This Article covers best practices around managing eLeads and marketing Sources within improveit 360. Following these best practices assures Data Integrity for Reporting purposes and a consistent lead funnel for your team to work. First, What are eLeads?
See also: eLead Data Collection Best Practices
See also: eLead Integration & Matching Details
When an eLead is inserted, the record will be available to view on the eLeads Tab.
Navigate to the All Tabs Page by clicking on the + in your toolbar
Choose the eLeads Tab
Unconverted List View
The Marketing Dept at each company using eLeads should be checking the List View on the eLead object labeled: “Unconverted” on a regular basis. Determine the cadence that makes the most sense for your business (daily is recommended by improveit 360).
Navigate to the eLeads Tab and choose the "Unconverted" List View:
eLead Conversion Issues
If an eLead cannot be Converted to a Prospect, the Conversion Issue checkbox will be checked, indicating a manual action is needed to either convert the eLead to a new Prospect, or attach the eLead information to an existing Prospect, creating a new Lead Source and Marketing Opportunity.
NOTE: If the system detects a partial match to an existing Prospect record, the eLead will not be automatically converted. The system requires human interaction to determine if a New Prospect should be created, or if the new eLead should be attached to an existing Prospect. See also: eLead Matching & Field Weighting
1. Click the 'Convert' button at the top of the page to manually convert the eLead into a Prospect.
2. The System will run the eLead information through the Search and Create tool to show you the duplicate or missing information that prevented that eLead from being converted.
3. In the example above the eLead entered a phone number, that matches another Prospect. If the eLead is a different household than the Prospect, click ‘Create New’ and select ‘Prospect.’ The system will populate the eLead’s contact information and interests, then click ‘Save’.
4. If the eLead information is a duplicate of a Prospect already in the database, click the ‘Use’ button and a new Lead Source record and Marketing Opportunity record will be added to the existing Prospect. NOTE: The Lead Source record will indicate that you received the Prospect’s information again, but this time from a different marketing Source.
NOTE: If the eLead does not have any method of contact (either a Phone number, an Email address, or a full and complete Street Address) the eLead will NOT be able to be converted. You will instead need to manually create a new Lead Source from the Prospect page. See also: Tracking Lead Sources in this Series: Lead Entry Training
Be sure the lead providers are sending in at least one contact method: either a Phone, Email or a FULL and COMPLETE Street Address. The eLead below cannot be Converted as it does not contain a complete Address. Your team would need to manually enter the Lead Source in this example.
Lead Source or Prospect Validation Rules
Although companies can choose to create data validation on the Prospect record or Lead Source, this CAN cause problems for eLead Conversion. The eLead Conversion trigger does not look at Custom Fields (this includes fields from another Managed Package - like the Centah Integration package).
Only standard eLead Fields, are able to be Converted to a new Lead Source and/or Prospect using the manual conversion process. When you click "Convert" and "Use" the only fields the Conversion trigger is querying are the standard eLead Fields.
Check for Active Validation Rules on each of these Objects and be sure the data you have set to Validate is included in every standard eLead payload.
Automatic Conversion Issue
If an eLead is received with no numerals in the Street Address field. The system will automatically Flag it as a Conversion Issue. The eLead can still be manually converted to a Prospect. The reason this eLead cannot be automatically converted is that a full Street Address is required to schedule an Appointment.
Troubleshooting: Assure eLead User does has the ability to "Read" critcal objects
1. Each time a new eLead comes in, a duplicate HomeAdvisor ‘Marketing’ Source is created.
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- This issue is caused when the eLead User (sometimes called the “Public Site Guest User” or “HomeAdvisor Site Guest User”) does not have the correct Custom Object Permissions.
- Go to the Sources Tab and identify the User who is creating the duplicate Sources.
Note: You'll need to grant Read Permissions to the Guest User by creating a Sharing Rule on the following objects: Users, Source, Accounts and Prospect
Go to Setup>Sharing Settings and Select the User Object
Click New Sharing Rule
When creating the Sharing Rule select 'Guest user access, based on criteria'. The criteria is Active = True. Share with select the guest user that is having issues. Grant Read Only access.
Granting Read Permissions to the Guest User Profile on Source
Go to Setup >Sharing Settings and Select the Source Object
Click New Sharing Rule
When creating the Sharing Rule select 'Guest user access, based on criteria'. The criteria is Source Name not equal to BLANK. Share with select the guest user that is having issues. Grant Read Only access.
Grant Read Permissions to the Guest User Profile on Account
Go to Setup>Sharing Settings and Select the Account Object
Click New Sharing Rule
When creating the Sharing Rule select 'Guest user access, based on criteria'. The criteria is Type equal to Vendor. Share with select the guest user that is having issues. Grant Read Only access.
Grant Read Permissions to the Guest User on Prospect
Go to Setup>Sharing Settings and Select the Prospect Object
Click New Sharing Rule
When creating the Sharing Rule select 'Guest user access, based on criteria'. The criteria is Primary Last Name not equal to BLANK. Share with select the guest user that is having issues. Grant Read Only access.
Save
Repeat this step for all eLead Guest Users. Keep in mind, you may have eLeads coming in from different Providers and may need to Share with multiple Guest Users.
Troubleshooting: Duplicate Sources - Check for Inactive Source Owners
When a marketing User leaves your company, make sure they have not created Sources which are still Active. Sources created by an Inactive User can create duplication of Sources when eLeads are created.
If the User who originally created a Source is no longer an Active User, this can cause Source duplication when the lead provider continues sending eLeads into the system with a Source that is "owned" by an Inactive User.
These next steps we will show you how to easily identify if the Owner of the Source record is Active or Inactive and we'll show you how to change the Page Layout on the Source object. Changing the Page Layout allows you to expose the Owner "Change" feature and quickly change the Source's Owner to an Active User.
First you'll need to create a Formula field on the Source.
Navigate to Setup > Create > Objects > Source
Under Custom Fields and Relationships click the New button
Choose a Data Type of Formula
Choose a Return Type of Checkbox and Name the Field "Owner Active"
In the Formula Builder, click Insert Field
Choose Source > Owner (User) > Active
then click Insert
Your Formula should look like this:
Save.
While on the Source object, you'll want to change the View Button.
From the Source Object, hover over the Buttons, Links and Actions related list,
then click Edit next to the View button label:
Set the Salesforce Classic Override setting to: Standard page, then click Save.
Now, you'll need to add the Owner Field to the Page Layout.
On the Source object, hover over Page Layouts and choose Edit on the Source 14 Page Layout (keep in mind different Users may see different Page Layouts based on User Profile. You can check which Page Layouts are in use by clicking on Page Layout Assignment):
On the Page Layout drag the Owner Field in the System Information section, then click Save:
Next you'll navigate to the Sources Tab to add the new "Owner Active" checkbox Field into a List View:
Go to the All Tabs page (+), then go to the Sources Tab
Choose the Active Sources list view, then click Edit:
Step 3: locate the Owner Active checkbox and move it to the Selected Fields column, and Save.
In this example, our former Marketing Manager, Martha had created several Sources during her employment with our company:
Because Martha is no longer with our company and therefore her User has been Deactivated, these Sources will need to be assigned to a different Owner, more specifically, they need to be assigned to a User that is Active.
Click on the Source Name that has an Inactive Owner
In the System Information section, click the "Change" function next to the current Owner's name:
Use the Magnifying glass icon to select an Active User to be the Owner of this Source.
Tip: Choose someone in your organization who is likely to never leave, like the business Owner.
This change assures that when new eLeads come from this Source, we do not run the risk of duplicating the original Source.
Locate and Delete Orphaned eLead records
eLeads can become orphaned if a Prospect is merged with another or deleted, or if a Lead Source record is deleted. Orphaned eLeads can also cause duplication of Sources if the orphaned records are not deleted in a timely manner. The eLead trigger will continue to try to match eLeads with Prospects and Lead sources, even if they are older eLeads.
Create a List View on the eLeads Tab to see any orphaned eLead records. Your Filter criteria for the list is:
- Prospect equals Blank
- Lead Source equals Blank
Be sure to add Filter Logic of: (1 OR 2)
From here you can Delete the eLeads which have been orphaned, using the Del button next to the eLead record.
If you have a large number of records, you may want to Delete the using the Salesforce Data Loader, and use a Report to capture the eLead record IDs.
You will create a Report using the report type of eLeads:
Use the same Filters as above:
- Prospect equals Blank
- Lead Source equals Blank
Be sure to add Filter Logic of: (1 OR 2)
Be sure to pull the eLead ID into the body of the report:
You will use this record ID when using the Delete function in the Salesforce Data Loader.
Save & Run the report.
Then, Export the Report to a CSV file.
Open your file in Excel and remove the exported Report information that will appear below your data.
Once, you've deleted this erroneous information, the report should look something like this:
Save your changes.
If you've never used the Salesforce Data Loader, review this information: Download and Install Salesforce Data Loader
Use the Delete function in the Data Loader.
You'll be prompted to login. You will need to be a System Administrator to use the Data Loader. Note: If your Username and Password alone to not allow you access, you can also use your Password and the Security Token in the password field (see below screenshot). See also: How do I get a Security Token?
Once logged in, you'll select the Object in which you're trying to impact the records.
When selecting the Object, be sure to select the eLead object (i360__eLead__c).
Browse your computer for the report you exported as a CSV file, and Open the file using the Data Loader. The tool will indicate how many records were found in the spreadsheet.
Click Next
On the Mapping Dialog window, map the Id field to the eLead ID in your spreadsheet.
This mapping will ensure that the appropriate record is deleted.
Click OK, then click Next
The tool will alert you that you will be deleting records. Click Yes, then click Finish.
When the load is complete, you will see a message with the number of successful deletions and the records which could not be deleted will be shown as Errors. The tool will save a Success file (of the records deleted) and an Error file (the records unable to be deleted). You can open the error file and re-load the deletion using the smaller file of records. Continue until all records have been deleted.
Note: You can lower the Batch Size in the Settings menu. If you run into Errors when trying to Delete, we recommend lowering your Batch Size to 5 (or fewer) records at a time.
See also: eLead Data Collection Best Practices