Lead status
Lead status: The stage a lead has reached in your own sales process, chosen from a short list you define, and updated on the call rather than afterwards.
Definitions checked 4 September 2026.
A lead status answers one question: where has this conversation got to. It is deliberately a short list, because it is chosen with a thumb between two calls. Most businesses need between five and nine: fewer and the pipeline tells you nothing, more and callers hesitate, pick the nearest one, and the data drifts within a fortnight.
The important design decision is that statuses should be your own words. New enquiry, site visit fixed, token received and booked mean something specific to a property team, and a generic qualified or in progress means nothing to anyone. Statuses drive the lists people call, the filters used for messaging, and every report an owner reads, so twenty minutes spent naming them properly pays for itself repeatedly.
What makes a status trustworthy is when it is set. A status chosen during the after-call sheet is attached to a real timed call and a remark that explains it. A status set later from memory is a guess. Telodial takes the status in the sheet that opens when the call ends, which is why the pipeline still matches reality on a Friday.