Partner and Lead setup for mortgage

I am trying to determine if Zoho is the right solution for me. I am a mortgage branch manager and I would like to manage my referral partner list and leads they provide.

The referral partners are the most important part. I need to schedule calls, visits and keep notes / ratings, etc. These are where my leads come from. Would they be considered Contacts or Accounts?

Then I would like my leads to be managed separately and kinda go with my sales flow. Can i set it up where they can be assigned to a referral partner? Are potentials and leads basically the sale thing?