From time to time we’ll get a question about the differences between Leads, Opportunities and Accounts. Here’s a quick blog post to help clear it up.
Lead -> Opportunity -> Accounts represents a progression in the sales pipeline.
So, in many cases a sale starts as a lead, becomes an opportunity and then an account in that order.
For example:
1. A lead usually represents someone who you think might want to buy something from you, but they’ve not actually said that they do yet. (you may not have even spoken with them yet.)
2. An opportunity could then be the next stage, where you’ve spoken with someone and they’ve indicated that they are in fact interested in what you’re selling.
3. An account would be finally that they’ve made the decision to buy from you and they’re now you’re customer.
Each of the forms in Simple Sales Tracking for these look very similar on purpose – to provide a smooth transition for that pipeline.
