CRM Data Model Explained: Contacts, Companies, Deals, ...

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1. Leads exist in a separate part of the CRM data model. A lead represents a person who has expressed some interest but has not yet been linked to an account or an opportunity. The lead object often combines personal attributes (name, email, job title), company attributes (company name, size, industry), and some opportunity information (product interest, budget range, source) into a single flat record. “Once a lead is qualified, most CRMs run a conversion process that splits the lead into a contact, links it to a company record, and optionally creates a deal.” The key structural difference is that leads are unattached: by default, a lead record with a company field value of “Acme Corp” has no database link to an account record named “Acme Corp.” That disconnection is a frequent source of operational friction in account-based marketing workflows, where campaign attribution needs to trace back through both lead and contact records.

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