A lead-generation process flow connects acquisition, enquiry capture, validation, assignment and sales follow-up. Every handover needs an entry condition, an owner and a recorded next step; otherwise a growing lead count can hide a growing backlog.
A workable flow from visit to opportunity
Source → visit → enquiry → validation → assignment → first response → qualification → opportunity or another recorded outcome.
| Stage | Exit condition | Owner to assign |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Submission stored and confirmation shown | Website or operations owner |
| Validation | Spam, duplicates and missing essentials checked | Lead operations |
| Assignment | Named person accepts responsibility | Sales coordinator |
| Response | Relevant reply sent and timestamp recorded | Assigned salesperson |
| Qualification | Need, fit and agreed next step documented | Sales or specialist reviewer |
| Opportunity | Defined project or purchase discussion exists | Opportunity owner |
These are suggested roles; one person may cover several stages in a small business.
Add the branches, not just the happy path
- Duplicate: link to the existing enquiry without counting a new lead.
- Incomplete: request the missing essential information.
- Wrong fit: record a reason and respond appropriately.
- Not ready: agree whether and when follow-up is welcome.
- No response: apply a defined follow-up and closure rule.
- Opt-out: stop the relevant marketing follow-up and record the preference.
Test one enquiry end to end
Submit a clearly labelled test from mobile, confirm its arrival, inspect source data and ownership, and check the response task. Test a duplicate and a missing-field case too. Remove test records from performance reports.
The process worksheet below can document your flow. Review queue age and unassigned records alongside conversion rates. A lead waiting for assignment is an operational problem even when analytics correctly recorded the form submission.
Define owner, timestamp, entry rule, exit rule and failure route for every stage.
