# Lead

A lead is a person or business that has shown interest and given you their contact details, but has not bought yet.

Source: https://ibenta.no/en/glossary/lead
Publisher: Ibenta (https://ibenta.no)
Updated: 2026-09-27

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A lead appears when someone fills in a contact form, asks for a quote, books a no-obligation call or signs up for a newsletter. They have raised their hand. Now it is up to you to follow up. The word is used both for the person and for the enquiry itself.

## Warm and cold leads

Not all leads are equally warm. Someone asking for a price on a specific job is closer to buying than someone who downloaded a free checklist. Both are a [conversion](/en/glossary/conversion), but they deserve different follow-up. Call the warmest ones first.

Leads that are not followed up are wasted money, especially if you paid for the ads that brought them in. A simple [CRM](/en/glossary/crm), or just a spreadsheet, makes it easier to keep track of who you have spoken to and what happens next.

## A worked example, and a check

If you spend NOK 3,000 on ads and get 15 leads, each lead costs NOK 200. If 3 of them become customers, each customer has cost NOK 1,000. Count how many enquiries you got last month, and how many of them got a reply the same day. Response time is often easier to improve than the number of enquiries.