Managing leads

A lead is a prospective client your firm is still deciding whether to take on. The Leads area is where you track every inquiry from first contact through to a signed engagement, using a visual pipeline, outcome tables, and a per-lead checklist of follow-up steps. When a lead becomes a client, you convert it into a matter in one click.

This page covers everything you can do on the Leads page and on an individual lead's profile. Sources and the convert-to-matter flow have their own pages: see Lead sources and Converting a lead to a matter.

Before you begin

• To open the Leads page at all, your role needs View access for leads. If you do not have it, the page shows a "no access" message instead.
• Creating leads, editing them, moving them between stages, and managing the pipeline columns are each gated separately. Where a button is missing, your role most likely does not include that level of access. Firm owners can do everything.
• Some leads can be marked private. A private lead is visible only to its assignees and to firm owners, so you may not see every lead another member created.

View the leads pipeline

The Intake tab is your live pipeline. Each column is a stage (for example, "New inquiry" or "In consultation"), and each card is a lead. The card shows the prospect's name, the practice area, when the lead was added, any source tags, a value indicator, and the avatars of the members it is assigned to.

1. In the sidebar, click Leads.
2. Make sure the Intake tab is selected. This is the default.
3. Use the tools above the board to narrow what you see:
   • Search leads filters cards by contact name, company, practice area, or form name as you type.
   • Assigned to shows only leads assigned to the members you pick.
   • Practice area filters by the lead's practice area.
   • Sources filters by where the lead came from.
   • When any filter is active, a Clear filters button appears. Click it to reset.
4. Click the refresh button (the circular arrows on the right) to reload the board if a teammate has made changes.
5. Click any card to open that lead's full profile.

Stage columns are color-coded by their type: gray for To do, blue for In progress, and green for Done. This gives you an at-a-glance sense of where each lead sits in the process.

Manage lead stage columns

Stage columns define the steps in your intake pipeline. You can add, rename, reorder, and remove them to match how your firm works.

Add a column

1. On the Intake tab, click the add-column control at the end of the board (the + at the right edge of the columns).
2. In the Add column dialog, fill in:
   • Name (required, up to 64 characters), for example "New inquiry". This is what shows at the top of the column.
   • Type (required). Pick To do, In progress, or Done. The type only sets the column's color accent; it does not move leads automatically.
3. Click Add column. The new column appears at the end of the board.

Rename or change a column's type

1. Hover over the column header and open its menu, then choose the edit option.
2. In the Edit column dialog, change the Name or Type.
3. Click Save changes.

Reorder columns

Drag a column by its header and drop it where you want it. Esqase saves the new order automatically and shows a brief "Columns reordered" confirmation. If the save fails, the board snaps back to the previous order.

Delete a column

1. Open the column's menu and choose the delete option.
2. In the Delete column? dialog, confirm by clicking Delete column.

Move a lead between stages

You can advance a lead through the pipeline by dragging its card.

1. On the Intake tab, click and hold a lead card.
2. Drag it to another column, or to a new position within the same column to reorder it.
3. Release. Esqase saves the move and briefly shows "Lead moved". If the save fails, the card returns to where it started.

You can also change a lead's stage from its profile without dragging:

1. Open the lead.
2. In the sidebar under Lead information, click the Stage badge.
3. Pick the new stage from the menu. The change saves immediately.

Create a new lead

Creating a lead also creates a brand-new contact record for the prospect in one step. You do not pick an existing contact; you type the person's or company's details directly into the form.

1. On the Leads page, click New lead. (If you do not see this button, your role does not include Create access for leads.)
2. At the top of the New lead dialog, choose Person or Company:
   • Person: fill in First name and Last name (both required), plus optional Prefix, Middle name, Nickname, and Suffix.
   • Company: fill in Company name (required), plus optional Trade name and Company type.
3. Add contact details: Email and Phone. The phone field defaults to your firm's country.
4. (Optional) Click Conflict check to screen the name you entered against existing records before you go further. See Running a conflict check. The button is disabled until you enter a name.
5. Set the lead's attributes:
   • Source: pick existing sources or type a new name and press Enter to create one on the spot. A "System" source is selected by default. See Lead sources.
   • Stage (required): which pipeline column the lead starts in. It defaults to the first column.
   • Practice area (optional): the area of law this inquiry relates to.
   • Matter types (optional): one or more subtypes within the chosen practice area. This is disabled until you pick a practice area.
   • Assign to (required): one or more members responsible for the lead. Your own name is selected by default.
   • Mark this lead private: check this so only assignees and owners can see the lead.
   • Value (optional): a priority indicator from Lowest to Highest. It shows as a small icon on the card.
6. Under Follow-up, optionally attach a form or a workflow:
   • None: no follow-up attached.
   • Select a form: pick a form, then choose a Submission mode (see below).
   • Select a workflow: pick a workflow. Its steps are copied onto the lead as pending checklist items.
7. Click Save.

Form submission modes

If you choose Select a form under Follow-up, you also pick how the response is collected:

• Manually fill up form: after you save, Esqase opens the form so you can complete it on the prospect's behalf (for example, during a phone intake). Fill it in and click Submit form.
• Send to client: Esqase creates the lead and queues the form to be sent to the client, then closes. You will see "Lead created and form queued to send".

In all other cases (no form, or a workflow attached) you simply see "Lead created" and the dialog closes.

View and edit a lead profile

Click any lead card or table row to open its profile. The header shows the lead's reference number with a Leads breadcrumb back to the list. The page has two parts: a main column with the Workflow checklist and Recent activities timeline, and a sidebar with the lead's details.

The sidebar's Lead information group shows the Stage, Status, linked Matter (once converted), Contact (a link to the full contact record), Practice area, Matter types, Assigned to, Sources, and whether the lead is Private. The Other information group shows the Lead ID (with a copy button), and who created and last updated the lead and when.

Edit the lead's details

1. On the lead profile, click Edit in the header.
2. In the Edit lead dialog, update the Source, Stage, Practice area, Matter types, assignees (Assign to), Value, and the private setting.
3. Click Save changes.

Manage custom field values

Custom fields let your firm capture extra, structured information on a lead (for example, "Referral fee agreed?" or "Estimated case value"). They are set up under Custom fields.

1. On the lead profile sidebar, find the Custom fields group and click View.
2. In the Custom fields dialog, fill in or update the values shown. Only fields your firm has assigned to leads appear here.
3. Click to save. Filled values then appear in the sidebar; empty ones are hidden.

If no custom fields are filled, the sidebar shows "Not set". If your role cannot edit the lead, the dialog opens in read-only mode.

Add and remove sources, matter types, and assignees

These three attributes are managed together through the Edit lead dialog.

1. On the lead profile, click Edit.
2. Adjust any of the following:
   • Source: add a source by selecting it from the list or typing a new name and pressing Enter. Remove a source by clearing its tag.
   • Matter types: add or remove subtypes. Remember these depend on the selected Practice area, so set the practice area first.
   • Assign to: add or remove the members responsible for the lead.
3. Click Save changes. The sidebar updates to reflect the new sources, matter types, and assignees.

Mark a lead Hired or Not hired, or put it back to intake

When you decide the outcome of an inquiry, you record it from the lead's profile header. These actions change the lead's status and move it off the intake board.

Mark as hired

Use this when the prospect has engaged your firm but you are not ready to build the matter yet.

1. Open the lead.
2. In the header, click Mark as hired.
3. The status changes to Hired and the lead moves to the Hired tab. You will see a confirmation with the lead's reference.

A hired lead can still be unmarked, marked not hired, or converted to a matter, right up until you actually convert it.

Mark as not hired

Use this when your firm declines the inquiry or the prospect goes elsewhere.

1. Open the lead.
2. In the header, click Mark as not hired.
3. The status changes to Not hired and the lead moves to the Not hired tab.

Put a lead back to intake

If you mark an outcome by mistake, or a "not hired" prospect comes back, you can return the lead to the pipeline.

1. Open the lead (or use the row menu in an outcome table).
2. Open the More actions menu (the "..." button) and click Put back to leads kanban.
3. The lead returns to the first stage column with the Active status.

Archive, restore, and delete a lead

Archiving keeps a lead's record without it cluttering your active views. Deleting removes it permanently and is only possible after archiving.

Archive a lead

1. Open the lead.
2. Open the More actions menu (the "..." button) and click Archive.
3. The lead is archived. You can restore it later.

You can also archive several leads at once from the Hired or Not hired tabs: select their checkboxes and choose Archive from the batch actions, then confirm in the Archive selected leads? dialog.

Restore an archived lead

1. Open an archived lead, or find it via the Status filter set to Archived in an outcome table.
2. Open the More actions menu and click Restore. The lead returns to intake as Active.

You can also select archived rows in an outcome table and click Restore in the batch actions.

Delete a lead

A lead must be archived before it can be deleted.

1. Open the archived lead.
2. Open the More actions menu and click Delete.
3. In the Delete lead? dialog, confirm by clicking Delete lead.

Work the per-lead workflow checklist

Every lead has a Workflow section at the top of its profile: an ordered checklist of follow-up steps such as sending an email, scheduling a meeting, creating a task, or sending a form. A progress bar shows how many steps are done.

Complete and uncomplete items

• Click the checkbox on a step to mark it done. The step is struck through and the progress bar updates.
• For steps that have an action attached (send an email, create an event, advance the stage, convert to a matter, and so on), checking the box first asks Run the action first?. Choose Apply and mark done to perform the action and complete the step, or Just mark done to only tick it off.
• Uncheck the box to mark a step not done again.

Each step also has its own action button matching its type (for example Send for an email, Create task for a task, Advance for a stage change, Convert to matter for a conversion, or a Form menu with Fill on behalf of client, Send to client, and Copy link). For the full list of step types and what each one does, see Workflow step types.

Reorder items

Drag a step by its grip handle (the dotted icon on the left) and drop it to reorder. The new order saves automatically.

Link and unlink records

When you apply a step, Esqase links the resulting record (a task, an event, or a form submission) to the step so you can jump straight to it. To detach it, open the step's More actions menu and choose Unlink record. The step reverts to "to do" so you can redo it.

To edit a step's configuration, choose Edit from its menu. To remove a step entirely, choose Remove; if it has a linked task, event, or form, the confirmation dialog can optionally delete that record too.

Add a single workflow item

1. In the Workflow section, click the + button (or, on an empty list, Workflow item).
2. In the Add workflow item dialog, pick the item type from the grid (Email, Task, Form, Event, Status change, Task list, Convert to matter, or Invoice).
3. Configure the item's details on the next screen, then click Add to lead.

Import a workflow set

Instead of building steps one by one, you can copy an entire saved workflow onto the lead.

1. In the Workflow section, click Add workflow (or, on an empty list, the Add workflow button).
2. In the Assign workflow set dialog, choose a workflow from the Workflow dropdown. Only active workflows appear.
3. Click Import workflow. Its steps are copied onto the lead as pending items, and you will see how many were imported. You can edit them afterward.

If your firm has no active workflows yet, the dialog tells you to create one first. See Workflows and the builder.

Review the lead activity timeline

Below the workflow section, Recent activities logs what has happened to the lead: when it was created, moved between stages, edited, marked hired or not hired, converted, archived, and so on. Entries are paginated.

1. On the lead profile, scroll to Recent activities.
2. Use the page arrows to move through older entries.
3. Click the filter button (the list icon) and turn on Show view activity to also include records of who opened the lead. These are hidden by default.
4. Click the refresh button to reload the timeline.

For more on activity timelines across Esqase, see Activity timelines and audit logs.

The Hired and Not-hired outcome tables

The Hired and Not hired tabs list leads that have reached an outcome, in a sortable table rather than a board. Each row shows the lead's reference, contact, practice area, who it is assigned to, its status, who last updated it, and when.

1. On the Leads page, click the Hired or Not hired tab.
2. Filter and sort the table:
   • Search leads matches the reference, contact, or practice area.
   • Status, Practice area, and Assigned to are faceted filters. The Status filter also lets you include Archived leads.
   • Click a column header to sort. The table defaults to most-recently-updated first.
   • Clear filters resets everything.
3. On any row, click View to open the lead, or open the row's More actions menu for outcome actions:
   • On a Hired row: Mark as not hired, Put back to leads kanban, or Archive.
   • On a Not hired row: Put back to leads kanban or Archive.
   • On an Archived row: Restore or Delete.
4. To act on several leads at once, select their checkboxes and use the batch actions (Restore, Archive, or Delete) at the top right.

How booking and form submissions become leads

Not every lead is created by hand. When someone books a meeting on your firm's public booking page or submits one of your public intake forms, Esqase automatically creates a contact and a lead for them, so the inquiry lands in your pipeline without any manual entry.

• Booking submissions: when a prospect books a time, the new lead arrives tagged with a source such as "Booking", and the booking shows up as an event on the lead. See How clients book meetings and Event types (scheduling).
• Form submissions: when a prospect completes a public lead-intake form, the new lead arrives tagged with the form's name as its source and carries the submitted answers. See Public lead-intake forms and Reviewing form submissions.

These leads start in your intake pipeline exactly like manually created ones, and you work them the same way: assign members, run the workflow checklist, and decide the outcome.

Common questions

• Why can't I see the New lead button? Your role does not include Create access for leads. Ask a firm owner or administrator to grant it.
• Why is the Edit button missing on a lead? The lead is already marked hired. Hired leads are read-only to keep them in sync with their matter; you can still work the workflow checklist or change the outcome if it has not been converted.
• A lead disappeared from the pipeline. Check the Hired and Not hired tabs, and set the Status filter to Archived, in case it was given an outcome or archived.
• Can I undo deleting a lead? No. Deletion is permanent and is only available after a lead has been archived. Archive instead of delete if you might need the record later.

Related

• Lead sources
• Converting a lead to a matter
• Public lead-intake forms
• Reviewing form submissions
• Workflows and the builder
• Running a conflict check
• API resources and endpoints