How to Categorize Your Leads: MQL vs. SQL

Kathy Nguyen
Nov 7 · 2 min read

Truth be told — all leads are not created equal. All different and at different stages of the customer journey.

  1. Not all leads are a fit
  2. Not all leads are sales-ready
  3. Quality of leads is more impactful than the number of leads

So how do you know which leads deserve your attention? By clearly outlining your lead qualification process, sales can effectively convert leads and close more deals. Although the inbound journey for every organization is different, below is a framework that can help you build yours.

Defining a MQL

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead acquired from a marketing campaign that’s in the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey. They’ve engaged with high-value content such as reading blog posts, downloading an eBook or joining a webinar. Also, a MQL’s demographic and firmographic information should match the qualification factors of your target audience.

Defining a SQL

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a prospective customer in the decision making stage that meets the criteria of sales qualifying questions. A popular framework that can help access the prospects fit is BANT based on their budget, authority, needs, and timing.

Source: Lucidcharts

Sales and Marketing Alignment

Defining your organization's MQLs and SQLs should be done through a partnership between marketing and sales. This is the time to create a service level agreement (SLA) between the two departments that documents common goals to maintain accountability and transparency. If the goal is to generate $10 million in sales, how many leads does marketing needs to generate? How will sales follow up and close the deal? The teams’ alignment creates a strong foundation for sustainable growth. Although not easy, it’s doable — to great effect — essential in the Age of the Customer.

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