Lead

A lead is a potential sales contact: someone who has signaled interest — a call, a form, a message, an online quote request — but hasn't bought anything yet. Inbound leads come to you on their own (a plumber's missed call is a textbook example); outbound leads are the ones you go find through prospecting.

The defining property of a local-business lead: it's perishable. A local service lead needs now, compares now, and chooses within the hour. All the speed-to-lead literature lands on the same finding: the first to respond wins a disproportionate share of deals — not because they're better, but because they answered. An unhandled lead isn't a postponed lead; it's a lead gifted to the competitor.