📇 Leads & Contacts: The Ultimate Guide 📇 – Shape Software

📢 Overview

Managing leads and contacts effectively is crucial for converting prospects into customers and maintaining strong relationships. Shape provides a comprehensive system to track, nurture, and manage all your leads and contacts in one place. This guide will walk you through best practices for managing leads and contacts efficiently within Shape.

🔍 Understanding Leads & Contacts in Shape

Shape categorizes individuals and businesses into Leads and Contacts:

Leads: Prospective clients who have not yet completed a transaction. These individuals are actively being nurtured through marketing and sales processes.
Contacts: Clients or referral partners who have completed a transaction or have an established relationship with your business.

📌 Key Difference: Leads require ongoing follow-up and nurturing, while Contacts are typically engaged in repeat business or referrals.

📥 Adding Leads & Contacts

🆕 Manually Adding a Lead or Contact

Navigate to the Leads or Contacts section.
Click Add New Lead/Contact.
Enter the required details:
- Full Name
- Company Name (if applicable)
- Email & Phone Number
- Lead/Contact Source
- Lead Status or Contact Type
Click Save to store the record.

📤 Bulk Importing Leads & Contacts

For businesses importing large datasets, Shape allows bulk imports:

Prepare your data file in CSV format with the required fields.
Navigate to Admin Settings > Import Data.
Select the appropriate Lead/Contact type.
Upload the file and map the fields to Shape’s database.
Click Import and review the confirmation message.

🎯 Organizing Leads & Contacts with Statuses & Tags

📌 Using Lead Statuses

Lead statuses help track where each lead is in the sales pipeline. Common statuses include:
✅ New Lead – Recently added, requires initial follow-up
📞 Contacted – First outreach completed
🔥 Hot Lead – Engaged and showing strong interest
🚧 Nurturing – Requires ongoing follow-up and engagement
❌ Lost Lead – No longer interested or disqualified

🏷 Tagging Leads & Contacts for Better Organization

Tags provide additional categorization for filtering and searching. Examples:

VIP – High-priority leads
Referral – Came through a referral partner
Webinar Attendee – Participated in a recent webinar

📌 Pro Tip: Use consistent tagging conventions to improve searchability and reporting.

🔄 Automating Lead & Contact Management

⚡ Automated Lead Assignment

Shape can automatically assign leads based on predefined rules such as:

Geographic location
Source of the lead
Lead type (e.g., refinance vs. purchase mortgage leads)

📩 Automated Drip Campaigns

Set up email and SMS automation sequences to nurture leads over time.

Example: A new lead receives a welcome email within 10 minutes of submission.
Follow-up emails and reminders can be sent at predefined intervals.

📊 Tracking & Reporting on Leads & Contacts

📈 Key Reports in Shape

Lead Conversion Report – Measures the percentage of leads that turn into clients.
Source Performance Report – Analyzes which lead sources are generating the most conversions.
Activity Report – Tracks follow-up calls, emails, and other engagements.

🔎 Searching & Filtering Leads & Contacts

Use advanced search filters to find specific leads/contacts based on:
✔ Status
✔ Tags
✔ Assigned Team Member
✔ Date Added

📌 Pro Tip: Save your frequently used searches as filters for quick access.

✅ Best Practices for Managing Leads & Contacts

🚀 Follow Up Quickly – The faster you engage a lead, the higher the chances of conversion.
📅 Use Task Reminders – Set follow-up tasks to ensure no lead falls through the cracks.
🛠 Keep Data Clean – Regularly update and remove duplicate or outdated contacts.
📢 Leverage Automation – Utilize email & SMS drip campaigns to maintain engagement.

🎯 Final Thoughts

Effective lead and contact management is the key to a successful sales strategy. By utilizing Shape’s lead tracking, automation, and reporting tools, you can optimize your customer journey from initial inquiry to closed deal and beyond.

📌 Need help? Check out Shape’s Help Center or reach out to support for additional guidance!