Customers vs leads

Leads and customers are the same shape of record with a different label. The distinction matters because customers can log in to the portal, place orders, and see confirmed pricing; leads cannot.

When to promote a lead

The default trigger is the moment you win a deal. Promoting earlier - as soon as you send the first proposal for example - is fine, but bear in mind:

• Portal access will be turned on automatically if enabled at the workspace level.
• The customer will show up on the "at risk" and "revenue" dashboards even before they have bought anything.
• Reporting will count them as an active customer.

How to promote

From the lead detail page, click Promote to customer. All contacts, notes, files and activity history move across. The lead record stays in place with a status of "converted", so you keep the pre-sales history for reporting.

What is different once promoted

• The customer appears in the Customers list and disappears from the Pipeline board.
• The customer detail page shows the wholesale customer detail if your vertical supports it - the header CTAs become New order and Create offer instead of the pipeline-style actions.
• Portal access can be turned on or off from the customer detail page.
• The customer can be added as a recipient of offers, invoices and portal messages.