Skip to main content
BSS/OSS Academy
🤝
Section 4.3

Lead & Opportunity

Where consumer demand comes from — enquiries, register-interest lists, abandoned baskets, upgrade campaigns — and how a lead becomes a basket.

A lead is a sign that someone might buy: a question, a form, an abandoned basket, a customer whose contract is about to end. Consumer telcos get most of their leads from digital channels and from their own customer base, and most of them never speak to a salesperson. CRM’s job here is to capture each lead once, connect it to the right person and address, and make sure someone or something acts on it.

Where consumer leads come from

SourceWhat is capturedWhat makes it telco-specific
Web or app enquiry, chatContact details and the product asked aboutUsually an address, because the answer depends on what the network can deliver there
“Register interest” for fibreName, address, consent to contactDemand where the network does not reach yet; it feeds the build plan as well as sales
Abandoned basketThe basket, and the person if they signed inOften abandoned at the serviceability, credit or ID step, which says which gate is losing customers
Store or contact centreThe conversation and what was offeredAn existing customer’s holdings decide what can be offered
Existing customersUpgrade eligibility, contract end, usageMost consumer sales are to customers the operator already has: upgrades, add-ons, retention

From lead to basket

1
Capture
CRM

The lead is recorded once, with its source and the consent given. If the person is already a customer, it is linked to them.

2
Qualify
TMF645 / TMF679

Is the address serviceable, and is the person eligible for what they asked about? Section 4.4 covers both checks.

3
Act
CRM / marketing

Route it: an automatic offer by email or app, a callback from the contact centre, or a place on the build list for an area not yet served.

4
Basket
TMF663

The person chooses an offer. In consumer sales the basket does the job a quote does in business sales: the priced selection they are about to buy.

Opportunities are mainly a business-sales idea
Opportunity management — sales stages, forecasts, deal teams — exists for business sales, where one deal can take months. In consumer sales the basket and the campaign do that job, so this module does not cover opportunity pipelines.

Who holds the record

EntitySystem of RecordSystem of EngagementSystem of ReferenceNotes
LeadCRM or marketing platformWeb, app, store, contact centre—One declared store; leads captured in a channel tool must reach it
Consent to contactCRM or consent platformThe channel where it was given—Recorded with the lead, with what was consented to and when
Campaign and offer eligibilityMarketing platform—Product catalogOffers named in a campaign must exist in the catalog
BasketCommerce platform or CPQWeb shop, app, CRM—Becomes the product order at checkout

What breaks first

  • Register-interest lists kept outside CRM. A spreadsheet of addresses for the next fibre build cannot be matched to serviceability when the area goes live, so the people who asked first are contacted last, or not at all.
  • Leads with no consent record. A lead collected without recording what the person agreed to cannot lawfully be marketed to in many jurisdictions. The rules differ by country; the need to record consent does not.
  • Existing customers treated as new leads. If the lead is not matched to the existing customer, the offer ignores what they already have — offering broadband to someone who has it, or a “new customer” price they are not eligible for.

TM Forum mapping

  • eTOM 1.1.11 Contact/Lead/Prospect Management — capturing and managing leads
  • TMF699 Sales Management — exposes sales leads; its opportunity support is recent (v5) and still maturing, so treat it as emerging
  • TMF663 Shopping Cart — the consumer basket
  • TMF681 Communication Management — the messages sent to act on a lead

Section 4.3 Key Takeaways

  • Consumer leads come mostly from digital channels and existing customers, rarely from a salesperson
  • Capture each lead once, with its consent, and link it to the existing customer if there is one
  • Address-led demand (register interest) feeds the network build plan as well as sales
  • In consumer sales the basket does the quote’s job; opportunity pipelines are mainly a business-sales idea
  • Abandoned baskets show which gate — serviceability, credit, ID — is losing customers