In the previous article, we saw how Automatic Web Forms can seamlessly import into Act! data captured in a Web form, an essentiel step in your lead capturing process. In this article, we will see how to refine this process and make it really efficient.
You don’t only need to import the data from your forms. You need to make it noticeable to the proper users of your database. You don’t want it to sit untouched! Here are 3 ways to achieve this.
Set the ID/Status of the imported record automatically
When you create your form, you may include any field you want from your Act! database and you may assign it a default value. You may also make the field hidden. So the way to automatically set the ID/Status field (or of a “Source” field maybe) is simple: you include it in your form, make it hidden and give it a default value. Since it is hidden, the users will not see it but the default value will be imported in Act!.
Automatically assign the lead to the correct sales person
The new record that is created when the data is imported into Act! needs to be assigned a record manager. With Automatic Web Forms, you may do this one of 4 ways:
- assign it to the user who imports the record
- assign it always to the same user
- assign it to a user based on a value entered in the form (in a country field maybe or a product field, etc.)
- assign it based on turns (the first lead goes to Bob, the next one to John, the next one to Julie then we start again: Bob, John, etc.)
This way, the newly created record becomes part of the list of records managed by the proper sales person in your organization.
Automatically schedule a follow-up activity for the sales person
Lastly and probably most importantly, Automatic Web Forms gives you the ability to schedule an activity either for a specific user or for the record manager as set above.
The key to ensure quick and proper treatment of your Web leads is likely to combine these three options. And if you are still importing Web Leads by copying and pasting data from an e-mail message , I am sure you now realize there is a better solution for you!