Lead
A lead is a form submission or inbound call with a working phone number.
A lead is the widest stage in the funnel and the cheapest number to inflate, which is why it is the number most often quoted. Nothing about a lead implies the person is in your service area, is a clinical candidate for full arch, or can fund a case. It implies only that somebody raised a hand and left a number that rings.
We define it this narrowly on purpose. A page view is not a lead, a chat session that never left a number is not a lead, and a duplicate submission from a patient already in the pipeline is not a second lead.
What is included and what is excluded
Counts
- A form submission with a phone number that connects when dialled
- An inbound call from a new patient about full arch treatment
- A submission from outside the service radius, which still counts as a lead and fails at Qualified
Does not count
- Page views, ad clicks, and impressions
- A chat or messenger conversation with no phone number attached
- A duplicate submission from a patient already in the pipeline
- A disconnected or invalid number
A worked example
A month of media produces 140 form submissions and inbound calls.
- 01Raw submissions and calls: 140
- 02Duplicates from existing pipeline patients: 12
- 03Submissions with an invalid or disconnected number: 8
- 04140 - 12 - 8 = 120
The month produced 120 leads, not 140.
How this differs from
- Contacted
A lead raised a hand. Contacted means somebody actually spoke with them.
- Qualified
A lead has a working number. Qualified adds radius, clinical candidacy and a financial screen.
- Cost per lead
Cost per lead is priced against this stage, which is why it is the softest cost figure available.
These definitions come from our published measurement standard. Read The Arch Standard for the reporting rules they sit inside, or see every term.
Want this measured in your practice? A consult walks through how we track it, if that is useful.
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