Need, value, and the sign-off before conversionCopy Anchor Link

Converting a lead is the point where a prospect becomes real: one click turns it into an account, a contact and an opportunity, and there is no undo. Two fields on the lead prepare that moment, and one optional gate controls it.

• Need Type — what this prospect is asking for.
• Estimated Amount — roughly what that demand is worth.
• Conversion Approval — whether somebody has to sign the lead off before it can be converted. Off unless your admin turns it on.

What they want, not who they areCopy Anchor Link

A lead already says a great deal about the company: Industry, Annual Revenue, Number of Employees. It says where the lead came from, in Lead Source. None of that says what the prospect actually wants from you, and that is usually the first thing you need in order to route the lead to the right person.

Need Type is that field. It ships with a generic starter list — New Implementation, Expansion, Replacement, Renewal, Consulting, Support & Maintenance, Other — because every business names its own demand differently. Your admin can replace the list with the words your team actually uses.

Pick the one that governs the enquiry. A prospect asking to replace an ageing system and also wanting help running it afterwards is a Replacement; the support conversation is the next deal.

What it is worth, before you know for sureCopy Anchor Link

Estimated Amount is the value of the demand, as best you can tell today. It is the first money figure in the pipeline — before it, nothing about a lead says whether it is worth a call this week or next month.

Two things it is not:

• It is not Annual Revenue. That field is the prospect company's own turnover, which tells you how big they are, not how big the deal is. A £2bn manufacturer can be a £15k enquiry.
• It is not the opportunity amount. The opportunity's amount is a number you defend in a forecast. This one is a guess taken before qualification, and nobody is held to it.

The two meet at conversion: the Opportunity Amount box on the conversion screen opens prefilled from this estimate instead of blank. Change it if you know better — whatever is in that box is what enters the forecast, and that moment is exactly where an estimate is supposed to become a commitment.

When a lead needs approvalCopy Anchor Link

Some organisations want a second pair of eyes before anything enters the pipeline as a real deal. The Conversion Approval field on the lead records where that stands:

You never set this field yourself — it is filled in by the approval, and it is read-only on the form.

While a lead is Pending or Rejected, it cannot be converted. The Convert Lead button is not offered, and the conversion is refused even if it is started some other way. Everything else about the lead stays open: you can call, log activity, take notes, change the status, schedule the next follow-up. The gate stops one act, not the work.

Nothing changes for you unless your admin arms the gate. Out of the box every lead reads Not Required and conversion behaves exactly as it always has. Leads created before the gate was turned on keep converting freely too — arming it affects new leads, and it never invalidates a lead you already converted.

Tips for sales repsCopy Anchor Link

• ✅ Fill both fields at intake, while you still remember the call. They are the two facts that decide whether this lead gets worked this week.
• ✅ Use the estimate honestly, including when it is small. A £5k number is more useful than an empty box, and nobody is measured on it.
• ✅ If conversion is refused, read the Conversion Approval value before asking anyone: Rejected is a decision to talk about, Pending is just a wait.
• ⛔ Don't put the prospect's company turnover in Estimated Amount — that is Annual Revenue, further down the form.

Tips for adminsCopy Anchor Link

• Both fields sit in the lead's Qualification group, and both are columns on All Leads, so the list can be filtered and grouped by either one.
• The Need Type list is ordinary picklist configuration — see Customization › Extending Objects to replace the starter values with your own demand taxonomy.
• The gate is off by default and is armed by changing the default value of the lead's Conversion Approval field from Not Required to Pending. From then on each new lead opens an approval request, routed to the holders of the sales_manager position; the flow behind it is Lead Conversion Approval, listed in Administration › Automation.
• Staff that position before you arm the gate. An approval routed to an empty bench has nobody to decide it.