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Managing Prospects Guide

Understanding Prospects

A prospect is someone who has expressed interest in one of the services your business provides. Prospects are central to the Quote Cactus platform’s workflow, serving as the foundation for creating quotes, managing communications, and tracking business opportunities.

The platform automatically manages prospect communications and opt-in requirements to ensure compliance with messaging regulations while maintaining professional customer relationships.

Adding New Prospects

Multiple Entry Points

The Quote Cactus platform provides several convenient ways to add new prospects:

Dashboard page – Click the “Add prospect” link
Prospects page – Click the “New prospect” link
From an estimate or quote – Click the “+” icon next to the prospect select element
While manually creating a request – Click the “+” icon next to the prospect select element

Prospect Information

To create a new prospect, you’ll need to provide the following details:

First name
Last name
Email address
Mobile number (Optional)
Street address (Optional)
City (Optional)
State (Optional)
Postal code (ZIP) (Optional)

Team Assignment

You can assign team members to the prospect during the creation process. This helps organize prospect management and ensures the right team member handles each customer relationship.

New prospect form – Enter contact information, including name, email, mobile, and address details, to create a new prospect record.

Automatic Opt-in Process

When you add a new prospect, they receive an email immediately with instructions on how to opt in to receive your messages. You cannot send further messages to the prospect until they complete this opt-in process. This ensures compliance with communication regulations and maintains professional standards.

Automatic Prospect Creation

Makes a request from a Quote Cactus landing page
Sends a text message with ‘QUOTE’ to your Quote Cactus phone number

These automatic processes streamline lead capture and ensure no potential customers are missed.

Viewing All Prospects

Prospects Page Overview

The Prospects page provides a comprehensive view of all your prospects with several organizational options:

Sort by date created – View prospects chronologically
Sort by first name – Alphabetical organization by first name
Sort by last name – Alphabetical organization by last name
View archived prospects – Access previously archived prospects
View only your prospects – Filter to show only prospects assigned to you

Prospects page overview – View all prospects with sorting options by date, first name, or last name, plus filtering for archived and assigned prospects.

Tip: Use the filtering options to focus on specific prospect groups, especially in teams where multiple members manage different prospect segments.

Managing Individual Prospects

Prospect Details

Each prospect page allows you to view and update all prospect information. The platform maintains complete records while providing easy access to modify details as needed.

Communication Settings Updates

When you update a prospect’s email address or mobile number, the platform automatically triggers a new opt-in email. This ensures continued compliance with messaging regulations and maintains clear communication permissions.

Resending Opt-in Requests

You can resend the opt-in request at any time if a prospect needs to complete the process again or if their initial opt-in email was missed.

Message Thread Management

Prospect Communication Overview

The prospect card at the top of the messages column displays essential information:

The prospect’s address (if available)
Their opt-in status for email communications
Their opt-in status for SMS communications

Prospect message thread – The prospect card displays contact information, address, and current opt-in status for email and SMS communications.

Direct Messaging

The platform provides integrated messaging capabilities directly from the prospect page, allowing you to maintain all communications in one central location.

Prospect History Tracking

Complete Activity Record

The history section shows all the prospect’s prior activities:

Previous requests submitted
Estimates created and sent
Quotes generated and their status

Prospect history view – Complete chronological record of all requests, estimates, and quotes associated with the prospect.

This comprehensive history helps you understand the complete customer journey and identify opportunities for follow-up or additional services.

Archive vs. Delete

The Quote Cactus platform does not allow complete deletion of prospects. Instead, you can archive prospects to remove them from active lists while preserving their data for record-keeping purposes.

Important: Archived prospects and their associated data remain accessible through the archived prospects view, ensuring you maintain complete business records.

What You’ve Learned

You now understand how to effectively manage prospects in the Quote Cactus platform, from adding new prospects through multiple entry points to viewing their complete history and managing communications. This foundation enables you to maintain organized customer relationships and efficiently track business opportunities.

After setting up your prospects, consider exploring these related features:

Creating Your First Quote – Generate quotes for your prospects
Text Messaging Setup – Enable text messaging on your account
Service Catalog Setup – Organize your services for efficient quote creation

Effective prospect management is the foundation of your sales process in Quote Cactus. It ensures that no potential customer goes untracked and provides the tools to convert interest into lasting business relationships.

Next steps

Requests

Collect requests for work several ways.