Tips for converting a lead to a contact in Microsoft CRM
When converting from a lead to a contact, Microsoft CRM saves the contact record without forcing the user to fill in the required fields. Is there a way I can map the fields from the lead form to a contact form without saving the contact, forcing the user to fill in all the required data before they can save the contact record?

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I would recommend a different approach first. I would add all required Contact fields to the Lead entity and the Lead form. Then, to ensure that the fields are transferred from the Lead to the Contact entity, I would update the contact _originating _lead relationship mappings to include these fields. Finally, I would make these fields required on the Lead form. If the fields are required only before the Lead needs to be converted, I would add JavaScript code to disable the Convert Lead button until these fields are populated on the Lead Form.

You could probably use the approach you suggested and use JavaScript to open the Contact Create Form and populate certain fields with the values from the Lead record. However, this approach would be much more difficult and time-consuming, may border on the unsupported, and you may lose valuable aspects of the out-of-the-box Convert Lead functionality such as populating the Originating Lead field on the Contact. As a result, I would take a careful look at the first approach that I suggested, and if it does not meet your needs, research the second approach further.

Editor's note: Get help linking leads to opportunities in Microsoft CRM.

This was first published in March 2009