How to create a lead correctly

WORKING LEADS · LD-02

1. In one line

Create leads consistently, without duplicates, so they can be routed, qualified, nurtured and reported on.

2. Who this is for

Anyone creating or validating a new Lead — mainly Sales, Marketing and Operations. Use it whenever a net-new inquiry arrives, when you're creating a lead by hand, when a form submission creates a contact that needs review, or when deciding whether someone should stay a lead or move into a deal.

3. Before you start

• Permission to create and edit Contacts and Leads
• Familiarity with Lifecycle Stage, Lead Status, Product of Interest, Lead Source, Role in Practice and Contact Owner

4. Do it

1. Search before you create. Look for the person by email address first, then full name, then company. If a Contact already exists, do not create a duplicate.
2. Check whether they should be a lead at all. Review Lifecycle Stage, Active Membership, Previous Membership, Secondary Membership, existing Deals, existing Tickets and the associated Company. If they're already an active customer, or already have an open Deal for the same purpose, don't create a new Lead.
3. If the Contact exists and is a valid new lead, update it rather than duplicating. Confirm or fill: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Company, Role in Practice, Product of Interest, Lead Source, state or location, and Contact Owner if routing requires one.
4. If the Contact doesn't exist, create one. At minimum: First Name, Last Name, Email, Company if known, Role in Practice, Product of Interest, and Lead Source if known.
5. Leave it at the right early stage until qualification is complete. Don't create a Deal just because a Lead exists — a lead moves forward only once there's confirmed interest and readiness for the sales process.

5. What you should see

• A Lead exists without duplicates, with enough information to route, qualify and follow up.

6. If something looks wrong

7. Exceptions and edge cases

• Approved test contacts for UAT or training
• Bulk imports handled by Operations
• Migration-related validations where data is under review
• Manager-approved exceptions for urgent operational handling

8. Why we do it this way

Searching first is the single most valuable habit in this SOP. Duplicates are cheap to prevent and expensive to resolve — around 2,100 duplicate contact groups were found in the account before migration, and none of them were created deliberately.

The instruction not to create a deal just because a lead exists is the new deal philosophy in miniature. Pipeline should measure genuine opportunity, not activity, and that discipline starts at lead creation rather than at the deal stage.

9. Related articles

• How to qualify a lead correctly (LD-03)
• How to confirm routing inputs are present (LD-04)
• Duplicates: how we prevent them (DQ-02)
• How a lead reaches you: the full journey (LD-01)

10. Quick-reference card