How to Manage Lead Companies in CrmLeaf
All editions. Core feature - no add-on required.
Availability: All editions. Core feature - no add-on required.
Overview
A Lead Company is the organisation that a lead contact works for. It gives you an account-level view of a prospective customer, so several contacts at the same organisation and all the deals connected to them sit under one record instead of being scattered across unrelated entries. Lead Companies are the prospect-side equivalent of client accounts: they hold the organisation, while Lead Contacts hold the people.
How It Works
You create the organisation record, then attach lead contacts to it. Deals are created against the contacts, so the lead company becomes the place to see the full relationship with that organisation.
Create the lead company → Attach lead contacts → Create deals per contact → Review the account history
- One lead company can have many lead contacts.
- Deals belong to the lead contact, so the lead company shows the combined pursuit of that organisation.
- Lead company records are scoped to the organisation workspace you are working in, and are subject to the same ownership-based visibility as leads.
- When an organisation becomes a paying customer, you create a separate client record for it. The lead company record remains the prospect-side history.
Who Can Use This Feature?
User
- Create and edit lead company records within your permitted scope.
- Attach lead contacts to a lead company.
- Review the contacts and deals associated with an organisation.
Access depends on the modules and role assigned by your Administrator.
Prerequisites
- Access to the CRM module with a Lead permission scope other than
none. - The correct organisation workspace selected, if your account uses more than one.
For Users
Step 1: Open the lead company list
The list shows the lead companies you are permitted to see. Use Search before creating a record, so you do not create a second entry for an organisation that already exists.
Step 2: Create the lead company
Select Add and complete the company record, including the organisation name and its primary contact information. Complete every mandatory field before saving, then select Save.
Step 3: Attach the people you deal with
Create or edit each lead contact at that organisation and select the lead company on the contact record. Do this for every individual you speak to, including technical evaluators and approvers who are not the main buyer.
Step 4: Review the relationship
Open the lead company and review the contacts attached to it and the deals those contacts carry. Use this view before a renewal conversation or a new proposal, so you know what has already been quoted to that organisation.
Step 5: Keep the record current
Select Edit when an address, phone number or contact set changes. Where a person leaves the organisation, update the lead contact rather than deleting the lead company, so the account history is preserved.
Field and Option Reference
| Field / Option | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | The name of the prospective organisation. Used to group its contacts and deals. | Yes |
| Primary contact information | Contact details for the organisation itself, such as its main address, phone number and website. | No |
| Lead contacts | The people at this organisation. Selected on each lead contact record. | No |
| Custom fields | Any additional fields your Administrator created for this record type. | Varies |
Expected Result
The lead company is saved and appears in Companies, with its lead contacts attached, giving you one account-level view of every person and deal connected to that organisation.
Why This Matters for Service Organisations
Service work is rarely bought by one person. A consulting or IT services proposal is usually assessed by a sponsor who wants the outcome, a technical evaluator who tests the approach and a procurement or finance approver who signs. If those people sit as unconnected contacts, nobody can answer the question that matters before a proposal goes out: what have we already quoted this organisation, and to whom?
How It Supports Professional Services
- One Lead Company holds many Lead Contacts, giving an account-level view of the whole buying group at a prospective client.
- Because deals belong to the contact, the Lead Company becomes the place to read the combined pursuit of that organisation across several parallel opportunities.
- Firms that serve large clients office by office — a marketing agency retained separately by two divisions, for example — can keep a Lead Company per buying unit so engagement value stays attributable to the unit that will actually sign.
- When the organisation becomes a paying customer, the prospect-side history remains on the Lead Company while the customer relationship moves to a Client record.
Typical Service Workflow
Lead Company → Lead → Deal → Client → Project → Billing
The Lead Company is the account container at the pre-sales end of the sequence. There is no documented automatic conversion of a Lead Company into a Client record, so a service organisation creates the Client deliberately when the engagement is won.
Other Product-Type Use Cases
The same account-level grouping suits any organisation selling into committees: a manufacturer dealing with a distributor's purchasing and quality teams, or a construction business tracking a developer's project office alongside its finance function.
Related PSA Capabilities
- How to Create and Manage Lead Contacts — the people attached to this organisation.
- How to Manage Clients and the Client Portal — the customer account created once the work is won.
- How to Create and Send Proposals — the document a service firm usually issues to a buying group.
Important Notes
- Menu names and their position can differ between product editions and can be customised for your account, so your sidebar may not match these paths exactly. Use Search or your Quick Access items if you cannot find a screen.
- A Lead Company is a prospect record. It is not the same as a client account, which is a real user account with portal access.
- Deals are created against lead contacts, not against the lead company, so always make sure each contact is linked to the correct organisation.
- Consistent naming matters. Two spellings of the same organisation split its history into two records.
Common Scenarios
Example: a committee purchase. A hospital evaluates your product through a procurement officer, a department head and a finance approver. You create one lead company for the hospital and three lead contacts under it, so any team member can see the whole buying group.
Example: a group with several branches. A retail group buys separately for each branch. You create a lead company per branch that purchases independently, so deal values and forecasts stay attributable to the branch that will actually sign.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| The same organisation appears twice. | It was created under two spellings or by two users. | Standardise on one record, move the lead contacts to it, and remove the unused entry. |
| A lead company shows no contacts. | The lead contacts were saved without selecting the lead company. | Edit each lead contact and select the lead company. |
| You cannot see a lead company a colleague created. | Your permission scope limits you to records you own or were added to. | Ask the Administrator to widen the scope, or ask to be added to the record. |
| The list is empty in a new workspace. | Lead company records belong to a specific organisation workspace. | Switch to the organisation that holds the records. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to create a lead company for every lead?
No. A lead company is useful when you sell to organisations or expect more than one contact. For individual consumers the lead contact alone is usually enough.
Does a won deal turn a lead company into a client automatically?
No automatic conversion of a lead company into a client record is documented. Create the client record when the organisation becomes a customer.
Can two lead contacts at the same organisation each have their own deals?
Yes. Deals belong to the contact, so each contact can carry their own opportunities under the same lead company.
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