← Answers·general·informational

    What is the difference between a lead and a prospect?

    Reviewed by Taylor Moses, Co-Founder, Strategy & Web·

    Direct Answer

    A lead is anyone who has expressed initial interest by submitting a form, calling, or downloading content. A prospect is a lead who has been qualified — meaning the team has confirmed they have budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT). All prospects are leads; not all leads become prospects.

    Voice answer (≤30 words)

    “A lead has expressed initial interest. A prospect is a lead who has been qualified for budget, authority, need, and timeline.”

    Track lead-to-prospect conversion as a sales-team KPI separate from prospect-to-customer.

    Bad leads usually = bad targeting upstream. Fix the source before blaming the sales team.

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