Lead
What is a lead?
A lead is a potential customer: a person or business that has shown interest in what you sell, or that fits your ideal customer profile closely enough to be worth contacting. A lead comes with some way to reach them, such as an email, a phone number or a social profile.
Leads are usually qualified in stages. A marketing qualified lead has shown enough interest for marketing to pass on; a sales qualified lead has been checked by sales and is ready for a direct conversation.
Why a lead matters
Every sale starts as a lead. Knowing how many you have, where they come from and how many turn into customers is how a business plans growth and spots where its funnel leaks.
How to get leads
- Define who your best customers are and what they have in common.
- Find people and businesses that match: directories, Google Maps, communities, events, your own website.
- Attract inbound interest with useful content and a clear offer.
- Keep each lead with its source, contact and status in a CRM or a lead list.
- Qualify before spending sales time: does the lead fit, have the problem and have a budget?
Lead FAQ
What is the difference between a lead and a prospect?
The words are often used interchangeably. Where they are separated, a lead is anyone who might buy, and a prospect is a lead that has been qualified as a good fit and is being actively worked by sales.
What is a warm lead?
A warm lead already knows you or has shown interest, for example by signing up, replying or asking a question. A cold lead has had no contact yet.
Related marketing terms
Lead generation is finding and attracting potential customers and collecting a way to contact them, so sales can start a conversation.
Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
A marketing qualified lead, MQL, is a lead whose fit and interest meet marketing’s bar to be handed to sales for follow-up.
A sales qualified lead, SQL, is a lead that sales has checked and confirmed as a real opportunity worth a direct sales conversation.
A lead list is a set of potential customers with contact details and notes, built from research or data sources, ready for outreach.
Prospecting is searching for and qualifying potential customers, then making first contact to start a sales conversation.
An ideal customer profile, ICP, describes the kind of company or person that gets the most value from your product and is best to sell to.