Converting a lead

Turning a won lead into a real customer, with a contact who can be invoiced.

When you would use this: once a lead has reached a status your firm marks as won — "Convert to customer" only offers a form at that point; earlier, it tells you the lead is not there yet.

Steps: open the lead and choose "Convert to customer". You are shown a draft of the company and primary contact it will create, built from the lead's own details, plus a check for any customer that looks similar by name — so you do not create a duplicate for a company you already have. Review the draft, adjust anything that needs it, and confirm.

What each option means: if a close match is shown, you can convert into the existing company instead of creating a new one, which is usually the right choice for a returning enquiry.

What happens next: a new customer (or a link to the existing one) and a primary contact are created, the lead is marked converted and keeps its own history, and you can carry on from the customer's own record — raising an estimate or invoice from there.

What this does not do: converting does not, by itself, create a contact who can sign in to the portal — give them access separately if you want that (see "Contacts and portal access").

When it refuses: "Convert to customer" is not offered on a lead that has not reached a won status. Refused entirely means you do not hold the permission — ask an Owner or Admin, or ask whoever runs your pipeline to convert it for you.