Do we need a separate Leads module?

[ashammi228]

As we've worked with clients over the past few years, we've often seen users ask ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) when to create a lead record and when to create an account or records for contacts or leads (or perhaps opportunities). Common questions include:

Should I import my prospects as Leads or Contacts?
When should I convert Lead to Potential?
What happens to all the data in the Lead and its associated actions, emails, etc. when it converts?
Can I convert Potential into an Account?
Roots of Confusion

Duplicate data - Prospects and Contacts taiwanese phone number format records have mostly the same information (first name, last name, company name, etc.). Therefore, Prospects may be imported as Leads or Contacts, which causes confusion.
Account Value - In CRM, an 'Account' represents a business (organization). In an accounting application , an Account is usually reserved for a paying customer. Users influenced by accounting applications usually do not create an Account unless a sale is closed. Obviously, this is not how it should be. An Account (& Contact & Lead) should be created at the beginning of the sales cycle.
Process Duplication - Potential (or Opportunity as other CRMs call it) is used to manage a sales opportunity and includes a Sales Stage field to track the status of the sale. At the same time, a Lead also has a Lead Status such as Cold, Hot, etc. and customers can add their own choices. Users can potentially use Lead or Potential to track the sales process.
Recommended solution

The Leads module can also be served by the Contacts module. The Leads Status field can be replaced by the Contact Status field in the Contact and can be used instead of it.

Plan for the future

While working on improving usability, we are considering the following changes in the future version of vtiger CRM.

Merge Leads module with Contacts module (for existing installations, Leads data will be migrated to Contacts as part of the migration script)
Rename accounts to business
We'd love to hear your feedback on this. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Update: The links in this post are broken due to a change in the forums site. Edited March 22, 2016 to update the links.