hierarchy that are associated with their business account. It is also a way to ensure that you are not trying to put a lead in that is already in the system.
   • Scroll down the page that lists all the info you have for the account. Approximately half way down the page there will be a list of "Contacts" for the business.
4. 4
   Click the "New Contact" button above the list of current contacts. A screen should appear that has blanks where you can enter the lead or contact's information.
   
   
5. 5
   Fill in all the information you know. Any blank that has a vertical red line to the left of the box is a required field.
   
   
   • You will not need to add the account information, since it will automatically be linked to that Salesforce contact.
6. 6
   Press the "Save" button at the top of the page in order to add the contact into the database.
   
   
   • Alternatively, you can press "Save and New" to save the contact you have just created and add another new Salesforce contact to the account.