📌 Stage 2 · Lead Intake · Sales Pipeline CRM · Lead Intake · 30–40 min

Every inquiry logged the day it arrives

Learning goals

  • Run a lead intake log with source, status, estimated value, and a link to the opportunity it becomes
  • Explain why sources must come from a fixed list, not free text
  • Walk a lead through the status vocabulary from New to Converted

Concepts

Log first, qualify later

Twelve inquiries arrived between Jan 6 and Jun 26, 2026 - LD-001 through LD-012. The intake log captures five facts per lead: when it arrived, who it was, where it came from (Source), where it stands (Status), and a rough value guess (Est. Value). The estimate is allowed to be wrong; its job is to sort attention, not to be a forecast. A $28,000 hotel inquiry (LD-003) deserves a callback before a $2,500 bookstore one (LD-007).

Two leads were never opened as deals: Cascade Yoga Studio (New) and Portland Cycle Works (Working, first call booked for July). Notice they are not in the Companies master sheet yet - leads earn a company code only when they become real opportunities. That keeps the master list clean.

=COUNTIF(Leads!$E$5:$E$1004,"Referral")

Count leads whose Source column reads exactly Referral. In this case: 4 of the 12. This only works because every source cell carries the identical spelling - which is what the dropdown guarantees.

Sources are a fixed list

Six sources: Referral, Website, Trade Show, Cold Call, Walk-In, LinkedIn. In the downloadable workbook, column E is a data-validation dropdown limited to exactly these six - and free-typed entries are rejected with an error message. The reason is arithmetic: COUNTIF and every dashboard grouping match text exactly, so 'Trade Show' and 'Trade show' and 'Tradeshow' would count as three different channels. One dropdown kills a whole family of silent errors.

The H1 2026 census: Referral 4, Website 3, Trade Show 2, Walk-In 1, LinkedIn 1, Cold Call 1. That mix is typical of a small wholesale business - word of mouth and the website do most of the work, and events spike occasionally.

💡 Tips:

  • Data validation is a native Excel feature - no macros involved. Home > Data Validation > List, point at the six values, done.

The status vocabulary

Six statuses trace one arc: New (just arrived) to Working (conversation happening), then a fork - Qualified (real deal, open an opportunity), Nurture (not now, keep warm - Stonebridge renews in January), or Disqualified (never - the bookstore's order size can't carry wholesale terms). Converted is the terminal success state, and its row must carry the Opp # it became: LD-001 became OPP-101, LD-003 became OPP-103, and so on. That single column is the audit trail connecting marketing to pipeline.

💡 Tips:

  • Disqualified is a legitimate outcome, not a failure to log - knowing WHY the bookstore was disqualified (order size) lives in the Notes column and saves a repeat conversation next year.

Practice

Fixed case (Jan-Jun 2026, aging date Jun 30, 2026). Pale-green cells are formulas; white cells are typed entries. This lesson opens on Leads.

  1. Scan the twelve inquiries — Rows 5-16: follow LD-001 (Trade Show, converted to OPP-101) down to LD-012 (Referral, Working). E13 is blank - you will restore it.
  2. Re-type the missing source — Click E13 (the Bright Path Dental lead, in May 21, 2026) and type Referral with exactly that spelling and capitalization, then Enter.
  3. Follow the conversion — On the same row, H13 shows OPP-106 - this referral became the waiting-room coffee stations deal that closed won on Jun 19, 2026.
  4. Census the sources — By eye or with COUNTIF: Referral 4, Website 3, Trade Show 2, Walk-In 1, LinkedIn 1, Cold Call 1. Twelve total - and the four referrals punch far above their share.

Online exercise

The spreadsheet below is editable — follow the practice steps right on this page. Steps that need ribbon menus should be done in your own Excel with the downloadable practice file.

表格加载中…

Checklist

Work through each item; when every box passes, this lesson is done:

  • ☐ Typed Referral into Leads!E13 with the exact list spelling
  • ☐ Verified the source census: 4 Referral, 3 Website, 2 Trade Show, 1 Walk-In, 1 LinkedIn, 1 Cold Call
  • ☐ Can name the six statuses and explain what the Opp # column proves on a Converted row