From lead to client

Most CRMs push everything through one funnel. KretaOS keeps two ladders, because they answer two different questions. The lead ladder says how far along a relationship is. The deal ladder says where the money is. This lesson is about the first one, and how the two meet.

The lead ladder

Every record in KretaOS is a Client, Lead, Partner or Contact. A lead climbs three steps:

1. New — identified, not yet contacted.
2. Contacted — first contact made.
3. Qualified — it fits, there is budget and someone who can decide. A real pursuit.

Two exits sit off to the side: Dormant (went cold, revisit later) and Lost (dead, so it stops earning reminders).

You change a lead's step on its page. Open the lead, press Edit, and pick a step under Status — lead pipeline stage. The same panel has Relationship — which tab this record lives under, where a lead can become a client by hand.

A lead never "wins"

There is no "Won" step for a lead. When a lead buys, it stops being a lead and becomes a Client. That is a change of kind, not a status. Clients have their own simpler lifecycle: Active, or Dormant when the relationship is parked.

Deals move the lead for you

You rarely have to do that by hand, because the deal ladder keeps the lead ladder honest:

• Open a deal on a lead that is still New or Contacted, and the lead becomes Qualified. Someone is talking money, so it is a real pursuit.
• Move a deal on a lead to Won (or Delivered), and the lead becomes a Client. The board tells you, for example "Mehta Exports is now a client."
• These moves only go forward. Moving a deal back never demotes a client to a lead.

A lost deal changes nothing

Marking a deal Lost never qualifies a lead or makes it a client. A lost deal says the money did not happen. It says nothing about whether the relationship is worth keeping, so the lead stays where it was until you decide.

Try it

1. Open Clients, switch to Leads and pick a lead you have actually spoken to.
2. Press Edit and set Status — lead pipeline stage to Contacted.
3. On the same page, under Deals, press + Add deal, give it a title and a value, and add it. Check the lead's status again — it now reads Qualified.