A lead is an initial line of enquiry. Typically, leads will be graded in a basic sense as either cold, warm, or hot, or for more advanced grading you would refer to them as an MQL (marketing qualified lead) or SQL (sales qualified lead).
Leads are typically brought to a business via either inbound marketing such as through ads or content syndication, or via outbound prospecting such as cold calling.
Explanation:
Use in a sentence...
“We’ve managed to generate 5 new leads this week which have been passed onto sales.”