Creating a Lead is most often done by an automated capture path (web form, marketing tool, list upload) rather than by hand. The manual create flow still matters for outbound reps and for one-off captures, and the choices you make at create time shape what conversion looks like later.
- Open the Leads tab
From the App Launcher, search Leads and open the list view. Most orgs filter the default view to My Leads or My Open Leads to avoid surfacing the entire org's prospect pile.
- Click New
The New button sits at the top of the list view. If your profile lacks Create on Lead, the button is hidden; that is an admin conversation rather than a workaround.
- Fill the name and company
LastName and Company are the only platform-required fields. Most orgs add validation rules requiring Email or Phone too, since a Lead with no contact channel is not actionable.
- Set Lead Source
Pick the source honestly. The field gets read by marketing attribution and by sales-operations capacity planning. Default it to your team's primary channel only if you cannot determine the actual source, and audit Source distribution monthly to catch drift.
- Pick a Lead Status
Most orgs configure New or Open - Not Contacted as the default. Skip ahead only if you have actually contacted the Lead; reps who pre-promote Leads break the funnel report by hiding rep-side work.
- Save and assign
Click Save. Assignment rules fire on create if configured, routing the Lead to the right rep or queue based on territory, source, or named-account matching.
The platform-required name field on a Lead. FirstName is optional but most orgs require it via page layout.
Required. The buying organization the Lead represents. For B2C orgs, set this to a literal name like "Individual" or the Lead's full name; for B2B, use the company they work at.
- Web-to-Lead has no authentication on its default endpoint. Add reCAPTCHA, server-side validation, and a duplicate rule before you publish a public Lead form, or you will fight Lead-spam for a quarter.
- Lead conversion drops field values that do not have a corresponding mapping on Account, Contact, or Opportunity. Build the conversion field map in Setup before you write validation rules that depend on those fields surviving.
- Disqualified Leads stay in the org forever by default. Build a flow that captures the disqualification reason and routes long-stale Leads to either reactivation, archive, or hard delete.
- Lead Source edits after capture are the most common source of attribution noise. Lock Lead Source against post-save edits or layer Salesforce Campaign Influence on top to track multiple touches.