An inbound inquiry is the raw message that arrives in Vertiqa from email, a conversion page, or voice — before anyone has decided what it is. Inquiries capture what was said, not what we will do about it.
A lead is the decision that an inquiry represents a real opportunity worth pursuing. Promoting an inquiry to a lead is an explicit step taken by an operator (or by an automation rule) after review.
How to tell the difference
- The inquiry is the source-of-truth record of the inbound contact.
- A lead is created from that inquiry once you decide it is qualified enough to work.
- You can read more about the full lifecycle in Inbound inquiry vs lead vs opportunity.
Why this matters
Keeping inquiries and leads separate lets you measure how many incoming contacts actually become real pipeline, without polluting your lead list with spam, off-topic asks, or duplicate touches.