Differentiating Leads, Prospects, and Clients

Lead generation is one of the most popular marketing strategies in the market today. With technological advancement at its peak, lead generation is now done over the Internet. Social networking media had also played a vital role in lead generation.

Billions of people are using the Internet nowadays, and each one of them is a potential lead. A lead is a person that may be interested in a company’s product. Basically, anyone can be a lead, but not all leads can be prospects and not all prospects can be clients.

There is a vast difference between a lead, a prospect, and a client in whatever field of sales and marketing. In construction firms, for example, be it in home construction, road construction, or other infrastructures, the target market may include politicians for government infrastructure projects and real estate companies for home construction projects.

Given this target market, the company will generate contractor leads by making people in this area aware of the company’s existence. Awareness can be done through cold calling, sending product or service information through emails and conducting free demonstrations whenever necessary. If people respond and show their interest, they are already considered as generated leads.

Contractor leads are interested with the product or service, and they may qualify as prospects. There are things to consider in lead qualifying. First, the need should match with the service offered. The cost of the service should also fit the other party’s budget, and the timeline for the project should be reasonable and realistic. Sales people or lead generators must be able to discern whether the generated lead has the monetary capability, the resources, and the authority to acquire the service.

Once these generated contractor leads qualify as prospects, the lead generator should then qualify him or her to be a client. Prospects that can afford, have the resources, and are authorized to purchase are potential client, but unless they get a product demonstration together with the board, they aren’t clients yet. Clients are prospects who showed interest to acquire the service at the same time made effort to get the deal done.