How to manage leads

Get every enquiry into one list, reply quickly, decide whether each lead is a good fit, and give every open lead a clear next step and a date. Close leads as won or lost instead of letting them drift. A simple pipeline with four or five stages is enough for most small businesses.

What lead management means

A lead is anyone who has shown interest but not yet bought. Managing leads is the work between that first message and a yes or no. Most small businesses do not lose leads because they are bad at selling. They lose them because an enquiry sat in an inbox, a quote was never chased or nobody knew who was handling it.

Five habits that keep leads moving

1. 1One listEvery enquiry from the website, email, social media and phone goes into one place. A lead that only lives in one phone is invisible.
2. 2Reply fastSet a target for the first reply during opening hours and keep to it. The first good answer often wins the work.
3. 3Qualify simplyAsk what they need, when, where and roughly what budget. Two or three questions, not an interrogation.
4. 4Always a next stepEvery open lead has one next action and a date, such as send quote Friday or call back Tuesday.
5. 5Close itMark leads won or lost, with a short reason. Lost reasons are some of the most useful data you will collect.

Stages that make sense

Where Kahu fitsKahu CRMEvery enquiry from your site, WhatsApp and email lands in Kahu CRM automatically, with the next follow-up already drafted.Site, WhatsApp and email enquiries in one listFollow-ups drafted, waiting for your yesNothing typed in by handSee Kahu CRM →Leads · this week3 waiting on youAroha TaneAsked for a valuation · 2h agoFollow-up draftedJMJames MooreWebsite form · quote sent MonRepliedPWPriya WalkerEmail · quiet 6 daysNudge Tue 9am

Where AI fits

An AI assistant can read an enquiry, add it to your list, suggest a stage and draft the first reply from your own information. That removes the typing between a message arriving and a good answer going out. Keep a person checking replies that include prices, promises or anything unusual.

Frequently asked questions