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A lead tracker is a tool businesses use to track sales opportunities, refine sales processes and maximize profitability by collecting data on each lead (e.g. name, location, and contact details).

Many advanced lead trackers provide additional value compared to the usual spreadsheets, documents or software companies use because they include data like:

1. Estimated customer value

2. Chances of conversion

3. Forecasted close time

Most lead-tracking organizations use spreadsheets, documents or software to collect basic data on each lead, such as:

1. Name

2. Contact details

3. Source (e.g. website visitor or email inquiry)

4. Location

Many trackers go into more detail, about where the real value lies.

Factors like estimated customer value, chances of conversion and forecasted close time help sales leaders direct reps’ attention towards easier or more valuable sales. Reps can then close bigger deals faster.

By analyzing lead-tracking data over time, you can also get answers to broader organizational questions like:

1. Where is our lead traffic coming from?

2. How effective is our lead-generation strategy?

3. How efficient is our sales process?

4. Which practices drive the most conversions?

With this knowledge, companies can allocate resources more effectively (like doubling down on a consistently fruitful lead source) and spot valuable improvement opportunities across teams.

For example, if the quality of leads drops suddenly, it could show that a new marketing campaign isn’t working.

Lead tracking starts when data is first captured and continues until the final purchase. A lead tracker’s data will help you in the key stages of this process:

Capturing: This step involves recording the lead’s basic details, such as name, email address, source, needs, and buying preferences. You can easily automate this step through customer relationship management (CRM) or lead-management software.

For example, Pipedrive’s LeadBooster add-on can pull data from your website’s chat function directly into your Leads Inbox to speed up your lead-tracking process.

Qualification: This involves assessing your lead’s relevance to the business. How well do they fit the ideal buyer profile? Use the BANT framework (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe) or similar to determine whether a lead is worth your sales reps’ attention.

Scoring: Scoring means assigning scores based on the likelihood of conversion and broader value to the business. Based on factors like demographics, online behavior, and past engagement, these scores will help you prioritize high-value deals (like those which are easier and quicker to close or have a greater estimated value) and stay productive. Use a scoring method that works for you: it could be 1–10, or something as simple as hot, warm, and cold. Bear in mind that the more detailed you go with scoring, the more data you’ll need to collect.

Assigning follow-up actions: In this step, you’ll distribute leads to the most suitable sales reps. Who needs to move the lead into the sales pipeline and what actions should they take? For example, if a lead emails from Europe, fits your qualification framework, and wants to know more about a product, you can assign a rep who knows that market and product well.

Tailoring the rep to the deal will help to increase your chances of making a sale or can cater to the customer in their local language/time zone.

Tracking progress: Your lead tracker and sales pipeline map two parts of the same customer journey, before the sale and during the sale (some sales teams also manage what happens after the sale).

What you learn about someone in the first stage (when the buyer has only shown basic interest) will help you in the second (when they’re getting closer to a buying decision and you’re trying to close the deal).

For example, if a lead consistently emails with inquiries rather than calls, that’s likely to be their preferred contact method and sticking to it could strengthen your relationship. Ask the lead how they’d like you to contact them to be sure.

A refined and organized lead-tracking process can benefit your business in various ways. Master time management by knowing who to target and when:

An organized sales team is a productive one. A lead tracker with the right data will act as a priority list for sales reps, telling them which leads need (or justify) attention.

Reps can plan their time around factors like chances of conversion and estimated customer value, using sales targets as context to be as efficient as possible.

With a quota deadline looming, you could target the easiest sales for quick results. In another scenario, it might be worth spending more time nurturing a lead with a higher estimated customer value.

Increase conversions by striking at the perfect times

Strike while leads are hot, so they don’t forget about you, move forward with a competitor or assume you can’t help.

Organizing your lead tracker by factors like “date sourced” and “time sourced” will make it easy to see who you need to reach out to first to start the nurturing process.

Update interaction data regularly (you can automate this with the right CRM tool and integrations) and create timely follow-up tasks to ensure leads get attention when needed.

For example, if a lead says they’ll be in a stronger position to buy next month when their budget renews, record that interaction and schedule a follow-up call for the start of the month.

Then move on to other leads who are more likely to convert now (something you’ll know based on data in your lead tracker) without losing sight of the initial contact.

Better understand your target audience to provide personalized experiences

Every lead interaction tells you something useful about your target audience.

For example:

• Web page visits indicate what products your potential customers are interested in, or at least what they think will solve their problem

• Early conversations and inquiries reveal your leads’ common pain points, buying positions, and apprehensions

• Source data shows how leads find your business, helping you understand their research processes and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts

For individual leads, you can use this information to personalize your outreach by emphasizing the most relevant products and features.

On a broader level, the more information you record in your lead tracker and the longer you use one, the better you’ll understand your wider audience’s needs.

As well as helping in sales conversations, marketers can use the same knowledge to create more engaging, relevant and relatable content.

Gauge the effectiveness of your inbound marketing campaigns

The “lead source” column of your lead tracker will show at a high level which of your marketing campaigns or channels bring in the most leads.

However, quantity doesn’t necessarily translate into value.

Outbound marketing content that makes huge, problem-solving promises to your audience might generate thousands of inquiries, but if you can’t deliver on those promises, leads will quickly go cold.

For example, you could promote an unfinished or unavailable product to raise awareness and get plenty of leads, but these leads won’t make it past the research stage if they can’t buy what they need straight away.

High-quality content can also be ineffective if you don’t target your audience properly. You’ll just get fewer leads or more unqualified leads. Either way, you’ll have wasted time.

The real measure of marketing success is the rate at which your campaigns generate sales-qualified leads (SQLs). These leads make it through the sales team’s lead qualification framework and are deemed ready to nurture toward a purchase.

Filter your lead tracker to show only SQLs and organize your data by source. If you find that a certain website landing page, social media post, search engine ad, or email newsletter is drawing more than its fair share of the right people, use it to inspire other content.

Share knowledge for stronger collaboration and more productivity

A lead tracker provides easy access to valuable insight on leads, instantly making your entire team more useful to buyers.

With the knowledge shared in real time, reps can work together to help leads make buying decisions sooner. Using the lead tracker as the single source of truth helps everyone stay in the loop.

For example, reps with specialisms (such as technical knowledge of the product) can join calls to provide extra reassurance when deals are faltering or step in when an allocated salesperson isn’t available.

In circumstances like these, a lead tracker acts as a ready-made understanding of the lead’s position and needs.