How to Avoid Lost Leads

Stop losing leads by capturing every contact in the CRM, creating opportunities, and using tasks and the pipeline to follow up on time.

Introduction

Why leads get lost

Leads slip when they live only in email, when there's no reminder to follow up, or when the team can't see what's in progress. Piraja helps you avoid that by giving you one place for contacts, opportunities, and the pipeline, plus tasks for follow-ups and Mailbox so email is linked to contacts.

Who this is for

• Sales teams that miss follow-ups because leads stay in inboxes
• Small businesses that don't have a single view of every lead
• Anyone who wants the team to see what's in progress and what's due next

Capture every lead in the CRM

Do it as soon as the lead arrives

1. Create an Individual with at least name and email (and phone if you have it). If they work for a company you care about, create or find the Organization and link the individual to it. You can use BRREG or Companies House to import companies quickly.
2. Create an Opportunity and link it to that individual (and organization). Give it a clear name and set the stage (e.g. Lead or New).
3. The lead is now in the system and visible on the Pipeline. Everyone can see it and no one has to dig through email to find the contact.

Why this matters

If the lead exists only in email, it won't appear in the pipeline or in reports. Capturing them as a contact and opportunity makes the lead visible and trackable.

Use tasks for follow-up

Schedule the next step immediately

1. As soon as you create the opportunity (or right after the first contact), create a Task linked to the opportunity or contact.
2. Set a due date for the next step (e.g. "Call back tomorrow", "Send proposal by Friday").
3. Add a clear title so you know what to do (e.g. "Call re demo", "Send quote").
4. If your team uses assignment, assign the task to the person responsible.

You and your team will see what's due in the Tasks list and on the contact or opportunity. Without a task, follow-up is easy to forget; with one, it's on the list until it's done.

Review the pipeline regularly

Use the pipeline to spot stalled deals

1. Open the Pipeline view to see all opportunities by stage.
2. Move deals as they progress (e.g. from Lead to Qualified to Proposal).
3. Look for opportunities that have been in the same stage for too long. Those are candidates for a new follow-up task or a call.
4. A quick weekly or daily review keeps the pipeline accurate and helps you prioritise who to contact next.

Connect Mailbox so email is in the CRM

When you connect Gmail or Outlook via Mailbox, emails are synced and matched to contacts. So when a lead replies, the email appears on their contact record. You get full context without leaving the CRM, and the team sees the same conversation history. See How to Connect Your Email to the CRM for setup.

Best practices

One opportunity per lead

Create one opportunity per lead so nothing is left off the pipeline. Avoid grouping multiple leads into a single opportunity; each deal should have its own record and its own follow-up tasks.

Add a task as soon as you create an opportunity

Don't leave the opportunity without a task. The moment you create the opportunity, add a task with the first follow-up date. That way the lead is never "in the system but with no next step."

Review the pipeline and task list often

Check the pipeline and your task list daily or at least weekly. Stalled deals and overdue tasks are the ones that turn into lost leads if you don't act.

Frequently asked questions

What if I have many old leads in email?

Add them to the CRM in batches: create individuals and organizations, then create opportunities and link them. Add a task for each (or batch tasks, e.g. "Follow up on 10 leads this week"). Going forward, add new leads as soon as they come in so you never build up a backlog again.

Can I assign leads to different team members?

Yes. You can assign opportunities and tasks to the right person so everyone knows who owns each lead. Use the opportunity or task assignee field if your setup supports it.

Who can I contact for help?

Contact support at support@piraja.io.

Conclusion

Avoid lost leads by capturing every lead in the CRM (contact + opportunity), using tasks for follow-up with due dates, and reviewing the pipeline regularly. Connect Mailbox so email is in the CRM and the team has full context. See How to Track Leads from First Contact to Deal for the full workflow.