What is an archived lead?

A closed lead retained with structured data about what the customer was looking for: car type, year range, max mileage, budget and the reason the deal did not happen. The point is that the lead can be matched against new cars later instead of being lost for good.

How long is a lost lead worth contacting again?

0-90 days is hottest, because the customer is usually still searching. 3-9 months can work if you bring a concrete car inside their budget. After 12 months most have bought, and the contact needs a new angle such as a trade-in or service.

Are we allowed to contact lost leads again under GDPR?

Contact with a concrete, relevant offer based on a previous enquiry can be justified, but it requires a valid legal basis and respect for withdrawn consent and opt-outs. Record consent and unsubscribes on the customer record and let the system block contact to opt-outs.

How do you prioritise the archive?

By recency, budget and loss reason. A three-week-old lead with a realistic budget lost on timing should be contacted before an eight-month-old lead lost on price where no cheaper car has arrived.

What is the difference between an archived lead and a customer wish?

The data points are almost the same. A customer wish is recorded proactively, while an archived lead comes from a specific deal that did not happen. Both should match against the same stock so the sale is not lost twice.

What is the biggest pitfall?

Blasting a generic email to the whole archive. It produces unsubscribes and burns the list. The archive only works with one concrete offer to one customer at a time, sent by the salesperson who had the contact.

Guide · Archived leads

Archived leads as a sales channel: how to use the archive

When a car sells, the leads on the five other customers who asked about it are closed. They have not stopped looking for a car, they just did not get this one. This guide shows how to turn the archive of lost and closed leads into a sales channel that matches automatically against new stock instead of sitting dead in the system.

Last updated: 2026-08-19

Short answer (TL;DR)

Archive lost leads with car type, budget, mileage range and loss reason instead of deleting them. When a comparable car lands in stock, the archive matches automatically and creates a task for the original salesperson. Prioritise by recency (0-90 days), realistic budget and loss reason. Leads lost on price are a different channel from leads lost on timing.

Why lost leads just sit there

The lead is closed as 'lost' without car type, budget or reason, so it cannot be found again
There is no list of who asked about a sold car beyond the buyer
Nobody checks the archive when a comparable car arrives in stock
The salesperson who had the contact leaves, and the history leaves with them
Every lost lead is treated the same, whether lost on price, timing or finance
Re-contact happens as a generic newsletter to everyone, not a concrete offer on a concrete car

How to turn the archive into a sales channel

1. Archive instead of deleting

A closed lead must remain with car type, year range, max mileage, budget and loss reason. Without those fields the archive is a list of names, not a sales channel.

2. Record the loss reason in fixed categories

Price, timing, finance, chose another dealer, chose another car type, no response. The category decides how and when the customer should be contacted again.

3. Store the car type, not just the car

The customer asked about one specific car but is searching for a type. Store ranges (year from-to, max km, budget) so the match can hit several cars.

4. Match automatically against new stock

Every new car (purchase, trade-in, lease return) is checked against the archive. A match creates a task for the original salesperson with the full history, not a notification nobody owns.

5. Prioritise by recency and reason

0-90 days is hot, 3-9 months is lukewarm, over 12 months needs a new angle. Lost on timing can be reopened; lost on price needs a cheaper car or different finance.

6. Reach out with a concrete offer

'We have the car you looked at, DKK 30,000 cheaper and 40,000 km less' works. A generic newsletter to the whole archive does not, and it burns the list.

7. Close archive records actively

If the customer bought elsewhere or the search is over, close the record. An archive full of stale leads makes the fresh ones invisible.

8. Measure the archive as a channel

Matches, reopened leads and sales from the archive per month. Without measurement the archive becomes something you say you use but don't.

What the archive gives you

A channel you already paid for

Leads you paid ad money for once get used twice.

Automatic match against new stock

The salesperson gets a task when the car lands, not three weeks later.

Prioritisation by reason

Lost on price, timing or finance are handled differently.

History stays with the business

The archive lives on the customer record, not with the salesperson who left.

Searchable per car type

Find everyone who asked about a given model, year and budget.

A purchasing signal on top

Frequently requested car types in the archive show what to buy next.

Closed lead vs. archived lead

Area	Closed as lost (typical today)	Archived lead
Data retained	Name, car, 'lost'	Car type, ranges, budget, reason
Findability	Free-text search only	Searchable per car type and reason
Match against new stock	Manual, if someone remembers	Automatic task for the salesperson
Re-contact	Generic newsletter	Concrete offer on a concrete car
Ownership	Disappears when staff change	Lives on the customer record
Measurement	None	Matches, reopenings and sales per month

The table describes workflow. Impact depends on how consistently loss reason and car type are recorded.

Frequently asked questions about archived leads

Keep reading

See the archive match against your own stock

30-minute demo. We show how lost leads are archived with car type and reason, and how a match on a new car becomes a task for the original salesperson.