Create a system-defined, guided sales process for a step-by-step lead conversion

Edition: Enterprise | Industry: Real Estate | Feature: Blueprint

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Scenario

An Ohio-based real estate firm lists residential properties for sale and rent. The buyers approach the company through marketing activities, agents or brokers, social media channels, and referrals. 

They have a typical sales process, where the rep contacts the interested prospect, procures details, arranges a site visit, negotiates the price, and finalizes the deal. Sometimes the reps have to go through several rounds of follow-up before the buyer decides to buy or rent the property.

They also generate reports every quarter to see the number of sales in each area and, they adjust their marketing funds based on the results.

In the past few reports they noticed major gaps in the conversion rate:

1. An unexpected decrease in the conversion rate
   
2. A huge difference in the number of leads that were generated compared to the number of deals that were closed
   
3. An increase in customer complaints due to delayed responses to their inquiries   
   

Requirements

1. Build a system that will guide the reps to complete one stage and proceed to the next stage within a stipulated time. 
   
2. Standarize the way sales follow-ups and lead conversions are performed.
   
3. Mandate important activities like follow-ups, sending quote details, gathering client details, etc. 
   
4. Automate actions like updating the status after the completion of each stage. 
   

The table below shows the different stages in the sales process, the activities performed at each stage, and by whom. 

Sales stages	Actions performed at each stage	Who should perform these actions?	Actions performed after the stage is completed
Sending email and catalogue	Send email to the interested prospects along with the property catalogue.	Sales rep * you can allocate reps by area using the lead assignment rule	Update lead status to "Requirement collection"
Requirement collection	Call the prospects Collect property requirements mentioned in the checklist Attach mandatory proof of documents	Sales rep	Send the confirmed date of the site visit to the prospect via email and SMS Update lead status to "Site Visit Scheduled"
Scheduling site visit	Enter the date of site visit (mandatory).	Sales rep	Send the confirmed date of the site visit to the prospect via email and SMS Update lead status to "Site Visit Scheduled"
Site visit completion	Add notes from site visit (mandatory).	Sales rep	Update lead status to "Site visit completed"
Price negotiation	Call the prospect and negotiate the amount Regular follow-ups Send the final quote to the prospect	Sales rep	Update lead status to "Negotiation canceled" or "Revised quote sent"
Interested or Lost lead	Interested: Collect mandatory payment and other related documents from the prospect. Lost: Send email to the prospect informing them of cancellation of the deal.	Record owner	Update lead status to "Interested" or "Lost"

Solution:

A blueprint of the sales process can provide them with the desired results. They can recreate the above sales process in CRM to:

1. Create a step-by-step guideline that will help the sales reps identify the next step in the Lead Conversion process. 
   
2. Assign and mandate completion of activities at each stage to bring uniformity to the follow-up process.
   
3. Mandate actions like follow-ups and collection of documents.
   
4. Automate certain actions to reduce manual work.
   

Here is what the blueprint for the above lead conversion process will look like:

(Marked in blue are the common transitions)

Prerequisites

I. Create the following picklist fields in the Leads module:

Field name	Picklist Values
Property type	Purchase Rent
Lead status	Email sent Contacted Not reachable Requirements collected Site visit scheduled Awaiting site visit Site visit completed Negotiation Site visit incomplete Create booking Lost lead

Blueprint Configuration

1. Go to Setup > Process Management > Blueprint > Create Blueprint.

2. Enter the following details:

Blueprint Name	Lead Conversion
Module	Leads
Choose Layout	Standard
Choose Field	Stages for Lead Conversion
Criteria (optional)	Property type is Purchase

3. Create the following states and transitions:

Read the Blueprint glossary to learn more about the terms used here.

 

From state	Transition				To state
	Details	Before Transition	During Transition	After Transition
Start	Name: Send email Description: Send an introduction email and catalogue to the interested buyer	Who will execute this transition? Record owner	Add > Associated item > Task - Create task as associated item - Validate the task status as "Completed"	Update lead status to "Email Sent"	Email Sent
Email Sent	Name: Call prospect (common transition) Description: Call the buyer to collect details	Who will execute this transition?  Sales rep	Mandatory notes: What was the call result?	Update Lead status to "Contacted"	Contacted
Email Sent	Same as above	Same as above	Add > Associated item > Field Validate call status as "Not Contacted"	Update Lead status to "Re-contacted"	Not reachable * if the re-contact attempt fails the lead will move to lost state.
Contacted - Number of days the record can stay in this state = 5 business days - On 6th day, send SLA alert to immediate manager	Name: Collect details Description: Collect proof of documents from the buyer	Who will execute this transition?  Sales rep	Add > Associated item > Checklist 1. Prepare this checklist: - Property type - Budget - Amenities - Bank details   2. Make attachment mandatory Message: Attach the documents for items in checklist	Update Lead status to "Requirement Gathered"	Site visit scheduled
Site visit scheduled	Name: Fix site visit Description: Schedule the site visit and receive confirmation from buyer	Who will execute this transition?  Sales rep	Add > Associated item > Call - Create call as associated item - Validate the call status as "Completed" - Make attachment of call transcript mandatory	- Update Lead status to "Site visit scheduled"   - Send email notification to confirm the date of the site visit	Awaiting site visit
Awaiting site visit	Name: Complete site visit Description: Make sure site visit details are captured	Who will execute this transition?  Record owner	- Make notes about: site visit details - Make attachment of site plan mandatory	- Update Lead status to "Site visit completed"   - Send SMS to the buyer acknowledging completion of site visit	Site visit completed
Site visit completed	Name: Negotiation Description: Check the price quoted by the property owner and the buyer	Who will execute this transition? - Record owner	- Make attachment of buyer's and property owner's quote mandatory	Update Lead status to "Negotiation"	Negotiation
Negotiation	Name: Finalize price Description: Finalize the property amount and send the quote	Who will execute this transition? - Sales manager	Add > Associated item > Field - Validate property negotiation field as "completed" - Make attachment of negotiated amount mandatory	Update Lead status to "Negotiation finalized"   - Send email notification to the buyer stating negotiation complete	Create booking (* At this stage the lead will be converted and deal follow-up process will begin)
Negotiation	Name: Finalize price Description: Finalize the property amount and send the quote	Who will execute this transition? - Sales manager	Add > Associated item > Field - Validate property negotiation field as "Rejected" - Make attachment of rejection of negotiated amount mandatory	Update Lead status to "Lost"	Lead lost

4. Create the following common transitions:

These transitions can be executed from multiple states, for example a lead can move to the Lost state from the following states: Negotiation (if the negotiation is rejected), Send email (if email is unanswered), Contacted (if the buyer doesn't answer the call or is not interested). Read more about common transitions. 

From state	Common Transition	To state
Email sent	Call prospect	Not reachable The record will show the "Call prospect" transition. This will ensure the buyer is re-contacted.
Site visit scheduled	Fix site visit	Rescheduled The rep will have to contact the buyer and reschedule the site visit.
Contacted Site visit scheduled Awaiting site visit Site visit completed Negotiation	Cancel booking	Site visit scheduled Awaiting site visit Site visit completed Negotiation Create booking If the buyer is not interested or cancels site visit, the booking will be canceled and the lead will be moved to the "Lost" state

Watch this video to learn more about blueprint.

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