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The CRM allows your ISO to determine the exact path that your sales process will follow to convert leads to merchant accounts.

The flow is managed by moving leads through the different Status States in different Status Categories, all of which can be customized to suit your specific needs.

For example, a status category called 'Qualifying' can be set up with several status states which will be used to progress a lead while it's in the Qualifying stage:

Once you get closer to closing a deal, you can move the lead to a new category called 'Closing' which contains a new set of status states that are specific to the closing stage. 

The status categories and status states can also be color-coded for better visualization.

Here is an example of a few status states that are shown in different colors on the My Leads page:

The status states are frequently used in combination with Status Triggers, which enable you to automatically trigger selected actions in the CRM when the status state is changed, or when the lead stays in the same status state for a pre-determined period of time. 

Managing Status Categories

To manage your lead categories open the Manage Lead Statuses & Triggers page by navigating to Manage > Leads > Status States & Triggers: 

To add a new category click on the Add New Category button.

A popup window appears where you can configure your category settings:

Here are the descriptions of the settings:

• Groups—The groups you select here will be able to see the category on the lead page including the leads in the category. 
• Color—This is the color that will be shown in the category dropdown on the lead page. Color coding your categories can help your team to prioritize lead outreach and enhance your overall lead management process.
• Disable Lead Editing For User Classes—User classes you select here will not be able to use the 'Save' button to edit lead fields or lead properties. Notes, attachments, and other items can be still added.
• Hide This Category From User Classes—User classes you select here will not see this category for selection in a lead, but can still see leads in this status.
• Hide Leads In This Category From User Classes—Users classes you select here will not see leads in this category or see this category in search/reporting, even if assigned to the leads. Notifications will not be sent about hidden leads unless done by a Status Trigger or the user is selected to be notified for lead assignment, event assignment, file uploading, or note posting.

Once you've made your selections, click Save to finish saving your new category. 

Once the category is saved, you can drag and drop the category to a new position within the list using the 'move' icon, and you can also always delete the category or update the category settings using the Delete or Edit Category buttons :

By default, the Manage Lead Statuses & Triggers page shows categories across all user groups.

To view categories for only a specific user group, select the group in the dropdown filter shown in the below screenshot. 

Once the group is selected, you can also copy the group's categories to other groups, using the Apply to Other Groups button:

When you're working on a user group, you can at any time bring up a list of all categories in a popup window, using the View All Categories button:

Managing Status States

To add a new status state click the Add New Status button. 

A popup window appears where you can configure the status settings:

Here are the descriptions of the settings:

• Color—This is the color that will be shown in the category dropdown on the lead page and on the My Leads page. 
• Active—Choose if the status will be active or inactive (defaults to Active).
• Category—This is the category that the new status state will be added to. 
• Disable Lead Editing For User Classes—User classes you select here will not be able to use the Save button to edit fields or properties of the lead. Notes, attachments, and other items can be still added.
• Hide This Status From User Classes—User classes you select here will not see this status for selection in a lead, but can still see leads in this status.
• Hide Leads In This Status From User Classes—User classes you select here will not see leads in this status or see this status in search/reporting, even if assigned to the leads. Notifications will not be sent about hidden leads unless done by a Status Trigger or the user is selected to be notified for lead assignment, event assignment, file uploading, or note posting.

When you're done click Save to finish saving your new status state.

The status state is now shown in the selected category and you can use the action shortcuts (on the far right) to delete the status state, configure its status triggers, or to edit the status state settings: