The Leads board is where leads are worked once the module is set up. This article covers the board views, moving leads between stages, what is held on a lead record, and closing a lead as won or lost.

Stages, card layout, sources, and lost reasons are configured first, in Setting up the Leads module.

Four views sit across the top of the board:

Each column header shows the number of deals in that stage and their total value.

Drag a card into another column. Stage changes can also be made from the list view and from the lead record.

Four stages are driven by proposals, and a lead moves into them without anyone dragging it:

Reverting a proposal to draft moves the lead back to Proposal Draft.

Between those events, a lead stays where it is put. A lead moved into a stage of your own after a proposal was sent stays there until something happens to the proposal (won or lost)

A lead can only sit in one of the four proposal-driven stages if its proposal matches that state. A lead with no proposal cannot be moved into Pending Approval. Where a move is refused, Socket states what the stage requires.

Manage your pipeline stages from Lead Settings. Read more about customising your pipeline stages here.

Selecting a card opens the lead. A stage bar across the top shows progress through your pipeline, and the summary column holds the owner, deal size, source, and contact details, with a Company tab alongside.

Mark as Lost, Link to Proposal, and Start Proposal sit in the top right.

The Lead Research card in the summary column runs AI research against Companies House, filing history, and the prospect's website, and writes the findings onto the lead as notes. Select Run Research.

See AI lead research.

The Summary card runs an AI read of the lead itself: what has happened, what needs attention, and what to do next. Select Generate summary.

Where lead research looks outward at Companies House and the prospect's website, the summary looks inward, reading only what is recorded on the lead: activities, notes, the timeline, and the lead details.

The summary is written as prose, with reference chips pointing back to the records behind each statement. The time it was generated is shown above it.

Select the refresh icon to generate a fresh summary, which replaces the previous one. A summary reflects the record at the moment it ran, so it does not update as activities and notes are added.

A summary will run on a lead with no history, reporting the absence rather than failing. How is this agent doing? at the foot of the card records feedback on the run.

Notes hold context that does not belong in a structured field. Select New Note, give it a heading, and write the note. Each note records who added it and when, and can be edited or deleted.

Notes do not count towards Last contact.

Activities are follow-ups: calls, emails, meetings, and tasks. Select New Activity, choose the type, and set a heading, a note, and a due date.

Each activity shows its owner and due date, and is closed with Complete. Activities can be filtered by type, sorted by created or due date, and completed ones shown with the Show Completed toggle.

Activities feed the Current Activities view, and are what Last contact is measured from.

Files are attached to the lead in the Files section of the summary column, by dragging them onto the drop zone or selecting it to browse. Each file shows its name, size, and the date it was added, and can be previewed or deleted.

The timeline records automatically. Lead created, lead updated, stage changes, notes and activities created, proposals created, sent, and viewed by the client, and leads generated with AI all appear, with the user and timestamp.

Client Viewed entries record that the client has opened the proposal, and when.

Search by name, and narrow the board with the filters along the top: Lead Owner, Stage, Temperature, Source, and prospects or clients. Clear Filters resets them.

The toggle in the top right switches to a list view, showing the same leads as a sortable table with paging. Manage Columns controls what appears, including Linked Proposal, Created, Last Contact, Opened, Next Action, Services, Entity Type, and prospect or client.

The list view is not limited to the optional fields a card carries, so any field available on a card is also available as a column.

Two fields on the card indicate whether a lead has gone quiet.

Last contact is the most recent logged call, email, or meeting. Notes and stage moves do not count towards it, so it measures contact with the client rather than activity in Socket.

Proposal engagement records whether the client has opened the proposal, and when.

Ageing across the whole pipeline is covered in Leads reporting.

Start the proposal from the lead with Start Proposal, so it is priced from your pricing menu with your engagement letter and onboarding form attached. The lead moves through Proposal Draft and Pending Approval as the proposal progresses, and into Won when the client signs.

Where a proposal already exists, Create New Lead and Link to Existing Lead at the top of the proposal create or attach the lead in one step. Both are available on pending, active, and won proposals.

Select Mark as Lost on the lead, choose a reason from your list, and add a note alongside it if required.

Lost reasons are customisable from Lead Settings, with some preset options. There are system level reasons that cannot be edited, as they are tied to proposal actions:

Lost reasons are configured in Setting up the Leads module.

Why has a lead moved on its own? Something happened to its proposal. Sending, signing, declining, and expiring all move a lead. The lead's timeline records which.

Why has it gone back to Proposal Draft? The proposal was reverted to draft, and the lead followed it.

Why will it not move into the stage I want? That stage is tied to a proposal state the lead does not match. Socket states what the stage requires.

I moved a lead into my own stage and it moved anyway. Its proposal was signed or declined. Manual placement holds between proposal events; a proposal outcome takes priority.