Salesforce Lead-to-Opportunity Workflow
Overview
Working session between Asymmetric (Karly Oykhman, Mark Hope) and Lincoln Durham (Quarra Stone) to define the Salesforce lead-to-opportunity workflow. The session covered lead intake channels, manual assignment logic, an automated task playbook, two-tier scoring, and a suite of integrations. This work is part of a broader initiative to build systems that support Quarra Stone's growth from an $8–12M to a $20–30M company.
Attendees:
- Lincoln Durham / lldurham (Quarra Stone)
- Karly Oykhman (Asymmetric)
- Mark Hope (Asymmetric)
- Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric)
Follow-up call scheduled: Wednesday, Feb 11 — 11 AM Karly's time / 10 AM lldurham's time
Key Decisions
1. Manual Lead Assignment (No Round-Robin)
New leads will not be auto-assigned to a sales rep. Instead, a notification (email + Microsoft Teams) will be sent to lldurham, who will manually assign based on rep expertise (e.g., fine art specialization) and current bandwidth.
"Billy Bob is better at fine art than Jane… it comes in and you kind of go, who's going to be able to handle the conversation." — lldurham
2. Automated Sales Playbook via Task Sequences
Once a lead is assigned, Salesforce will automatically create a sequential task list guiding the rep through the sales process (e.g., "Do research," "Make initial contact"). Reps retain autonomy over execution; the system enforces structure without prescribing exact messaging.
The BD playbook lldurham's father developed will serve as the foundation. Karly will share a reference playbook document from a comparable client engagement.
3. Two-Tier Scoring System
| Tier | Tool | Type | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead Scoring | Pardot | Automated | Marketing engagement (website visits, email opens, campaign source) |
| Opportunity Scoring | Salesforce | Manual | Project fit matrix (timeline, complexity, ideal client/project criteria) |
lldurham's existing qualifier matrix (developed with executive coach Dennis) will be incorporated into the opportunity-level scoring in Salesforce.
4. Salesforce as Single Source of Truth for Communications
Goal is to centralize all project correspondence in Salesforce by integrating:
- Outlook — email logging to opportunity/project records
- Microsoft Teams — chat and meeting integration (Karly to research native connector)
This eliminates scattered communication across email, group texts, and Teams channels.
5. Project Object Deprioritized (For Now)
The Project object is installed but not ready for team use. PMs are currently using the Opportunity object to assign tasks to estimating. Decision: complete the lead-to-opportunity workflow first, then revisit Project object development.
Action Items
| Owner | Item | Status |
|---|---|---|
| lldurham | Send Karly screenshots of lead fields/sections to hide on the Opportunity object | ☐ Open |
| lldurham | Finalize task subject dropdown list for consistent reporting | ☐ Open |
| lldurham | Install and test Outlook integration (instructions already sent by Karly) | ☐ Open |
| lldurham | Discuss ZoomInfo with Tom | ☐ Open |
| lldurham | Align with Mark and Dennis on sales workflow development | ☐ Open |
| Karly | Share reference sales playbook document (anonymized from comparable client) | ☐ Open |
| Karly | Install LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration in Salesforce | ☐ Open |
| Karly | Research and report back on Microsoft Teams ↔ Salesforce native integration | ☐ Open |
| Karly | Implement lead assignment notification to lldurham (email + Teams) | ☐ Open |
| Karly | Implement overdue task email alerts to task owners | ☐ Open |
Workflow Detail
Lead Intake Channels
Three entry points defined:
- Strategy Leads — Sourced by Asymmetric or from purchased lists; initially assigned to Asymmetric team, handed to reps when warm. UTM parameters captured for attribution.
- Past Job / Referrals — Existing contacts referring new contacts; skip lead creation if referrer is already an account/contact.
- Direct Leads — Inbound form fills or phone calls; treated as high-intent and routed with priority handling.
Lead Processing Steps
- Lead created (manually or via form automation) with required fields: industry type, lead source, and others TBD.
- Lead enrichment — additional fields populated; LinkedIn integration surfaces profile for research.
- Notification sent to lldurham for manual rep assignment.
- Automated task playbook triggered on assignment — sequential tasks created per the BD playbook.
- Escalation — overdue tasks trigger email alerts to the task owner; lldurham also notified for accountability.
- Lead converted to Opportunity when a project scope/pricing request is received.
Opportunity Conversion
- Prospect folder/number generated at the Opportunity stage (not lead stage) — this is when a "home" for project files is needed.
- Opportunity object includes project address field (carries forward to Project object when ready).
Integrations Discussed
| Integration | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Planned — Karly to install | Free integration; surfaces LinkedIn profile card within Salesforce record; enables follow/message from SF | |
| Outlook | Pending lldurham self-install | Instructions sent; logs email correspondence to SF records; critical for project history |
| Microsoft Teams | Under investigation | Native integration confirmed possible; Karly to research depth of functionality |
| Google Maps | Planned | Shows firm/contact location (not project site) on lead/contact record; useful for sales trip planning |
| ZoomInfo | Under consideration | lldurham to discuss with Tom; used as lead/contact data enrichment; not cheap |
| Smartsheet | Mentioned, not scoped | Salesforce connector exists; relevant to future production scheduling visibility |
Strategic Context
lldurham is building toward a strategic, targeted sales model — fewer, higher-value engagements rather than high-volume outreach. The goal is to improve hit rates and ensure production capacity is allocated to the right project types and value tiers.
"Rather than just meeting with people as much as we can, let's develop systems that allow us to be a lot more strategic so that I'm doing five [calls], but those five are high value… and my hit rate is not 13–15%, it's 50 or higher." — lldurham
Executive coach Dennis is also working with lldurham on sales systems (qualifier matrix, weekly sales reporting). Alignment between Asymmetric, lldurham, Mark, and Dennis is needed before further workflow development.
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