Salesforce lead conversion is mechanically simple — Lead becomes Contact + Account + Opportunity. The mapping is where teams lose data fidelity, especially warm-intro context (which connector introduced the lead, what was the original signal, what's the warmth score). This post is the 2026 best-practice setup.
The standard field mappings (out of box)
- Lead Name → Contact Name
- Lead Email → Contact Email
- Lead Company → Account Name
- Lead Title → Contact Title
- Lead Status → (drops by default)
The 7 custom fields most teams forget
- Lead Source detail (warm-intro vs cold-cadence vs inbound). Picklist with sub-source. Preserves through conversion.
- Connector ID (who introduced). For warm-intro leads, track the board member, advisor, customer, or alumni who referred.
- Warmth Score. 0-100 score capturing prior signal strength at lead creation.
- Original Buying Signal. Champion job change, leadership change, funding event, intent surge, etc.
- Champion Status (if applicable). Real champion, interested contact, mobilizer.
- EB Status. Economic buyer identified yes/no + name.
- Warm-Intro Asset Used. Forwardable email subject + URL.
The conversion workflow that preserves warm context
- Lead created with source + sub-source + connector + warmth fields populated
- Lead Status updates as connector forwards intro, prospect engages, meeting books
- Conversion triggers via "meeting completed + opportunity discovered"
- All 7 custom fields map to Contact AND Opportunity
- Connector ID maps to a separate Junction Object for pipeline-credit attribution reporting
Reporting impact
- Pipeline by source (warm-intro vs cold-cadence vs inbound) — weekly
- Pipeline by connector (top 10 connectors driving pipeline) — quarterly
- Win rate by source
- Cycle length by source
- Connector-credit attribution for executive recognition
Where to start
For the pipeline reporting framework, see pipeline generation metrics. For warm-intro orchestration that drives this data, see warm outreach.
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