When a salesperson produces, qualifies, and enters sales lead data into a company’s sales pipeline, the sales process begins. Salespeople send sales-pitch emails, direct marketing materials, and make outbound sales calls using the lead’s contact information. The quality of sales leads is determined by a number of criteria, including whether the individual or organization has an incentive to supply contact information, the correctness of the data provided, and the sales lead’s authenticity. The authenticity of a sales lead is determined by whether or not the individual who answered was aware of the sales offer.