Tracking leads and trials
Leads and trials in ChartMogul are records of potential customers and their evaluation periods — tracking them populates the Leads and Conversion reports (including Leads, Free Trials, Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate, and Average Sales Cycle Length) and unlocks ChartMogul CRM features for managing and nurturing prospects.
Lead and trial data can be imported automatically via integrations such as Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, and HubSpot, or manually via flexible CSV import, structured CSV, the API, Google Sheets, or data tables for custom sources.
Here’s what we cover in this article:
- An overview of leads and trials in ChartMogul
- Importing leads and trials using an integration
- Importing leads and trials using a custom source
Resources and further reading:
What to do before you start
Please review the following details before completing the steps we outline in this article.
- Decide what counts as a lead for your business — for example, anyone who starts a trial, downloads content, or joins your email list. This determines when someone enters your sales funnel.
- Know where your business tracks leads and trials — for example, your website, your own database, or a CSV export.
- To use ChartMogul CRM, read the setup guide before importing leads and contacts.
- Review the import options and choose the one that fits your setup.
- Import lead and trial dates as soon as they happen. This keeps your Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate and Average Sales Cycle Length metrics accurate.
Leads and trials in ChartMogul
Each potential future customer begins their relationship with your business as a lead — someone who has shown interest but hasn't yet subscribed. They may evaluate your product or service by starting a trial (a time-limited evaluation period) before signing up for a paid subscription.
Leads
A lead is an individual or organization who shows interest in your product/service and has the potential to become a subscriber. Not all leads will complete a trial, nor will all leads become subscribers. When a lead is imported, ChartMogul creates a customer record and assigns the status New Lead.
Tracking lead dates in ChartMogul enables you to use the Leads and Average Sales Cycle Length reports. These reports work once you’ve populated the Lead created at date field in customer records.
Trials
A trial is the period when a lead evaluates your product/service before becoming a paying subscriber. Not all leads complete a trial, and some begin their trial long after they become a lead.
Tracking trial dates in ChartMogul enables you to use the Free Trials and Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate reports. These reports work once you’ve populated the Trial started at date field in customer records.
On October 2, 2025, we introduced “trial” as a third invoice line item type (alongside the existing “subscription” and “non-recurring” types). We’re gradually making the functionality available to all accounts. The new line item type allows you to create free and paid trials associated with a plan, irrespective of the customer’s Trial started at date. Learn more.
The update comes with new filters and improvements to the Subscriptions and Subscription History tables on customer records.
Importing leads and trials using an integration
Review the table below to confirm the lead and trial data ChartMogul imports from your integration.
| Integration | Imports leads to create customer records | Imports lead created date | Imports free trial date |
|---|---|---|---|
| App Store Connect |
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Only for Free Trial introductory offers |
| Braintree |
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| Chargebee |
|
|
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| GoCardless |
|
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| Google Play | Daily Sales Report only |
|
When using Daily Sales Report, date imported only for free trials that convert to a successful transaction. When using Payloads URL, date imported only when specified in a payload. |
| HubSpot |
|
||
| Intercom | Only leads that are linked to a company | Only for leads that are linked to a company | |
| Recurly |
|
|
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| Segment |
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| Stripe |
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|
Importing leads and trials using a custom source
Follow the steps below to import lead and trial data from another system (e.g., your own database, free trials in your product, CSV).
While it’s possible to manually add lead and trial data to customers stored in an integration source, any data you add manually may be lost when you re-sync that source. For more information, check your integration guide or contact support.
Step 1 — Add a custom source
Start by creating a new, custom source for the lead and trial data you’ll import:
- Navigate to Settings > Sources > Add Source.
- Select Custom Source.
- Enter a unique name.
- Click NEXT.
Step 2 — Import lead and trial data
Choose the import method that fits your data volume and technical setup.
Recommended in most cases:
- Flexible CSV import — Upload a single CSV file with customers, lead dates, and trial dates. Map each column to a ChartMogul field.
Other import methods:
- API — Best for large data volumes or keeping your account updated automatically.
- Structured CSV import — Import Customers with lead and trial dates to access Leads and Conversion reports.
- Data tables — Add Customers with lead and trial dates to access Leads and Conversion reports.
- Google Sheets — Import Customers with lead and trial dates to access Leads and Conversion reports.
- Manually — Go to Customers > Add a new lead/trial or customer, then open Details to add lead and trial dates.
Step 3 — Merge customer records
When a lead converts to a paid subscriber, you may have two records for the same customer: one as a Lead and another as Active. Merge them to keep your metrics accurate. You can do this manually, via automation, or via our API. See merging customers for details.
To merge customers manually:
- Navigate to Customers and find the duplicate customer created as part of uploading your lead and trial data. You can also find these customers using the Customers tab of the custom source.
- Click Merge.
- Choose the customer ChartMogul imported from your billing system.
- Click Next.
- Click Confirm and merge to proceed.
Next steps
- Edit lead and trial data in bulk.
- Add individuals with a current or past relationship with your business as contacts.
- Add additional data points to your customer records for deeper insights with segmentation.
- Create automated workflows using lead and trial dates.