Understanding the Leads Dashboard
From your main dashboard, you'll see three tabs: Leads, Active Projects, and Archived Projects. By default, you'll land on Active Projects — click the Leads tab to get started.
Note: Not everyone has access to manage leads. The account owner has access by default, but leads management must be explicitly granted to other team members as a permission.
How Leads Are Added
Leads can appear in your dashboard in two ways:
Automatically — If you have a questionnaire embedded on your website, any submitted responses will automatically populate as a new lead.
Manually — If a potential client reaches out offline, you can add them yourself by clicking New Lead.
✅ Tip: you can auto-assign a team member to receive lead intake emails and manage leads
Adding a New Lead Manually
Click New Lead from the Leads tab.
Enter the client's contact information and any project details you have — such as project type, budget, and how they found you.
Click Submit. The lead will now appear in your leads list with a status of New.
You can then click the new lead to add any internal notes, or upload any necessary documentation.
Moving a Lead Through the Lifecycle
Leads move through the following stages: New → Contacted → Engaged or Declined. Update the status after each meaningful interaction.
New → Contacted: Once you've had an initial conversation (e.g., an exploratory call), click on the lead and update its status to Contacted. You can also upload any notes from the meeting at this stage. Click Update to save.
Contacted → Engaged: After an in-person or follow-up meeting where the client confirms they'd like to move forward, update the status to Engaged. This signals that you're ready to send a design agreement or contract. Add a note to capture where things stand, then click Update.
If a Lead Doesn't Move Forward: If you or the client decide not to proceed, simply click the 'close lead' button and select the reason. Closed leads will live in your Archived Projects tab and can be reopened if needed.
Starting a Project from a Lead
Once a lead is marked as Engaged, you can start a project directly from that record. You can optionally send a contract (between the 'Close lead' and status buttons) before getting started.
✅ Tip: if you've set up a project template with your preferences already saved, it's recommended to create new projects from that template — so your established settings carry over automatically without re-entering them each time.
Questions? Chat to us or email us at support@materio.co for help!