Leads, Potentials, Contacts, Accounts - Best Practices?

Leads, Potentials, Contacts, Accounts - Best Practices?

I'm wondering how people are using Zoho CRM to manage their Leads, Contacts, and Accounts.  Here is the approach that seems logical to me (below), but Zoho CRM doesn't seem to be built for this process. 
 
Leads - I add all names of any new people that I think I might be able to do business with.  I start to record notes and activities as I try to convert them to a client.
 
Contacts - One I close a deal, I convert the Lead to a Contact and create an Account for the new client.
 
I would like to track the lead through my sales process using Potentials, however, when creating a new Potential, Zoho CRM requires an Account. This seems to be putting the cart before the horse.  How can I have an account with a company that I'm trying to close?  Shouldn't the Account be opened as a result of a Potential being closed?
 
Is there a different way to approach my sales process and how I record my interactions with prospects that matches Zoho CRM's design?
 
Thanks.

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