# Lead scoring

> New, Warm, Hot, Converted and Customer — what each status means, how the agent assigns it, and the one step you set yourself.

- Source: https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/leads-automations/lead-scoring
- Category: Leads & automations (`leads-automations`)
- Language: en
- Updated: 2026-08-20

---

Every contact carries a status that reflects how close they are to buying. The agent assigns it as the conversation develops, so the list sorts itself.

![The Leads tab, with contacts grouped by status.](https://support.unifunl.io/help/screenshots/09-leads.png)

## The lead lifecycle

| Stage | What it means | How it is set |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **New** | First contact. Purchase intent is not yet established. | Automatic |
| **Warm** | The contact is interested in a product and asking questions. | Automatic |
| **Hot** | Strong purchase intent — price asked, availability checked, hesitating on the last step. | Automatic |
| **Converted** | The contact placed an order. | Automatic |
| **Customer** | An established customer of your store. | **Manual** |

> **The only manual step** — the status updates automatically throughout the conversation. Once a conversation has converted, moving the contact to **Customer** is done by hand. That is deliberate: you decide who enters your established customer base.

## Use the statuses

The statuses are most useful as a work queue and as campaign targeting:

- **Hot** is your daily worklist. These contacts need one nudge.
- **Warm** is who to include in a promotion — they are interested but not committed.
- **Customer** is who you can address differently, because they have already bought from you.

You can also adjust a status and add tags such as *vip*, *wholesale* or *loyal* from the contact record beside a conversation. Those tags are what you target in [campaigns](https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/leads-automations/whatsapp-campaigns).

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### A contact is stuck on New

New means the agent has not yet seen a signal of purchase intent. A greeting and nothing else stays New. The status moves as soon as the customer asks about a product.

### Can I override a status the agent set?

Yes. Adjust it from the contact record in the inbox. The agent keeps updating the automatic stages, but Customer stays where you put it.

### Why is Customer not automatic?

Because "placed one order" and "is one of our customers" are different judgements, and only you can make the second one.

## What's next?

Turn Hot leads that went quiet back into orders.

[Follow-ups](https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/leads-automations/follow-ups)

## Related articles

- [Leads CRM](https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/leads-automations/leads-crm.md): Everyone who writes to you becomes a contact, scored automatically by purchase intent. Filter, search and act on them.
- [WhatsApp campaigns](https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/leads-automations/whatsapp-campaigns.md): Broadcast an offer to the leads most likely to buy — the four-step wizard, the three campaign types, audience scoring and how to read the results.
- [Using the inbox](https://support.unifunl.io/en/help/inbox/using-the-inbox.md): Work every conversation from one screen — the list on the left, the exchange in the middle, and the contact record on the right.