Definition
Contact vs lead
A contact is any person stored in your CRM, while a lead is a contact who has shown buying interest but has not purchased yet. Every lead is a contact, but not every contact is a lead. Leads are the subset you are actively trying to convert into customers.
The two words overlap, which causes confusion. A contact is the broad bucket: anyone you have on file, including customers, vendors, and past clients. A lead is narrower: a contact who is a live sales opportunity right now.
The distinction matters for focus. Your team should spend its selling energy on leads, the people showing interest, while still keeping every contact on record for future outreach, repeat business, and referrals.
Related terms
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