How to Work a Lead
The lead detail panel is where you do the day-to-day work of moving a single lead through your sales process in Franchise Systems Ai (FS Ai).
It gives you their contact details, a message thread, tasks, a full activity history, and their documents in one panel, without leaving your pipeline.
Opening the lead panel
Go to Sales → Pipeline and click any lead in the table. Their detail panel slides in from the right with the lead's name, current status, brand, and location at the top.
The panel opens on the Details tab, and you can switch between Details, Chat, Tasks, Activity, Deal, and Assets using the tabs below the header.
The panel stays layered over your pipeline, so closing it (the X in the top left) drops you right back where you were.
Reviewing and editing details
If the lead came in through your brand's funnel, a progress rail sits at the top of this tab showing where they stand in the funnel. For the full walkthrough, see [How to Track Funnel Progress on a Lead].
The Details tab also holds everything you know about the lead:
- Assigned To: click to assign the lead to a sales rep or reassign it to someone else.
- Steps Completed: how far the lead has progressed through the applicant portal.
- Date Joined: when the lead entered your pipeline.
- Contact Information: first name, last name, email, and phone.
- Lead Generation: the source and UTM data the lead came in with.
- Any additional groups your brand collects through the applicant portal forms, such as onboarding questions.
Most fields are editable in place. Click a field, type your change, and click away to save.
If the lead has signed documents on file, View Signed FDD and View Signed Franchise Agreement buttons appear at the top of this tab.
Changing status and segments
The status shown next to the lead's name (for example, Investigating or Fast-Track) is clickable. Select it to move the lead to a different stage.
On the right side of the header, use the Segments area to add or remove segment tags, which is how you group leads for filtering and for enrolling into workflows.
Messaging the lead
The Chat tab is a live message thread with the lead. Type in the Write a message box and click Send.
You can attach files, add emoji, and record voice messages using the icons in the composer.
The full back-and-forth stays here for anyone on your team who opens the lead.
Tracking tasks
The Tasks tab lists the to-dos tied to this lead, with columns for the task, status, who is responsible, and the due date.
Click + Create Task to add a new one so nothing slips between calls.
Reviewing activity
The Activity tab is a timeline of everything that has happened with the lead: emails delivered, chat messages, notes, videos watched, and signup events.
Use Log Activity to add a note recording a call or a next step.
Sort the timeline with the dropdown at the top left.
When an FDD goes out for signature, the FDD Sent entry on the timeline carries the actual email. Click its tag to preview it, including the from and reply-to address the lead saw.
Reviewing assets
The Assets tab holds the documents attached to this lead, such as a signed FDD.
Search by name, filter by file type with the icons above the list, or use the Actions menu to upload or share a document.
Handing off to a deal
The Deal tab shows the lead's deal without leaving the panel.
If no deal exists yet, you'll see a No Deal Created message explaining that deals are created automatically after an applicant completes a step in the portal, or manually with the Create Deal button.
Once a deal exists, this tab shows the deal overview in place, where you manage its details.
If the deal hasn't been converted yet, a Convert To Franchisee button appears so you can move it forward without leaving the lead panel.
For a full walkthrough of deals, see About Deals.
Quick actions
The ... menu in the top right of the panel gathers the actions you take on a lead, including sending a portal invite, sending an email, sending an FDD for signature, converting the lead to a franchisee, locking or unlocking the portal, and downloading a PDF of the lead's profile.
The pin icon keeps the lead in your saved tabs, and the link icon copies a direct link you can share with a teammate.
