How I Organize My Leads

No....I don't have them in binders like the cover picture suggests. Before I begin this post, I recognize that 20% of the population have a personality style that aligns with orderly organization. As you're reading this post, your phone or computer is squarely on the surface. Your coffee is exactly 3 inches away. And I bet the rest of your desk is mess-free (unlike mine). This is your superpower. Not only do you deliver near-perfectionism when you clean but everything else in your life has order. So bear with me. Hopefully there's a takeaway in here for someone.

Going back to our definition, what is a lead? It's a contact that could become a client. There are cold leads (people who probably don't know you or your brand (99.9% of your leads out there) all the way through hot leads (they want to buy now...and hopefully from you). 

Organization #1: I Keep Leads Organized By Niche

There are different niches as we discussed before. There are schools, churches, banks, offices, office buildings, car dealerships, medical, government, and so many more. So I have a list for schools, churches, and so on. Why? Well, the pain points and your sales copy should not be the same between a government building and a medical office. Two different needs. Different pain points. Different ways you should approach them. I'll cover this more in a later blog post but this helps with creating sales letters, sales emails, etc. if you keep them separate.

Another reason to keep them separate is due to the file size. We have about 4000 names on our lead list. That's an awfully long list to scroll through to select leads. It's easier to break them up.

Organization #2: Put your Leads in a CSV File

On my list I have the business name, their address, phone, niche name, and any emails or contact information I can find. With this information alone, I can call, mail, email, or visit any of them. I have all of this organized in an Excel file. Specifically, I have them in a file format called a CSV file. I'll come back to this in a second.

But first, here's a sample screenshot of what we have (and no, I don't want to give away free leads with this screenshot. Don't mind the edits. I combined niches for example purposes.

Organization 3: Share that CSV File Across Platforms

Now with that CSV file you can share it. For example, our CRM is Hubspot. I can take that file, upload it, and have a digital record of everything including contact history, sales history, etc. Now Hubspot accepts a normal XLS file but other platforms may not. So if you have another CRM like Salesforce or a cleaning-based CRM like Jobber or Housecall Pro, this format may come in quite handy. 

Below is a screenshot of where to upload the list in Hubspot within the Contacts tab:

Once you have everything in your CRM, then it makes it a lot easier to update your leads and share with your team.

Organization 4: Don't Be Like Old-Mark

Yep, that was me. I can't tell you how many leads I lost over the years. Sigh. It's like throwing money away. Get organized.