Lead

A Lead is a prospective customer — someone you have not yet won the job from.

Typical characteristics:

• Created when a new opportunity comes in (website form, phone call, referral, etc.)
• Used for sales tracking, estimating, and follow-ups
• May have:
  • Contact info
  • One or more estimates
  • Sales status (new, contacted, proposal sent, won/lost)
• Not yet approved or converted into active work

How Leads are used:

• Track your sales pipeline
• Build and send estimates
• Measure close rates and marketing effectiveness

👉 Think: “We’re trying to win this job.”

Client

A Client is a confirmed customer — someone who has accepted an estimate and is now active.

Typical characteristics:

• Created when a lead is converted (usually after an estimate is approved)
• Used for job management, production, and billing
• Can have:
  • Active and completed jobs
  • Invoices and payments
  • Long-term history and repeat work

How Clients are used:

• Manage ongoing or completed projects
• Handle invoicing and payments
• Maintain a customer record for future work

👉 Think: “This job is real, and we’re executing it.”