Tracking leads and trials

Leads and trials in ChartMogul let you track potential customers and their evaluation periods before they become paying subscribers. Tracking them populates the Leads and Conversion reports (including Leads, Free Trials, Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate, and Average Sales Cycle Length) and unlocks sales workflow features for managing and nurturing prospects.

Lead and trial data can be imported automatically via integrations such as Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, and HubSpot, collected straight from your web app with ChartMogul.js, or imported 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:

• Customer & Subscription Statuses
• Make trial-to-paid conversion rates more meaningful with cohorts

What to Do Before You Start

Review these details before you start.

• 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's sales workflows, 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.

How Leads and Trials Work 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 and has the potential to become a paying subscriber. Not all leads complete a trial, and not all leads become subscribers. When you import a lead, ChartMogul creates a customer record and assigns it 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 time-limited period when a lead evaluates your product before becoming a paying subscriber. Not all leads complete a trial, and some start their trial long after they first 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.

Importing leads and trials using an integration

Review the table below to confirm the lead and trial data ChartMogul imports from your integration.

Importing leads and trials using a custom source

Follow these steps to import lead and trial data from another system — for example, your own database, free trials in your product, or a CSV file.

Step 1 — Add a custom source

Start by creating a new, custom source for the lead and trial data you’ll import:

1. Navigate to Settings > Data & Integrations > Sources > Add Source.
2. Select Custom Source.
3. Enter a unique name.
4. 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:

• ChartMogul.js — Best for tracking leads and trials that sign up in your web app, without building an integration. Add the snippet to your app and pass company_lead_created_at and company_free_trial_started_at when a user signs in. ChartMogul creates or updates the customer record and sets the Lead created at and Trial started at dates automatically. Select the custom source you created in Step 1 when you set it up under Settings > Data & Integrations > ChartMogul.js.
• 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.

If you use ChartMogul.js, set company_account_id to the same customer ID your billing system uses (for example, the Stripe customer ID) whenever you know it. ChartMogul.js then updates the existing customer record instead of creating a second one.

To merge customers manually:

1. 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.
2. Click Merge.
3. Choose the customer ChartMogul imported from your billing system.
4. Click Next.
5. 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.