What a lead is for a chat seller
A lead is a person who has shown interest in something you sell and has not yet bought. In a shop, you see them walk in and walk out. In chat, they send one message, you reply, and they go quiet. Without a record, that person disappears into a long inbox.
Lead management is the discipline of keeping that record and acting on it. It answers three questions: who is still a possible buyer, how likely they are to buy, and what to send next. Related terms are defined in the glossary.
- A lead: asked the price, the size, the delivery charge, or sent a photo, and has not ordered.
- Not a lead: someone who already ordered (that is a customer), or someone who is clearly not a buyer, such as a person asking for a free sample or a job.
- A lost lead: someone who said no, or who has not answered after your planned follow-ups.
Four ways to track leads, and when each one stops working
No single tool is correct. Choose the simplest one you will keep updated. Each method below works at one scale and fails at another.
| Method | Works well when | Stops working when |
|---|---|---|
| Notebook or spreadsheet | You get a handful of enquiries a day and you do all the replying yourself. | You forget to write people down, the sheet is on a different device from your chat, or two people edit it and the rows disagree. |
| Labels in the Meta Business Suite inbox | You want a tag on the chat itself, so you see it when you open the conversation. | Labels are only as good as your habit of adding them. They do not remind you to follow up, and nobody checks that the label still matches the situation. |
| A CRM (customer relationship tool) | You have a sales team, a larger catalogue and someone who maintains the system. | Entering data takes longer than selling. Chat conversations have to be copied in by hand, so the CRM goes stale. |
| An AI system connected to your chats | The volume is high, you reply at night, or you cannot read every chat yourself. | It needs your product and policy information set up first, and you still need to look at the leads it flags. |
A practical path: begin with a spreadsheet or labels, and move to something automatic once you start losing track of people. The signal is clear. If you cannot say how many people asked about a product last week, you have outgrown the notebook.
A hot, warm and cold method you can apply by hand
Tag each lead by what the person said, not by impression. The tags decide who you message first. Use these criteria.
| Tag | What they said or did | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Hot | Asked for the final price, delivery time or payment method. Gave a name, phone number or address. Said "I will take it" or asked how to order. Asked about one specific product, size or colour. | Reply fast. Help them finish the order. If they stop, follow up within the same day. |
| Warm | Asked the price, or asked for photos, but nothing more. Said "I will let you know" or "after salary" or "I need to ask at home". Compared with another seller. | Send a helpful follow-up the next day, then again a few days later. Answer the doubt they mentioned. |
| Cold | A one-word message such as "price", with no reply after your answer. Asked a general question about everything. Has not replied to two follow-ups. | One light follow-up later. If there is still no reply, stop and move them out of your active list. |
A follow-up rhythm that respects Meta's messaging window
Meta's Messenger Platform policy says the standard messaging window generally lasts 24 hours after the customer's last action. After it closes, your options are limited. For example, Meta allows a person on your team to reply manually within a separate 7-day period, and a one-time notification only if the customer opted in. Read the full rules in our guide to the Messenger 24-hour rule.
The rhythm should therefore place the most important follow-ups inside the first day.
- Same conversation, same day: if a hot lead goes quiet, send one short message a few hours later, well before the window ends.
- Before the window closes: for a warm lead, send a useful follow-up while you still can, for example answering the doubt they raised.
- After the window: do not send promotional messages. If the customer says they need time, ask clearly whether you may message them again, so you have their permission.
- When they write again: the window opens again. This is the moment to follow up properly, because they came back.
- Stop after two or three tries: if there is no answer, mark the lead cold and let it rest.
Copy-ready follow-up messages in Bangla
Each message is short and asks one question. Change the product name and add your own tone. Send them one at a time, never to a whole list at once.
- Hot lead, quiet for a few hours: "আসসালামু আলাইকুম। আপনি যে শাড়িটা দেখছিলেন, সেটা এখনো স্টকে আছে। অর্ডার করতে চাইলে নাম, ফোন নম্বর আর ঠিকানাটা পাঠিয়ে দিন, আমি কনফার্ম করে দিচ্ছি।"
- Warm lead, price doubt: "আপনি দামটা নিয়ে একটু ভাবছিলেন। চাইলে বলুন, আপনার বাজেট কত? দেখি কোন অপশনটা আপনার জন্য ঠিক হয়।"
- Warm lead, "I will let you know": "ঠিক আছে, ধীরে ভাবুন। শুধু জানিয়ে রাখি, ডেলিভারি ঢাকার ভেতরে ২ থেকে ৩ দিনে হয়। আরও কিছু জানার থাকলে লিখবেন।"
- Last light message: "আপনার জন্য সাইজ বা রঙ নিয়ে আর কিছু জানার থাকলে বলবেন। না হলে ঠিক আছে, দরকার হলে যেকোনো সময় লিখবেন।"
How to measure whether your follow-up works
A dashboard is not required. Count four things for a week, then compare the next week.
- Follow-ups sent: how many leads you messaged again.
- Replies: how many answered. If very few reply, your message or your timing needs work.
- Orders: how many of those replies became an order. This is the number that matters.
- Leads still open: how many hot and warm leads have gone more than a few days without any message from you. This should be close to zero.
Change one thing at a time, such as the first line of the message or the hour you send it. When everything changes at once, the cause of any improvement is unclear.
Five mistakes that lose leads
- Chasing too soon. A message ten minutes after a customer said "I will think" reads as pressure. Give a warm lead a few hours to a day.
- The same message to everyone. A hot lead and a cold lead need different words. A copy-paste message to a whole list reads as spam, and customers notice.
- Ignoring the window. A promotional message sent after the window has closed can break Meta's rules. Check the Messenger 24-hour rule before you plan a follow-up.
- Never updating tags. A lead tagged hot last month is not hot today.
- Following up forever. After two or three tries, let go. A courteous close is better than a fourth reminder.
How LeadRevive approaches it
LeadRevive is our product. Its Follow-Up agent follows up with customers who go quiet, at a suitable time. Its Lead Intelligence agent reads buying intent from the chat and scores each lead, so you see who is hot without reading every conversation. The leads sit in one inbox. You can take over any chat at any time, and switch Autopilot off for the whole team or per agent. See what it does, or get started.
Frequently asked questions
What is lead management in simple words?
It is keeping a record of people who showed interest but have not bought, and deciding who to message next and when. For a chat seller, it replaces the memory of "who asked me about that last week".
Do I need lead management software for a small business?
Not at the start. A spreadsheet or inbox labels are enough while you receive a few enquiries a day. Software earns its place when you lose track of people or cannot read every chat.
How many times should I follow up with a lead?
Two or three times is the right limit for most products. Space them out, change the message each time, and close politely if there is no reply.
Can I message a customer a week after they last wrote?
Not freely. Meta's standard window generally lasts 24 hours after their last action, and the options after that carry conditions. Read the Messenger 24-hour rule for what is allowed.
How do I know if a lead is hot?
Look at what they asked. Questions about the final price, delivery time or payment method, or a phone number or address given, are strong signs. A one-word "price" usually is not.
Sources
Platform details change. Checked on 5th Nov, 2026. Look at the official page before you act.