Leads: Everything You Need to Know
A lead is a person or company that falls within your target audience – and may be ready to become your customer. In B2B sales, leads are the raw material of every pipeline: without them, you are left with nothing but cold outreach. This article covers what leads are, what information you need on them, why they matter, and how to get more of them.
What Is a Lead?
A lead is a person or company that sits within your target audience. It can be someone who has signed up for a demo, downloaded a whitepaper, or simply matches your ideal customer profile without having interacted with you yet. In short, a lead is someone who could plausibly become your customer.
Not every lead converts into a customer. This can be because they do not have a current need for your solution, they are unfamiliar with your company, or they choose a competitor instead.
What Information Do You Need on a Lead?
If you work with inbound marketing and collect information on leads, the core data points you want are:
- Name and contact information (email address, phone number)
- Company name and job title (for B2B leads)
- Lead source (where and how they found you – typically tracked via UTM parameters)
The level of detail you collect typically depends on whether you are qualifying Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) or Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).
Asking for too much information upfront is not always a good idea. Every extra field you add to a form reduces the conversion rate – the share of visitors who actually complete it. Some companies therefore only ask for an email address and enrich the remaining data themselves. Others deliberately minimise friction by collecting no data at all upfront, trusting that prospects will reach out when they are ready to buy.
Why Are Leads Important?
Collecting leads is central to any sales process. Without them, the only path to new business is cold outreach with no prior context. Working actively to attract leads creates several distinct advantages:
- Higher engagement: Leads who come to you already understand your offering and recognise they have a problem you can solve – making conversations more productive.
- Partner value: A steady lead flow makes partnerships more attractive, because both parties can benefit from overlapping audiences and services.
- Greater willingness to pay: Inbound leads – those who found you rather than the other way around – are typically more willing to pay a premium for your solution.
What Are Cold and Warm Leads?
Leads are generally split into two categories based on their level of engagement with your company.
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cold leads | Persons or organisations with minimal prior interaction. They have not expressed a strong interest or need for your product or service. | A company that matches your ICP but has never heard of you |
| Warm leads | Persons or organisations who have actively shown interest – by contacting you directly, requesting more information, or engaging with your marketing. | Someone who downloaded your whitepaper or attended your webinar |
How Do You Warm Up Leads?
Warming up leads is most commonly done through lead nurturing – a process of gradually building familiarity and trust with prospects who are not yet ready to buy. Practical tactics include sending targeted emails, retargeting with paid ads, or offering a free session or consultation.
How Do You Get More Leads?
There are several well-established methods for generating more leads. The most common ones in B2B include search engine optimisation (SEO), paid advertising, content marketing, outbound sales outreach, and working with an external sales partner to handle prospecting and pipeline generation on your behalf.
What Does a New Lead Cost?
The cost per lead (CPL) varies depending on your industry, the marketing channels you use, and the efficiency of your lead generation setup. Measuring CPL is essential to ensure your marketing investment produces a positive return (ROI).
In practice, a lead can cost anywhere from roughly 100 to 5,800 DKK. A simple way to calculate the maximum you can afford to pay per lead is to work backwards from your contract value and your conversion rates. Here is an example:
| Assumption | Value |
|---|---|
| Average contract value | 100,000 DKK |
| Target margin | 50% |
| Close rate on proposals sent | 75% |
| Proposal rate from conversations | 50% |
| Qualification rate from leads | 20% |
| Maximum CPL | 3,750 DKK |
The calculation: 100,000 × 0.50 × 0.75 × 0.50 × 0.20 = 3,750 DKK. This is the average maximum you can pay per lead while still hitting your margin target.
Key Takeaways
A lead is any person or company within your target audience who could plausibly become a customer. Warm leads have already shown interest; cold leads have not. Leads are the foundation of any structured B2B sales process – without them, growth depends entirely on cold outreach. To maximise ROI, track your cost per lead against your contract value and conversion rates, and invest in nurturing tactics that move cold leads toward a buying conversation.
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