Home Improvement
Lead management for window, door, kitchen and bathroom companies
Someone planning new windows or a kitchen may take months to decide and see three firms first. Your job is to stay in touch at the right moments, and LeadCentre keeps those moments in front of whoever owns the lead.
A long buying cycle, in real terms
A typical enquiry says: "We're thinking of replacing 8 windows and the front door next spring. Can someone come and measure up?" Or: "Saw your showroom. Looking at a new kitchen, nothing decided yet." Neither wants a hard sell, but both expect a reply within a day or so.
The sale itself might involve a showroom visit, a design visit, a quote, a revised quote and a conversation about paying monthly. Here's where those sales slip:
- A rep leaves a quote, and two weeks later nobody has rung because newer leads have arrived.
- "Not this year" gets written off, and next year they buy from someone else.
- What was said in the showroom stays in one person's head. When they're off or they leave, it's gone.
- The owner can't say how many kitchens came from last spring's ads.
One way to run a lead from enquiry to order
- 1
Enquiry arrives
Reply the same day, and offer a showroom or home visit. The lead moves to Contacted when you tap Call. Assign it to the rep who'll handle it, and they get an alert.
- 2
Visit booked
Mark it Booked and move it to a folder called Showroom visits or Design visits. Statuses don't have to go in order, so Booked can come before Quoted here.
- 3
Visit done
Add a follow-up straight away, while you remember: who decides, what they liked, what they're comparing.
- 4
Quote goes out
Mark it Quoted, put the price in Estimated value, and move it to Quotes out. Set a follow-up for Next week, and another further ahead if they've named a date.
- 5
They decide
Mark it Won and enter the order value. Or mark it Lost and record why. Went with another company and Not ready yet call for very different next steps.
Finance talks and quote notes
Paying monthly often comes up late, and it changes who needs to be in the room. LeadCentre doesn't offer or quote finance, but it's a place to record what was said, so nobody has to ask twice.
A follow-up note can hold up to 500 characters. That's enough for: "Wants monthly figures over 5 and 10 years. Partner decides. Ring Thursday after 6, she's home then." A custom field called Finance interest keeps the headline on the lead for anyone who opens it. Best time to call and Preferred contact are standard fields.
A worked example
Fields, folders and reps
Folders suit where a lead is in your own process. Custom fields suit what stays true about the job. Roles decide who sees what.
- Custom fields: Product, Number of windows, Frame material, Room size, Budget range, Finance interest, Planned timing.
- Folders: Showroom visits, Design visits, Quotes out, Finance discussions, Next year.
- Sales manager as Admin: sees every lead and can reassign any of them.
- Reps as Users: see leads assigned to them, plus unassigned ones. They can't see each other's.
- If a rep leaves: an Admin reassigns their leads, and open follow-ups go with them.
Seeing what slow sales were worth
The pipeline counts leads by the date they were received. That suits a long sale: an enquiry from January that's won in June counts in January. Look at Last year or This year, not just this month, or your win rate will look low simply because recent leads haven't decided yet.
Only Won carries a value in the figures. Estimated value stays on each lead and isn't added up, so this doesn't give you a forecast of open quotes.
Common Questions
Our sale can take six months. Will it keep reminding us?
Each follow-up sends one reminder when it's due, then waits in Overdue until someone acts. So set the next one each time you speak to the customer. A lead can have several, with dates as far ahead as you need.
Can reps see only their own leads?
Yes. As Users they see leads assigned to them and unassigned ones. A sales manager set up as an Admin sees all of them.
Can we offer or quote finance through LeadCentre?
No. You can only record what the customer told you, in a custom field or a follow-up note. Finance itself stays with whoever provides it.
Does it replace our design or quoting software?
No. It keeps track of the enquiry and when to speak next. Your quote is still written wherever you write it now.
Keep slow sales from slipping away
Put a date and a note on every quote, and let the reminder find whoever has the lead.