How to Make Prospects in QuickBooks
Small business owners have used QuickBooks for years as an accounting tool to manage company finances. The release of QuickBooks 2012 introduces a new feature to help these companies grow their business. The new "Lead Center" in QuickBooks is a customer-relationship management function for tracking leads and prospects as you work to convert them into customers.
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Instructions
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Launch QuickBooks 2012 and select “Lead Center” from the Company menu to enter a new prospect. In the three-pane window that opens, click the “New Lead” button; then enter information about the prospect in the main pane. Input fields are provided for the company name, primary contact name, lead status – hot, warm or cold – and other contact information. You can also click on “Import Multiple Leads” to import data from a spreadsheet. QuickBooks keeps your lead list separate from your current customer list.
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Click on the “Contact” tab in the bottom pane of the lead center to enter details for additional contacts for the prospect. Besides entering regular contact information, you can select several social media channels from a drop-down menu as alternate contacts.
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Choose the “Notes” tab to enter and track notes about the prospect. Use the “To Do List” tab to schedule tasks related to the prospect. Your to-do task will show up on QuickBooks new calendar feature.
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Change the status of a prospect from “lead” to “customer” by clicking the “Convert to a Customer” button on the lead’s window. QuickBooks adds the prospect to your current customer list and copies over the first address and primary contact information you entered when you created the lead entry. The conversion does not carry over notes or to-do tasks, but you can still call up those items by selecting the filter for “Converted Leads” in the lead center to view the list of prospects converted to customers. Clicking on the company name shows your previously saved info and notes on the former prospect.
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Tips & Warnings
The lead center increases the functionality of QuickBooks, but it is only a limited tool for managing customer relationships. If you need a more complete and robust CRM, Intuit’s marketplace website lists a number of such programs that integrate with QuickBooks.
