Customer intent
What a customer is actually trying to do, read from what they say and ask rather than from the source the lead came in on.
Use this definition in team training or when clarifying a sales note.
Definition
Customer intent is the reason behind the contact. One caller wants to know whether a specific plan is still available at the advertised price. Another is comparing monthly costs across three companies. A third is trying to get out of a current contract early and does not know what that involves. All three might arrive as the same kind of lead, and none of them should be handled the same way.
Intent is read from the conversation: the questions asked, the timeline mentioned, the constraints raised and what the customer keeps returning to. It is an inference, so it should be treated as a starting point that the next conversation confirms or corrects.
Why it matters
Sorting your day by lead source treats a serious buyer and a casual browser as the same task. Sorting by intent tells you which conversations deserve a call today and which can wait for the cadence. It also changes the coaching conversation, because a rep who misses a clearly stated intent made a specific mistake you can point to rather than a vague one.